Category: Politics

Religious Unity Act in hands of Ibra, claims Adhaalath Party

The Adhaalath Party, led by State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, has claimed that the Religious Unity Act is in the hands of the leader of the Social Liberal Party (SLP), Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail.

”The Religious Unity Act, which the government has obstructed from being [published in the gazette] was drafted with the assistance of three Attorney Generals,” the Adhaalath Party said.

”According to the information we have, the Act was first drafted with the full assistance of former Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed, during the former administration.”

The Act was refined by Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Baari, Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, Head of Fiqh Academy Sheikh Ali Zahir Bin Saeed Gasim, Sheikh Ahmed Zahir, Sheikh Ahmed Saleem, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Religious Council’s former leader Sheikh ‘BA’ Naseem and Deputy Islamic Minister Mohamed Farooq before sending it to the President’s Office.

After receiving the draft Act, President Mohamed Nasheed held a meeting with Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh, Sheikh Shaheem, Dr Baari and Sheikh Hussein Rasheed and recommended that the Act should be sent to then-Attorney General Husnu Suood before publishing in the gazette, said Adhaalath Party.

”Suood referred to the Act and brought some amendments, and removed many articles. He then said it was fine and sent it to be published on the gazette,” Adhaalth said. ”But then the President said there were some policy issues, discussed the matter in the cabinet, and sent it back to the Islamic Ministry requesting they solve those policy issues.”

After amending the draft, the Islamic ministry sent it to the current AG, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad. The Ministry held a meeting with Sawad and again sent the draft to be published in the government’s gazette after adding his comments.

”While we were waiting for it to be published in the gazette, Ibra called from the President’s Office and said that he was now in charge of the Religious Unity Act, and that there were some amendments that should be brought to it,” the party said. ”Except for a few, he proposed amendments to all the articles in it.”

”This is now the status of the Religious Unity Act that was drafted by many religious experts and three attorney generals of the state.”

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair, said today that the new regulations would be published in the gazette ”hopefully by next week.”

”Ibra is now discussing the draft with the Islamic Ministry and other concerned authorities,” said Zuhair. ”There are many government authorities that are related to the new regulations.”

The government have to research whether there will be any obstacle in implementing any regulation in three ways, Zuhair said.

”We have to study whether there will be any legal, social or economic obstacles to its implementation,” he said, insisting that Ibra was not deliberately delaying publication of the Act in the government’s gazette.

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MJA calls for end to protests outside media organisations

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has expressed concern that protesting outside media organisations ”to threaten interviews” was becoming common and has warned that it might cause the media to back down from coverage.

”Under the constitution, every citizen is guaranteed the two fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,” the MJA said in a statement. ”MJA calls on people not to misuse these fundamental rights by threatening and intimidating interviewees for a political gain.”

The MJA claimed that every time a person arrived for an interview at a media outlet, “he has to be taken home under police protection.”

Protesters recently gathered near private television station Villa TV (VTV) when Imad Solih of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) entered the studio for an interview regarding its successful Civil Court bid to overturn the President’s declaration that Addu was to become a city.

”The tendency of protesting outside media organisations has now gone to an extreme level in which the medias is prevented from performing its responsibility to make the government accountable,” the statement said. ”MJA wants to note that recently such two protests were organised outside VTV station, and earlier protests were also held outside DhiTV station and MNBC One.”

The organisation suggested that expressing opinion in the media and responding to opinions people disagreed with through the media would be “much more fair and diplomatic” than protesting.

”As with freedom of expression, we recognise that freedom of assembly is a fundamental right,” the MJA said. ”But we call for an environment safeguarding both these fundamental rights at the same time.”

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Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate JSC embezzlement allegations

President’s member on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Aishath Velezinee has referred the judicial watchdog to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), accusing it of embezzling state funds by awarding a ‘committee allowance’ contrary to Article 164 of the Constitution.

Article 164 states that “A member of the Judicial Service Commission who is not a member of the Executive, the Judiciary, or the People’s Majlis shall be paid such salary and allowances as may be determined by the People’s Majlis.”

Only JSC members Velezinee, Sheikh Shuaib Abdu Rahmaan and lawyer Ahmed Rasheed are paid salaries as they do not hold state posts.

However Velezinee has alleged that all commission members – including those with state incomes – are earning Rf 500 for each commission meeting and Rf 300 for each committee meeting, and claimed that these allowances were not approved by the parliament and were therefore unlawful.

The budget for the JSC commission members, obtained by Minivan News, confirms Velezinee’s claims that JSC members are in some cases receiving up to Rf 9000 (US$700) a month as a ‘committee allowance’; a total of Rf 514,660 (US$40,000) in 2010.

“JSC members have been taking allowances for the meetings and committees they attend stating that this has been decided by JSC,” Velezinee said.

“The decisions in the JSC defer day to day depending on the views of the members present at the time. This decision has no legal backbone to support it and will not at all make any sense to a sane person.”

Furthermore, she said, “the JSC is not independent. Some members use their position, power and connections (including with judges and the Judges Association of the Maldives) to spread absolute lies to discredit and defame me which has prevented me from carrying out my responsibility according to the Constitution.”

The JSC, she noted, had not even provided her chair in which to sit for over a year. “Every time I sit down somewhere in the office they find another use for the space the next day. Junior staff don’t even seem to think I’m a member of the commission.”

On January 3 Velezinee was hospitalised after she was stabbed three times in the back in broad daylight on the main tourist street of Male’, an attack international organisations such as Transparency International have condemned as potentially “politically motivated.”

Velezinee said she has repeatedly asked the Commission to stop paying the allowance into her bank account, “even giving them cheques for the money”, but says she is always met with prevarication. The budget shows that Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad, also a JSC member, has declined to receive any money from the Commission.

Despite drawing the allowances that Velezinee alleges are fraudulent, the Commission also failed to investigate any of the 140 complaints against judges sent to it in 2010. Furthermore, 122 complaints sent to the Commission in 2009 were rejected “as irrelevant.”

A statement issued by the JSC claimed that parliament had approved the allowances.

”Although that is the truth, on January 10, 2011, Presidential Member of the Commission Aishath Velezinee misinformed the media about this without clarifying the matter,” read the statement. ”We advise her to uphold the code of conduct as mentioned in article 17 of the Judicial Service Commission.”

Yesterday JSC President Adam Mohamed and Vice President Dr Afrasheem Ali called a press conference in the JSC’s meeting room, but cancelled it after Velezinee attended the press conference and sat with the journalists.

The press conference was later held in Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) studio without Velezinee being informed.

During the conference, when journalists questioned why the first meeting was canceled, Adam replied that no members of the commission other than those who the commission decided could attend were permitted to attend the press conference.

Haveeru reported Deputy Commissioner Dr Afrasheem Ali as saying the constitution did not say that the allowance could not be given unless the parliament approved it.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has said it will begin investigating the case as a serious issue.

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Former President to launch DRP campaign with rally at Guraidhoo

Former President and main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) ‘Honorary Leader’ Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is leaving for Guraidhoo in Kaafu Atoll, along with a DRP campaign team including the party’s former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf said that tonight a rally would be held at Guraidhoo to gain support for the party.

”We do not have much time, so we would not be traveling to many islands this time,” DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf explained. ”But we will be going to islands such as Villingili in Gaafu Alifu Atoll and Fuvamulah.”

Mahlouf said that during tonight’s rally, only Gayoom would address the people of the island.

”Umar Naseer will be addressing the people of other islands,” he said. ”Our Honorary Leader believes that Umar is still the Deputy Leader of the party and so do I.”

The Elections Commission has previously stated that Naseer was removed from the party’s membership list following a request from the senior party’s leadership.

DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was invited to join the campaign team, Mahlouf said, but said he did not know whether he would attend.

”I read in the paper that Thasmeen is going in another direction, I don’t know much about him,” Mahlouf said. ”MPs like Ahmed Nihan and Ali Arif are in our campaign team.”

Mahlouf said that Gayoom will hold a final rally in Male’ on February 3, which he said would be the final rally before the Local Council Elections.

”After the Local Council Elections we will resolve Umar’s issue,” he said.

DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told Minivan News that he had scheduled another rally at Thulusdhoo tonight.

”We are all working to achieve one goal. I think it would be much more successful if we campaign separately in different parts of the country so that we can broaden the campaign,” said Thasmeen. ”According to my travel schedule I will not meet the Honorary Leader during the campaign.”

Thasmeen noted that while Gayoom was traveling to Haa Dhaalu Atoll this weekend, he was scheduled to visit Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

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Male’ could be expanded to increase availability of shelter, says President

President Mohamed Nasheed has raised the possibility of expanding Male’ by reclaiming land from nearby reefs.

”It is not impossible to provide shelter for all the citizens living in Male’,” said Nasheed, adding that the housing crisis could be mitigated “using technology”.

”Instead of looking east of Male’, another solution lies in the reefs at west of Male’,” he said.

Nasheed said that the reefs around Villingili, Gulhi, Thilafushi, Giraavaru and could potentially be reclaimed and and populated.

”As a result we can produce land, link them together and provide housing for people of Male’ and people living in Male’,” he said. ”It is something we could and most probably will do, by divine will.”

This week the president launched phase one of ”Veshi Fahi Male’,” a program to alleviate congestion caused in Male’. The city is the world’s most densely populated, with over 100,000 people living in just two square kilometres – a third of the country’s population.

Under phase 1 of the Veshi Fahi Male’ program, a total of 1,000 parties in the first category will be able to apply for housing schemes. This includes 500 housing units in Malé, 250 housing units in Hulhumalé, and 250 housing plots in Hulhumalé.

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Privileges Bill will see Maldives MPs earning on par with Sweden

A comparison of Maldivian MPs salaries and allowances with those of MPs in other countries reveals that should the recently-passed MP Privilieges Bill be ratified, Maldivian MPs will earn thousands more than their counterparts in many developed countries.

The comparative list, currently being circulated by protesters on the ‘Majlis Membarunge Musaara Bodu kurumaa Dhekolhah’ Facebook group lobbying against the recently-passed MP Privileges Bill, notes that Majlis MPs have voted themselves a total monthly salary increase from US$4863 to US$7083 (including base salary and allowances of $US1667), despite the country having a crippling budget deficit of over US$370 million.

According to the comparison, also available as an interactive graph, an Indian MP earns US$5966 per month, a French MP US$6651 and an Italian MP US$6936.

In fact if the bill were ratified in its current state, a Maldivian MP would earn just US$215 a month less than MPs in Sweden, one of the world’s most highly developed economies and ranked ninth in the United Nations’ Human Development Index. The Maldives ranked 86th.

Ahmed Adheeb, a local financial consultant in the private sector, observed that MPs were seeking to raise their salaries and allowances at a time when the country was in a “very critical economic situation”, and under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to drastically cut the wage bill for civil servants and independent institutions.

“I hope the President does not ratify it, for the sake of the country,” he said, suggesting that neither parliament or the independent institutions had performed to a standard befitting a substantial pay increase in a climate of economic catastrophe.

“Parliament and independent institutions are trying to give themselves increased pay and benefits without justifying what the country is getting in return – for instance, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has not concluded a case since 2008,” he observed.

“We haven’t had an Auditor General appointed for over a year. Banks are investing in T-bills and bonds because they feel they are more secure, and so they are giving loans to the private sector. The Maldive Monetary Authority (MMA)’s foreign exchange reserve is falling. Everyone, including the IMF, has agreed we are in bad shape.”

While the deficit had improved to 16 percent of GDP, this was in part due to several “once-off” income events such as the US$78 million upfront payment from Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

“I think people need to realise how bad the situation is – very few people are talking about the economy,” Adheeb said.

DRP MP Rozaina Adam, who voted in favour of the MP Privileges Bill, said the party had a whip line “and most MPs wanted to pass it”.

“It’s unfortunate that parliament has to decide its own salary,” she noted. “Ministers don’t decide their own salaries, we do it. On the other hand, it is written in the constitution that we determine our own.”

Rozaina explained that the figure of Rf 62,500 (US$4883) commonly given as the MPs salary “is not our full salary – it includes our living allowances, phone bills, secretariat, travel.”

It was also important to note, she said, that in the Maldives an MP’s salary “is also seen as a welfare fund by many people. If anything goes wrong, constituents go to their MPs. It has been like this for a long time now, and I feel we need to move out of it – these are things that are supposed to be done by the government, but it has been a tradition for a long time to ask MPs. When someone comes and says their nine year-old needs a kidney transplant, it is hard to say no. In the long term, this means that only rich people can be MPs.”

Nonetheless, Rozaina said, protests outside parliament over the MP’s salary increases “don’t really reflect what the public is thinking. Most of [the protesters] were MDP supporters. I think the government is very unpopular at the moment, and because of that the President is trying to degrade the work of parliament. and the government is doing its best to make people think parliament is not doing enough. After the bill was passed I travelled to Haa Alif and Haa Dhaal Atolls and nobody was talking about it there, and there were no protests.”

Adheeb suggested that because of the penchant in parliament and independent institutions for members to approve themselves salary increases, “I propose an independent commission to structure the pay scale, linked to the economy and bench-marked against the private sector – because it is the private sector that generates the income for the government.”

The country’s fledgling democracy, he said, was proving too expensive for the economy to sustain.

“The Constitution cannot be financed like this. When democracy first arrived in the US, people gave their own time to work in the Senate,” he noted.

Further taxing the private sector to fund a bloated state wage bill, he said, such as with the recently-passed Business Profit Tax, could not be done without improving confidence in the private sector.

“We have not had a direct tax on businesses before, instead we have had duties and a high import tax, relative to other countries, and businesses have passed the tax on to the public. Businesses prefer direct taxes, because it is a tax after profit rather than a tax on imports during operations. But my concern is not so much increased taxes, but whether the money that is being collected is being invested in good purposes.”

None of the three arms of state, or any of the independent institutions, were really concerned with the economy, Adheeb said, “just their own policies and agendas.”

“Parliament has passed a budget with a huge deficit, but if you see any of their statements, they say they are worried about the economy. Yet now they are increasing their benefits.”

MP’s salaries compared:

Maldives
MP’s monthly salary (US $):7,083
(Base Salary: 5,416 & Allowance: 1,667)
GDP (US $) (2009 est): 1.683 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est): -$370 million

Sri Lanka
MP’s monthly salary (US $):877
Plus Rs 500 for every parliamentary session
GDP (US $) (2009 est): 96.47 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$291 million

India
MP’s monthly salary (US $):5,966
GDP (US $) (2009 est):3.68 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$26.63 billion

Singapore
MP’s monthly salary (US $):9,264
GDP (US $) (2009 est):251.2 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):32.63 billion

UK
MP’s monthly salary (US $):8,552
GDP (US $) (2009 est):2.123 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$23.65 billion

US
MP’s monthly salary (US $):14,500
GDP (US $) (2009 est):14.12 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$378.4 billion

Australia
MP’s monthly salary (US $):9,687
GDP (US $) (2009 est):321.6 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):8.73 billion

France
MP’s monthly salary (US $):6,651
GDP (US $) (2009 est):2.094 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$51.86 billion

Italy
MP’s monthly salary (US $):6,936
GDP (US $) (2009 est):1.737 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$66.2 billion

Sweden
MP’s monthly salary (US $):7,298
GDP (US $) (2009 est):335.1 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):30.23 billion

Interactive comparison: http://www.shakeupmedia.com/mpsalary/

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Comment: MP Privileges Bill about building status, not state

On December 28, 2010, the Peoples’ Majlis passed Bill No 29/2010, the ‘Imthiyaz Bill’ or parliamentary privileges bill, among a host of others as members prepared to take their two month annual holiday from the Majlis floor.

The bill, which was submitted by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, was passed with 44 ‘yes’ votes, 21 ‘no’ votes and 10 abstentions.

This is a substantial level of agreement in a parliament fiercely divided by party lines and plagued by frequent public displays of discord and disagreement on the floor which ends in cancellation of proceedings.

On December 15, 2010, prior to the passage of the privileges bill, the parliamentary Financial Committee submitted a report to the floor proposing to award themselves a “committee allowance” of Rf 20,000 (US$1550), increasing the already inflated MP salary of Rf 62,500 (US$4860) to Rf 82,500 (US$6420) per month.

Understandably, this caused public outrage which strangely appears to have taken some MPs by surprise.

The two different instances of personal privileges and remunerations are being sought by MPs at a time when the government is struggling to cope with an all-time high budget deficit, and being heavily criticised for making controversial cut-backs in civil service wages. These developments have lead to a considerable build up of public frustration, dissatisfaction and loss of confidence in the parliament.

On December 30, 2010, protesters gathered outside the parliament building demanding the resignation of MPs and the whole parliament, and ridiculed MPs for asking payment to “get out of bed”!

A few young people went so far as to call for a “Majlis Fund” and joined the protest with a cardboard donation box, raising funds for the allegedly destitute MPs.

Two days later on January 2, 2011, another public demonstration took place at Raalhugandu where protesters demanded MPs show accountability to the people and called for the reinstatement of civil servants’ wages and the scrapping of the proposed MP salary increment.

Citizen opinion

An open Facebook group entitled “Majlis membarunge musaara bodukurumaa dhekolhah” (“against MP salary increment”, sprang up virtually overnight and has attracted nearly 2000 members in just over a week.

As the momentum of the public protest gathered speed, a group of concerned citizens met at the social centre (MCSE) in Malé on the evening of January 8, 2011 to discuss and analyse the privileges bill.

Several lawyers and an economic analyst gave presentations on the issues arising from the bill. Two MPs, Mr Ahmed Nihan and Mr Ahmed Mahloof attended the meeting. They explained to the audience some of the difficulties conducting their work, including their obligation to follow the party line as well as the issue of getting insufficient time to read bills before voting.

Both MPs – who incidentally had voted in favour of the bill – said that they now supported those speaking out against the bill.

Nihan informed a member of the audience that he would not support the bill any more. This brings little comfort for citizens who find the contents of the privileges bill a parliamentary disgrace. The fact that an MP tried to justify voting for a bill he did not have time to read, further undermined any efforts for redemption.

On the evening of January 9, 2011, MNBC One aired a live panel discussion organised by three NGOs: Strength of Society, Madulu and the Maldivian Democracy Network.

The four panellists were practising lawyers Ali Hussain, Ahmed Abdulla Afeef and Shafaz Wajeeh, as well as economic expert Mr Ahmed Adheeb. The panel was moderated by prominent social advocate Salma Fikry.

Opening the discussion, Shafaz explained that the main purpose of the 400 year old principle of parliamentary privileges was to facilitate the unobstructed and independent freedom for MPs to perform their duties and functions as MPs.

However, nearly 75 percent of the “privileges” in the Maldivian MPs privileges bill, the panel argued, went beyond the remit of the principle of parliamentary privilege. In fact, it appears that the elected MPs of the new Maldivian democracy have attempted to redefine the whole concept of parliamentary privilege, as practiced in established democracies around the world. Privilege in the context of parliamentary practice had become distorted to personal status building.

Issues and concerns

Critics of the bill raised several concerns. They argued that it contravened citizens’ basic rights as provided in the constitution, contravened the constitution and existing laws and completely disregarded the serious economic situation of the country.

If ratified, they argued that this bill could not be implemented because it falls foul of many existing laws of the country.

The MP privileges bill gives powers to the Speaker of the Majlis to impose jurisdiction over independent statutory bodies, the judiciary as well as individual citizens.

According to Article 5 of the privileges bill, outlining “actions which impede privileges”, the penalties for non-compliance by any individual or institution range from fines between Rf1,000 to Rf100,000 as well as removal from employment or a jail term of 1-2 years. Several other articles of the bill set out similar punishments for non-compliance or “criminal misconduct” as perceived within the bill.

Of the 39 articles in the bill, 30 percent include non-compliance penalties directed outside the realm of the Majlis.

Legal experts say that the harshest punishment for non-compliance with parliamentary privilege in a developed democracy is up to six months in jail. In the fledgling democracy of the Maldives, this has reached a new height.

Moreover, they point out that the current bill gives the Speaker of the Majlis powers to remove from office senior officials of the Police, members of the Judiciary, the Prosecutor General and other such heads of statutory institutions. This undermines the concept of “separation of powers”.

Supported by Article 102 of the Constitution, Article 7(a) of the MP privileges bill stipulates that all financial remuneration including MPs own salaries will be decided by the parliament, meaning by themselves.

A vocal critic of the privileges bill,lawyer Ali Hussain, argued that MP salaries should be decided through a public referendum, even if this requires a constitutional amendment. This is perhaps a valid argument given the situation where the constitution is facilitating the highest degree of conflict of interest by requiring MPs to set their own wages. One could argue that the constitution is setting a precedent for MPs to abuse their powers. And they appear to have done just that in the privileges bill.

Some “privileges”:

  • Article 7 (b) of the privileges bill requires the provision of medical insurance for MPs, their spouses, any children under 18 and parents to receive an insurance package which includes services available in the Maldives as well as any SAARC or ASEAN country.
  • Article 7 (c) states that every MP and spouse must be issued a diplomatic passport.
  • Article 7 (f) states that each MP should be entitled to import one duty free car during each term in office although should such a car be sold or passed on to another person, duty should be paid.
  • Article 7 (g) explains that if a “natural incident or any other incident” prevents the use of such a vehicle, the importation of a replacement would be permitted.
  • Article 8 (a-c) provides pension entitlements of 30 percent of the salary for serving one term in office, 45 percent for 2 terms and 60 percent for 3 terms.
  • Article 8 (e) states that any person who has served as an MP should receive medical insurance (presumably for life)
  • Article 8 (f) requires an official passport to be issued to any person who has served as an MP and article 8 (g) states that such person(s) must receive “honourable status” and should be addressed as the “honourable member for” whatever constituency seat held at the time of departure from the parliament.
  • Article 9 requires MNDF to provide bodyguards if any MP requests for protection at any time.
  • Under article 16 (c-d), MPs cannot be searched (by law enforcement authorities) in a public place unless “absolutely certain without suspicion” of an offence.

Critics argue that this is a non-sequitur highly illogical and outside of legal reasoning which would be impossible to implement.

What next?

As more and more citizens come to understand the distorted, pervasive and impossible remit of Bill No 29/2010, the MP Privileges Bill, they are also beginning to understand just how unfit for public office their MPs really are.

While most citizens neither have the time nor the inclination to speak out against what they see as meaningless political shenanigans, MP accountability can only come with active citizen participation and protest. As the country struggles to get to grips with its new democratic constitution, its MPs are busily seeking to ensure their collective and personal interests at the expense of the ordinary citizen and the financial health of the nation.

While the job of MPs is state building, their preoccupation is personal status building. The MP privileges bill has the capacity to undermine democracy, respect for citizens’ rights and the rule of law in the Maldives, unless its citizens act to make the parliament accountable.

On January 3, 2011, the parliament sent the MP privileges bill to the President for ratification. As they await the President’s decision, concerned citizens are putting their faith in their elected leader’s capacity and willingness to listen to the people and return this bill to parliament, as wholly unfit for ratification given its current ludicrous content.

Read the Imthiyaz bill (Dhivehi)

How the MPs voted (English)

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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EC warns of potential two month delay for local council elections in Addu, pending court battle

President of the Elections Commission (EC) Fuad Thaufeeq has said that local council elections in Addu could be delayed by up to two months, with the EC forced to conduct voter registration again after President Mohamed Nasheed declared the atoll a city for the second time yesterday.

The Civil Court ruled on Sunday in favour of the minority opposition Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP), that the President had no authority to do declare Addu a city until it met the then-unstated requirements for a city, as determined by the Local Government Authority.

Yesterday the authority – currently consisting solely of the Home Minister – published the requirements in the government gazette, and the President declared Addu a city for the second time, after Adduans and MDP activists took to the streets to protest against the Civil Court’s decision and the DQP.

“The Local Government Authority consists of only one person, which is Hassan Afeef, and today I asked Afeef to determine whether Addu Atoll meets the requirements to be a City,’’ President Nasheed said, addressing a rally at Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

However overcoming the technicality raised in the Civil Court was not so simple, warned Thaufeeq.

“When the Civil Court ruled that the first declaration of the Presdient was invalid, it also invalidates all the work done by the commission to hold the Local Council Election,’’ said Thaufeeq.

“Now we will have to register all the citizens of Addu, will have to announce for the elections, will have to elect candidates and will have to give them time for campaign. The commission will have to repeat the whole process for the Local Council Elections in Addu.

“There would be a delay of almost two months [in Addu], while all the other atolls will have concluded the elections and have elected councilors,’’ he explained. “The best way is to hold the elections across all the islands at the same time, by overturning the Civil Court’s ruling.’’

He said the EC was seeking legal advice and trying to determine a way to resolve the issue.

“We have not decided what we will do yet, but these are the issues that will arise if the second declaration is be implemented,’’ he added.

Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad has already said the government will seek to appeal in the High Court, but with the elections scheduled for February 5, a delay could be possible.

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DQP fully supports Addu becoming a city, says party

The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), led by former Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, has released a statement saying that the party fully supports Addu becoming a city, but only if it was accomplished through lawful procedure.

Following the President’s first declaration that Addu would become a city prior to the local council elections, DQP Deputy leader Imad Solih filed the issue in the Civil Court stating that the President had not followed correct procedures and that therefore his declaration was invalid.

On Sunday, the Civil Court ruled in DQP’s favour and overturned the President’s decision to make Addu a city.

Adduans and ruling-party activists gathered near Dr Hassan Saeed’s house after the court ruling, and called for DQP to be abolished. Saeed is himself a prominent Adduan.

”The Decentralisation Act was drafted by the government and was ratified by the president,” observed DQP in a statement today. ”The Act very clearly states how cities should be determined in different parts of the Maldives.”

DQP said that if the government was unhappy with the procedure mentioned in the Act, it had the option to propose amendments to the Act.

”There are five ruling party MPs representing Addu in parliament, and to date they have not proposed any amendments to the Local Council Act,” the statement said. ”The President or anyone else should not be acting against the law.”

The party called on the government to cease its attempts “to create civil unrest.”

The Civil Court ruled that Addu could not be declared a city until it met unspecified requirements stipulated by the Local Government Authority. Home Minister Hassan Afeef, the sole member of the authority, yesterday published these requirements in the gazette and President Nasheed officially declared Addu a city for a second time.

However the Elections Commission has now stated that this will require it to redo the voter registration process, potentially delaying the elections by two months.

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