Category: News in Brief

High Court refuses to accept case requesting invalidation of MDP Feydhoo ticket winner’s candidacy

The High Court has refused to accept a case filed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Alhan Fahmy requesting invalidation of the MDP’s Feydhoo primary winner Mohamed Nihad’s candidacy.

Alhan’s sister, Noorban Fahmy – also the Feydhoo MPs’ lawyer – told local media that the High Court’s registrar informed her that it could not hear cases related to internal elections conducted by political parties.

The case will be filed at the Civil Court tomorrow, she said.

“I asked for the primary to be annulled because the list used on polling day and the [eligible] voter list is different, and the focal point at the ballot box in Feydhoo has said the polls are not fair. And none of the candidates have signed the results,” Alhan had previously told newspaper Haveeru.

The incumbent MP contends that the election in the Feydhoo constituency was fraudulent and that any candidate who won the MDP ticket through fraud cannot be a valid one.

Nihad competed against eight candidates, winning 316 votes. Alhan came in second with 154 votes.

Alhan called for a fresh vote in the constituency, claiming the voter list used at polling stations was outdated and did not afford 67 party members the right to vote.

The party’s election committee has confirmed that 67 members were indeed missing from the list at the ballot box, but decided against holding a re-vote, arguing the primary outcome would not change even if the 67 members were allowed to vote.

Alhan was stabbed in public on February 1 and is currently receiving treatment at Colombo’s Central Hospital. He has announced he will contest March’s People’s Majlis election as an independent.

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Speaker expresses concern over weakening of parliamentary privileges

Speaker of the People’s Majlis, Abdulla Shahid has expressed concern over the weakening of parliamentary privileges and fears over a return to how pre-2008 restrictions on politicians.

“As the speaker of the People’s Majlis I would like to say that all the constitutional rights guaranteed for the members of the parliament to express themselves without any fear in order to protect citizens’ rights have now been taken away,”  he said, speaking at the inauguration of a campaign center for MDP Gaddhoo-Vaadhoo constituency candidate Ibrahim Ameer,

Shahid noted that Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim was imprisoned under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration for expressing an interest to become the speaker of the People’s Special Majlis(constitutional assembly), after which Abbas Ibrahim -Gayoom’s brother in-law – was elected speaker.

He said it was to prevent such thing from happening that the Parliamentary Privileges Act had been designed in a way that no MP could be detained during a no-confidence vote against the president, cabinet, or institutions.

“We made that decision because such things have happened in the Maldives’ past. But this article has now been invalidated by the supreme court,” he said, stating that the government can now once again control votes by arresting MP s over petty charges.

Shahid also said that,  if the government coalition wins a majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the constitutional mandate for the People’s Majlis to hold the government accountable will become ‘useless’, adding that was crucial for the opposition MDP to win the election for this reason.

“The Majlis has a duty to hold the government accountable, how can one hold oneself accountable? If those who control the government win the parliament, Article 70 (b) 3 of the constitution will become useless.”

The article in reference states that parliament has the power to supervise the exercise of executive authority and to ensure executive authority is accountable for the exercise of its powers.

Shahid said that, prior to the 2008 constitution, Maldivians never got the chance to hold their government accountable and that anyone who dared to do so faced suffering, pain, and torture.

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MMC presidency vacant once more

The recently elected President of the Maldives Media Council Abdulla Muaz has been removed from the position after fellow council members ruled that his selection had not followed due process.

Local media outlet Sun Online reports that the council felt one of the rival candidates for the post had not been afforded the mandatory 72 hours for campaigning, as he had been abroad when nominated for the position.

Both Mohamed Abdulla Shafeeg and Midhath Adam had contested for the post alongside Muaz.

The position of president of the council became vacant on February 9 of the council, when Husham Mohamed resigned after saying the council did not have adequate legal authority to fulfil its mandate.

The fifteen member council consists of 8 members from the public and 7 from the media. It is tasked with ensuring freedom of media and enforcing ethical guidelines.

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Indian external affairs minister arrives in Maldives

Indian Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid has arrived for a three day visit to the Maldives after being delayed due to domestic commitments.

During his visit, Khurshid will attend the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on Bandos Island Resort. As well as calling on President Abdulla Yameen, the minister will hand over landing craft to the MNDF, and will take part in a ceremony handing over the India-Maldives Friendship Faculty for Hospitality and Tourism Studies to the Maldivian government.

Khurshid will also lay the foundation stone of a new building to be used by the Ministry of Defence and the Coast Guard.

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State to appeal ruling on diplomatic law

The government is reported to have requested that the Supreme court look into a ruling which stated Maldivian citizens were not obliged to respect diplomatic law.

A High Court ruling in August last year suggested that Maldivians are “not required” to act in compliance with Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as no national law currently exists in the country that requires enforcement of the convention.

The High Court’s ruling came alongside a decision made regarding an appeal case filed at the court concerning breach of a lease agreement between an individual named Mohamed Shareef and the High Commission of India.

Haveeru has reported that the state will appeal the ruling in the country’s highest court.

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High Court upholds dismissal of corruption charges against deputy speaker of parliament

The High Court last Thursday upheld the Criminal Court’s dismissal of corruption charges against Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim.

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP was charged with four counts of corruption in late 2009 for allegedly conspiring to defraud the former Ministry of Atolls Development.

Shortly after the controversial transfer of presidential power in February 2012, the Criminal Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence implicating the MP in the alleged scam.

The Prosecutor General’s office appealed the decisions later that year at the High Court on the grounds that the Criminal Court refused to accept state witnesses.

The court of appeal ruled last week that the prosecution was unable to prove that Nazim’s employees signed bogus bid proposals on his instructions.

Moreover, the High Court referred to a Supreme Court precedent which established that accomplices to a crime could not testify for or against an alleged partner to the crime.

The scam – first flagged in an audit report released in early 2009 – involved paper companies allegedly set up by Nazim to win bids for projects worth several hundred thousands dollars, including the fraudulent purchase of harbour lights, national flags, and mosque sound systems.

At a press conference in August 2009, police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements, and forged cheques showing that Nazim received over US$400,000 in the scam.

A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May 2009 allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letterheads.

Police alleged that money was channelled through the scam to Nazim who laundered cash through Namira Engineering – of which Nazim was the managing director – and unregistered companies.

Paper companies were allegedly formed using Namira’s equipment and staff to bid for public tenders announced by the now-defunct ministry.

According to the audit report,  evidence was uncovered linking those companies to Nazim with phone and fax numbers stated on the bidding documents registered under his address while the company shareholders were either working at Namira or relatives of Nazim.

Then-employees of Namira testified under oath that they were instructed by Nazim to bid for the projects – however, the Criminal Court judge concluded from their testimonies that they were responsible for the procurement fraud and dismissed their testimonies.

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Philippines woman arrested for smuggling cocaine

Police have arrested a 38 years Philippines woman for smuggling cocaine into the Maldives.

The woman, who on Sunday arrived in Maldives on a flight from Dubai,was arrested from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport after customs officers found more than 4.5 grams of cocaine. Eight bags of cocaine was discovered hidden inside books and paper rolls in her suitcase.

Another Philippines woman was sentenced to life last month after she was found guilty of smuggling 3kg of cocaine. She was also caught by Maldive Customs Service when she arrived from Rio de Janeiro via Dubai. The case was also investigated by Dubai Police.

Last year Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration tightened the monitoring of Filipino nationals traveling to the Maldives, over fears of being used as a transit point for labour trafficking of Philippines citizens.

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Asia can no longer follow West’s polluting ways: South China Morning Post

“For decades, Asian leaders largely ignored climate change. It’s a Western problem, we said. They caused the problem by dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; let them clean it up,” write former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and former President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta in the South China Morning Post.

“Instead, we Asian leaders focused on reducing poverty by growing our economies. We were not responsible for the pollution, we argued; so we should not have to pay for it. Yes, Asia’s industrialisation was quietly building up toxic stores of carbon, but we were only following the rich world’s prescription for success. Carbon equals growth, it said; and, like those who took up smoking on the doctor’s orders, we were not to blame.

There was a time when the assumptions underpinning this line of thinking were true. Not any more.

Climate change has become malignant. It threatens to blunt Asia’s growth and upend our development. Climate scientists are increasingly certain that catastrophic weather events – such as the 2011 floods in Thailand, one of history’s costliest disasters, or last year’s Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands of people in the Philippines – will become more frequent and intense.

From small island states to delta settlements, Asia is the climate front line. Seven of the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change are in Asia and the Pacific. Millions of Asians are at risk. It falls to Asian governments, whose primary responsibility is to protect their citizens, to respond.”

Read more

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Habib Bank to close accounts inactive for five years

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) has announced that all bank accounts that have been inactive for more than five years will be closed if the account holders do not tell the bank what to do with the accounts.

Vnews reported that the bank has already given 45 days to report, and that the current 13 day period is an extension of this.

The bank states that failure to contact the bank within this period will result in the account being shut down and cheque books and standing instruction being cancelled. According to HBL, the money in such accounts will be handed over to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) next month as stated in Article 35 of the Banking Act.

There are currently 63 accounts without any activity over the past five years.

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