Day: February 19, 2012

Dr Musthafa Luthfy resigns as chancellor of National University

Dr Musthafa Luthfy has resigned from his post as chancellor of the Maldives National University (MNU) in protest of the change of government on February 7 after a police mutiny forced President Mohamed Nasheed to resign under what he later claimed was duress.

According to local media, Dr Luthfy in his resignation letter expressed displeasure with the transition and contested the legality of Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s ascension to the presidency.

Luthfy, a founder member of Dr Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP), spoke at the first night of the ongoing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest condemning “the coup d’etat” and calling on Dr Waheed to resign to make way for an early presidential election.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Villa International High School threatens disciplinary action against student

Villa International High School – owned by business tycoon and leader of the Jumhooree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim – has threatened disciplinary action against a student who spoke at the ongoing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest.

According to Haveeru, the high school has decided to take action against Mikael Ahmed Naseem, a grade 12 student and school captain, for speaking at a rally organised by a political party.

Mikael had strongly criticised MP Gasim and claimed that students of Villa International High School were “against the coup.”

A school official told Haveeru that a committee would decide the form of disciplinary action, explaining that participation in partisan political activities were forbidden to students under general regulations for school children.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Two MNDF, two police officers resign to join MDP protest

Two officers each from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and Maldives Police Service joined the ongoing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) demonstration last night after resigning in protest of the security forces’ role in the change of government on February 7.

The four ex-officers – Staff Sergeant Shafraz Naeem and Fire and Rescue Lance Corporal Mohamed Imram from MNDF, along with Staff Sergeants Imran Abdulla and Mohamed Niyaz from the police – were introduced to the cheering crowd shortly after midnight by former Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam as “honourable and patriotic sons of the Maldives.”

The four officers were “not alone” in their decision, said Aslam, insisting that a number of officers in the police and army were “of independent thought.”

Speaking after Aslam, former Defence Minister Ameen Faisal urged protesters to stop harassing and taunting security personnel with chants of’ “Money, money, yes sir!” as “only a few officers” participated in the police mutiny demanding President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation in the early hours of February 7.

Former Youth Minister Hassan Latheef meanwhile suggested changing the slogan to “Money, money, no sir!” in recognition of the officers who resigned.

President Nasheed and members of his cabinet took to the stage to shake the ex-officers’ hands while the crowd saluted them.

The army has since issued a statement contending the two officers had not resigned and were absent without leave (AWOL). According to MNDF, the pair also had a history of disciplinary problems and administrative action had been taken against them.

Day three

Meanwhile the MDP’s mass protest demanding a date for an early presidential election entered its third consecutive day today, with more boatloads of supporters continuing to arrive in Male’.

Protesters from Thaa Madifushi swam ashore after 4:00pm today claiming they were not allowed to dock at the harbour while a large vessel from Haa Dhaal Kulhudufushi arrived this morning.

Addressing the gathering after midnight on the first day, President Nasheed urged supporters to “not do anything apart from expressing merriment.”

A number of protesters spent the night at the tsunami memorial area while the protest resumed the next day with a carnival atmosphere. Volunteers cooked rice with sausages while a children’s evening was arranged in the late afternoon.

On the second night, bodu beru (traditional Maldivian music) groups and local musicians entertained the crowd with improvised songs taunting the police. Among the performers were Sameeu, Fasy, Shiuz and musicians associated with the Dinba family.

Police have meanwhile told local media that the institution would not attempt to obstruct the gathering as long as it remained peaceful.

Speaking for a few minutes after 5pm today, President Nasheed said what was at stake was the freedom of future generations.

“One of the main reasons we can’t stay home indifferent is because we are very much assured in our hearts that there would be nothing more important for us to do than this after giving up our future,” he said.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President Waheed appoints housing, environment ministers

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has appointed Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed as Islamic Minister, and Dr Mohamed Muiz as Environment Minister.

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s daughter, Dhunya Maumoon, was also appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Sheikh Shaheem was ranked one of the world’s top 500 most influential Muslims in 2010 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISC) in the Kingdom of Jordan.

He resigned from his post as State Minister of Islamic Affairs under former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government, in December 2010.

His resignation followed the burning of the Israeli flag in Republic Square over opposition to a visiting delegation of Israeli eye surgeons, whom Islamic NGOs had accused of coming to the Maldivies to illegally harvest organs. Shaheem was one of the speakers at the event, along with current Vice President of Gayoom’s Progressive Party of he Maldives (PPM), Umar Naseer, voicing anger at the acceptance of aid from Israel.

Former Press Secretary for Nasheed, Mohamed Zuhair, told Minivan News at the time that in light of a recent number of protests against government policy allegedly involving Shaheem, “it was possible that the State Minister may have decided his position was untenable”.

Sheikh Shaheem was subsequently employed as a lecturer at Villa College, owned by Jumhoree Party (JP) MP and resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.

Shaheem has been an outspoken proponent of the study of comparative religion at higher secondary level, stating that “it is important for both Muslims and non-Muslims to compare their religions and cultures, and to compare philosophies.”

However he also warned against a move by the Education Ministry to make Islam and Dhivehi optional at higher secondary level.

Presenting himself as the face of moderate Islam in the Maldives, in early 2010 he became the first Islamic scholar from the Ministry to visit the UK with a government delegation.

He attended discussions on counter-terrorism with a range of relevant authorities, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Cabinet Office, Home Office and heads of counter-terrorism in the Justice Ministry, and met with Abbas Faiz of Amnesty International.

“The main objective was to discuss rapidly growing concerns around extremism and terrorism with relevant stakeholders in the UK,” Shaheem told Minivan News at the time: “There was a lot of discussion on ideas, such as how to fight ideologies and radical ideas. It was a very nice trip.”

More recently, he was accused of sexual misconduct in a video broadcast by Raajje TV, although the allegations were never clarified as Raajje TV claimed the station could not release further footage “in the interest of public decency”.

Shaheem responded at the time that he did “not wish to comment on matters regarding my private life while I am waiting for evidence. I will issue my comment when the time is appropriate.”

Cabinet appointments

All but a few of the cabinet ministers remain to be appointed by President Dr Waheed, and will need approval from parliament when it resumes on March 1.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has accused Dr Waheed of replacing the cabinet with mostly Gayoom supporters and senior opposition figures, particularly to the positions of Defence Minister (Mohamed Nazim), Police Commissioner (Abdulla Riyaz), Youth/Human Resources Ministry (Mohamed ‘Mundu’ Shareef, Gayoom’s spokesperson), Attorney General (Azima Shukoor, Gayoom’s lawyer), and Home Minister (DQP member Dr Mohamed Jameel).

Dr Waheed has dismissed the claims as misleading, saying that “Anything other than President Mohamed Nasheed’s government is now being painted as the old government, as a return to the old regime. In this country most of us grew up and got education during the last 33 years, and most of the well educated people in this country worked in government. The government was the biggest employer in the country and continues to be so.

“Therefore don’t be surprised that some people served in President Gayoom’s government. That doesn’t mean that anyone seen in the last 33 years has allegiance to a particular person. This is a very narrow way of looking at it. If you look at cabinet you can see I have been very careful in my selections.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Story of the 1988 coup attempt: Economic Times

Operation Cactus, India’s military intervention at the request of then President Gayoom of the Maldives in 1988, was a spontaneous response, swiftly executed, writes Sushil Kumar, for the Economic Times.

But who would have ever imagined that a mission to thwart a coup in the island capital of Male, would finally be accomplished more than a thousand kilometers away and turn out to be a historic mid-ocean rescue operation.

After the rapid induction of an Indian Army para brigade at the airport on Hulule island, adjacent to Male, the rebel group who were Sri Lankan mercenaries of the PLOTE cadre, ran for cover and grabbing hostages from ashore, hijacked a merchant vessel , Progress Light, which was anchored in Male harbour.

With its motley group of seven hostages that included a Maldivian cabinet minister and his Swiss mother-in-law , the hijacked ship raced out of Male harbour under the cover of darkness. But unknown to rebel leader Abdullah Luthufi on board Progress Light, an Indian Navy Task Force led by INS Godavari with Captain Gopalachari in command, was fast closing in.

As the drama unfolded at sea, the Indian Navy operations room in Delhi was palpably tense yet privileged by the distinguished presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was keenly following the action. The Maldivian president had personally requested that the rebels be captured and brought back to Male to face trial, so ensuring the safety of the hostages and also rounding up the rebels was certainly going to be a daunting task. This was evident from the incalculable difficulty of the mission flashed to Captain Gopalachari, the task force commander – “rescue the hostages and capture the rebels .”

When dawn broke on the following day, the rebels on Progress Light were startled by the presence of menacing-looking warships of the Indian Navy task force that had stealthily encircled the hijacked ship during the night. Agitated and confused, the rebels initially refused to talk and pressed on doggedly in a north-easterly direction. Their intentions were clearly to seek refuge in Sri Lanka; radio transmissions monitored by the IN warships had confirmed this.

After hours of inaction at sea, a terse message from the Sri Lankan Navy came like a bombshell to the Indian Navy operations room: “The SLN had been directed by its government to destroy the rebel ship, if it approached within 100 miles of the Sri Lankan coast.” Our sources also confirmed that Sri Lankan Navy gunboats were manoeuvring out of Colombo harbour.

The Sri Lankan ultimatum posed an operational dilemma for the Indian Navy, since the rebels were hell-bent on taking the ship to Sri Lanka. Moreover, the mandate given to the Sri Lankan Navy also had the possibility of a naval confrontation which would have ruined everything. Fortunately, camaraderie at sea remains a praiseworthy concept and with the hotline as a handy device, a tense situation was promptly defused.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Three injured, one dead in stabbing attacks

One person is dead and three were injured following a series of stabbings in the Maldives capital Male’ last night.

A 21 year-old man, identified as Abdul Muheeth of G. Veyru, was rushed to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) after he was stabbed at 1:45am near the Finance Ministry building. He later died during treatment.

A second victim, a 43 year-old man, was also attacked at 1:45am by two men on a motorcycle.

A 17 year-old man was also seriously injured after he was stabbed at 7:40pm, and is being treated in IGMH.

The fourth stabbing victim was a Sri Lankan man who was also attacked by two men on a motorcycle.

“Police are trying to find out how this happened,” said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

“There have been no serious stabbings for a long time and all of a sudden this happened in one night. We are trying to determine the motive behind it.”

A spate of stabbings in early 2011 that resulted in the deaths of several young men were blamed by police on gang related activity. Following a police crackdown, relatively few violent attacks were reported for the remainder of the year.

Shiyam said it was too early for police to determine if last night’s stabbings were gang related, or connected to the ongoing political turmoil in the country.

No arrests have been made so far, although police have seized a motorcycle in connection with the investigation, reports local media.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

EU targets judicial reform discussions with President Waheed

The European Union has said it will continue trying to work with Maldivian authorities to reform the country’s judiciary following requests for assistance made by Mohamed Nasheed “shortly” before Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan became president this month in an alleged “coup d’etat”.

Nasheed was replaced by his Vice President Dr Waheed after “resigning” his presidency on February 7 – a decision he  later claimed had been forced upon him by opposition figures  and security forces unhappy, in part, with his commitments to reform the nation’s judicial system.

A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, the Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has said the bloc now hoped to open discussions with Dr Waheed’s government over judicial reform on the back of concerns raised by former President Nasheed about the conduct of the nation’s judges.

“Shortly before the events of February 6 to February 7, we were asked for assistance [with judicial reform], as were the UN and Commonwealth. We were ready to look into this matter and hope to discuss the matter further with the Maldivian authorities,” added the spokesperson for High Representative Ashton.

“The HR/VP’s spokesman has already reiterated the importance we attach to the correct functioning of the democratic institutions in the Maldives; we had previously offered the Nasheed government support under the Development Cooperation Instrument for the improvement of governance across the board.”

The country’s judges and their conduct became a major focus for President Mohamed Nasheed in the run up to him being replaced by Dr Waheed earlier this month.  Nasheed had raised concerns over allegations of perjury and “increasingly blatant collusion” between senior judicial figures and politicians loyal to the former autocratic President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

However, Nasheed came under criticism from some international bodies after detaining the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed.  The former president claimed the detention was designed to prevent the judge from sitting on the bench whilst charges against him were investigated.

Last year, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) unveiled findings suggesting that the Maldives’ legal system was failing to serve its citizens despite many “positive developments” that have been made in an effort to depoliticise the courts; with many of judges found lacking in qualifications and independent attitude.

“Catch-22”

Nasheed’s government had eventually consulted international organisations like the UN, the Commonwealth and the EU after describing itself in a “Catch-22 situation” in terms of a lack of mechanisms to investigate the judiciary independently. In November, the national court watchdog, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), was ordered to cease an investigation into Judge Abdulla Mohamed by the civil Court under an action he himself instigated.

Amidst the violent upheaval and pro-government and anti-government protests that have taken place since President Waheed came to power, the EU has said the issue of the country’s judiciary was among a number of concerns foreign governments wished to investigate in light of the transfer of power.

Judicial interference

In an interview with local and foreign media on Friday, President Waheed confirmed that Judge Abdulla Mohamed had taken a month’s leave from his post for “personal issues”, but did not elaborate whether he had been reinstated to the bench.

“It is for the judiciary to decide what to do with him, not for me. I don’t want to interfere in the judiciary. I want our constitution to be respected, and work with everybody to make our constitution work. This is a new constitution, and it is the first time we are trying it out. And so there are difficulties in it,” the president claimed.

“We need to find ways of solving it. It is time for us to work together, and if there are problems with the judiciary we need to work together to solve them – they are intelligent good people in the judiciary and the Judicial Services Commission (JSC). We welcome assistance from the Commonwealth and United Nations to develop programmes and build the capacity of the judiciary.”

EU position

While currently preparing an official statement on the main concerns the EU holds over the ongoing political disputes facing the Maldives, the spokesperson for High Representative Ashton said the bloc hoped to see more consensus by rival political groups including the MDP to move forward democratically.

“It is essential that the business of government can continue and that multi-party democracy and the constitutional checks and balances are preserved,” the spokesperson added. “The army and police should exercise maximum restraint in the execution of their duties which must remain strictly within their constitutional mandate. Further violence must be prevented.”

The spokesperson claimed that the EU continued to support calls for an impartial investigation to ascertain whether President Waheed came to power legitimately or under a “coup”, though provided no details of how this may be achieved within the country’s highly partisan political arena.

“The EU supports an impartial investigation on this. In the mean time we hope there is a general understanding, following our Heads of Mission (HoMs’ ) visit to Malé, that all parties, including Mohamed Nasheed’s party, the MDP, need to cooperate to prevent the country falling victim to political factionalism, which can only lead to further unrest,” the spokesperson added.

In a statement released earlier this week by the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with South Asia, “deep concern” was expressed by the group’s chair Jean Lambert over a “sword of Damocles” he said was hanging over ousted President Mohamed Nasheed.

“The European Union had deployed a team of experts to observe the first democratic Presidential elections held in the country in 2008; a sword of Damocles now hangs above the winner of these elections, with his arrest warrant already issued on unspecified grounds,” said a statement from Lambert.

“We understand a number of MPs and local councillors have also been detained or are in hospital following continued police violence,” Lambert added, further noting that several EU countries have issued travel advisories for the Maldives as “public resentment and violence are now spreading well beyond the capital.”

Since the statement was made, Dr Waheed has denied setting a deadline for the MDP to join with other parties in forming a “unity” government up until the next general election presently scheduled for 2013.  The MDP has maintained it’s belief that Dr Waheed’s government is “illegitimate” and called for power to be transferred to the parliamentary speaker ahead of early elections.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)