Category: News in Brief

Is it too late to save the Maldives from climate change and Islamic extremism?: UK Independent

“Three years ago, thanks to its enterprising president, the Maldives was leading a global climate change response,” writes Simon Usborne for the UK’s Independent newspaper.

“Now, that president is out of office, living under armed guard, and watching his country wilt under the threat of extremism and rising sea levels.”

“What went wrong? How did a fêted president once compared to Nelson Mandela go from Cameron’s guestlist to a safehouse in Malé, and what does it mean for his country’s perilous position in the race to slow down climate change?

To answer these questions, I came to meet the former president as well as journalists and activists who warn that politics and religious extremism are not only threatening democracy and lives here but, as one editor puts it, ‘forcing the environmental issue on to the fossil-fuelled back burner’.”

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Anti-smuggling MoU signed between police

The Maldives National Defence Force has today signed an MoU with the police and customs services to tackle the smuggling of illegal items via large containers.

The MoU will establish a special task force, reported local media, with Commissioner General Zuhoor noting that agreement was signed in collaboration with the United Nation’s office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and World Customs Organisation (WCO).

A statement from police reported Zuhoor as saying that the agreement would assist in identifying and confiscating drugs, weapons, and other material which might lead to terrorism, coming in through containers.

The Maldives’ main port in Malé handles over 50,000 containers every year.

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New Maldives Media Council leadership take oaths

The Maldives Media Council has today appointed a new chair and deputy chair  after months of dispute over the media watchdog’s leadership.

Mohamed Asif and Ahmed Shareef Nafis were appointed to the chair and deputy chair positions, respectively after standing unopposed, reports Haveeru.

The appointment of Abdulla Muaz as president in February was quickly overturned after fellow council members ruled that his selection had not followed due process.

Additionally, plans to hold MMC elections on September were postponed by the home ministry due to the eligibility of inactive media organisations – prompting a re-registration process.

The fifteen member council consists of 8 members from the public and 7 from the media – all of whom have now been selected. The council is tasked with ensuring freedom of media and enforcing ethical guidelines.

Source: Haveeru

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President ratifies amendments to Clemency Act, Human Rights Commission Act

President Abdulla Yameen yesterday ratified amendments passed by parliament to the Clemency Act and Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) Act last month.

Amendments submitted on behalf of the government to the HRCM Act were among a number of bills drafted by the Attorney General’s Office to bring outdated laws in line with the Constitution adopted in August 2008.

The amendments confer powers to the HRCM to either suspend employees of state institutions for two weeks for not complying with the commission’s orders, or to impose a fine of between MVR3,000 (US$195) and MVR25,000 (US$1,621) for non-compliance.

Amendments submitted by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Thoriq to the Clemency Act meanwhile state that convicts would be eligible for presidential pardon or reduction of sentences after serving one-quarter of a jail term. The period is currently one-third of a sentence.

Moreover, persons convicted of drug trafficking involving less than 14 grams would also be eligible for pardon or commuting of sentences.

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President Yameen’s brother appointed deputy controller of immigration

President Abdulla Yameen has appointed his younger brother Abdulla Algeen Abdul Gayoom deputy controller at the department of immigration and emigration.

According to local media, Algeen assumed the responsibilities of the post yesterday.

In August 2012, Algeen was acquitted of corruption charges more than three years after his trial began.

Algeen was accused of embezzling US$177,460 of Japanese funding from the Department of Meteorology (DOM), where he was the director during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

Algeen allegedly sent three separate invoices to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) between May 2006 and April 2007 on behalf of DOM.

All three invoices demanded payment to Algeen’s personal Bank of Maldives account.

However, in the not guilty verdict (Dhivehi), Judge Abdulla Didi determined that the state could not prove the money in question was owed by JAMSTEC to the government.

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Majlis approves president’s nominees to Elections Commission

The People’s Majlis today approved two nominees of President Abdulla Yameen for vacant seats on the Elections Commission (EC).

Mohamed Shakeel and Ahmed Sulaiman were approved with 54 votes in favour and 16  against.

The pair were subsequently sworn in and presented letters of appointment at a ceremony this afternoon at the President’s Office.

Despite being presented with three nominees last month, the Majlis only approved Amjad Musthafa, leaving the five-seat commission with just two members following the expiry of Mohamed Farooq and Ali Mohamed Manik’s five-year terms.

The five-member commission that oversaw last year’s presidential election was reduced to four after Ibrahim ‘Ogaru’ Waheed resigned for health reasons during the poll.

The commission was further reduced in February this year, with the Supreme Court removing Chair Fuwad Thowfeek and Deputy Chair Ahmed Fayaz.

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Suspect in Rilwan’s disappearance released from house arrest

The Criminal Court has released the last remaining suspect related to the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan from house arrest (December 1).

A police media official told Minivan News that the suspect was released after the criminal court deemed it was unnecessary to keep him under house arrest any longer.

The suspect was kept under house arrest in relation to what is believed to have been an abduction at knife-point from outside Rilwan’s Hulhumalé apartment on the night of August 8.

Rilwan’s family and local NGO Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) have filed two separate cases at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) accusing the police of negligence in the investigation.

An MDN commissioned private investigation by a UK based security firm outlined several lines of inquiry into the disappearance with pointing out radicalised gang related abduction as the most likely explanation for the disappearance.

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Ministry of Economic Development to handle all Malé City Council’s business transactions

The Ministry of Economic Development will be handling all business related transactions previously rendered by Malé City Council (MCC) starting from December 14.

The change comes in accordance to the Businesses Registration Act, ratified in May 13 by President Abdulla Yameen.

A total of 11 transactions would be handed over to the economic ministry including the distribution of permits for the sales of imported goods, permits to establish cafés and restaurants, and the registration of business names.

The transfer is the latest in a series of moves in recent months that have reduced the MCC’s powers.

Other moves have included the transfer of numerous plots of public land to the central government, the removal of Malé City roads from council jurisdiction, and the recent police confiscation of MCC documents and server files from council premises.

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Majlis accepts constitutional amendment capping number of MPs

The People’s Majlis today accepted for consideration amendments to the Constitution’s Article 71, limiting the number of MPs to 85.

The change was proposed by government-aligned Maldives Development Alliance MP Ahmed Amir and accepted with 54 votes in favour and 13 against. It has now been sent to the independent institutions committee for further review.

The article currently states that two MPs must be elected “for the first five thousand residents registered for each administrative division or two members for administrative divisions with less than five thousand residents” and “where the residents registered to an administrative division exceed five thousand residents, one additional member for each group of five thousand residents in excess of the first five thousand.”

Accordingly, the number of parliamentary constituencies grew from 77 to 85 ahead of the parliamentary polls in March this year.

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