Day: April 3, 2012

Nasheed awarded honorary fellowship by John Moores University

Dr Farahanaz Faizal yesterday accepted an honorary fellowship on behalf of former President Mohamed Nasheed at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom.

The citation was read by Professor Lord Alton and the Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Weatherill presented the fellowship.

Nasheed attended the university between 1984 and 1989 and was recognised for “spear-heading the democracy movement in his country.”

Dr Faizal reported, via her Twitter account, that Dr Shaheed accompanied her in addressing the crowded room, being asked many questions on alleged human rights allegations.

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“Not easy to flush the remnants of a dictatorship,” Nasheed tells Daily Show

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a popular US current affairs program that averages two million viewers a night.

As with many of his appearances to promote the Island President, the topic quickly turned to Nasheed’s resignation “under duress” on Feburary 7.

“It is easy to beat a dictator in an election, but it is not easy to flush the remnants of a dictatorship, they come back, and with a vengeance,” Nasheed told Stewart.

“Since the coup the vast majority of people have been out on the streets in support [of us]. We are not seeing many supporters in favour of Gayoom, but he has the police, the military the judiciary and the institutions,” Nasheed said.

“We are asking the US government to impress upon the Maldives government the need to have elections as quickly as possible,” he explained.

“I can only assume our government is doing everything it possibly can to help, because that’s how we roll,” Stewart replied, sardonically.

“I think they got the wrong end of the stick to start with. I hope they are now understanding the ground reality. I met your officials and was encouraged, but they seem to have to ask everyone around the Maldives before they can say anything,” Nasheed observed.

This meant India, suggested Stewart.

“India is very large and influential – but I wonder if it is an intelligent thing to outsource your foreign policy,” Nasheed suggested.

Watch the show

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MDP calls for suspension of February 8 cases until coup investigation is complete

MP of the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ahmed Sameer has called on the Prosecutor General (PG) to suspend criminal charges against those arrested during the February 8 unrest, until an independent inquiry investigated police involvement in the transfer of power the previous day.

In a letter to PG Ahmed Muizz, Sameer raised questions over the police’s ability to conduct independent and impartial investigations into public criminal offenses, alleging elements of the police and military staged a coup d’état to depose President Mohamed Nasheed and were continuing to target and attack MDP MPs and members.

“Whilst atrocities committed by the police remain uninvestigated, any investigation by police cannot be accurate. Hence, if the PG files these charges at court, can the PG be independent and impartial as guaranteed in Article 220 (a) of the constitution?” Sameer said.

Speaking to Minivan News, Sameer said he had met with the PG on Monday and that the PG was receptive to Sameer’s concerns.

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza has accused the MDP of terrorism and said, “The government will not negotiate in releasing those arrested and charged for terrorism, will not let them be considered political prisoners.”

However, Deputy PG Hussein Shameem said no terrorism charges have been filed to date.

“We have submitted 116 cases to the criminal court. The charges we have filed regard obstruction of police duty, assault on police officers on duty, and attempt to assault police officers on duty,” Shameem said. If charges are proved, the accused may be jailed for six months or fined up to Rf 12,000 (US$800).

According to Shameem, police had initially filed 135 cases with the PG relating to the February 8 unrest; these include 42 cases from Haa Alif Atoll Kulhudhufushi, 12 from Shaviyani Atoll Milandhoo, 41 from Fuamulah Island, 24 from Haa Alif Ihavandhoo, 11 from Haa Dhaal Atoll Dhidhoo, and five cases from Haa Alif Atoll Hoarafushi.

Sameer said the eight people from his constituency of Dhidhoo charged with vandalism and closing of the Dhidhoo police station faced false charges.

He said the police had closed the station voluntarily, after the MDP controlled Dhidhoo council raised concerns of possible harm to police if the police continued to stay on duty on the day.

Although Sameer has called for suspension of prosecution until an inquiry, the possibility of an independent investigation now appears remote. The presidential commission charged with looking into the legality and legitimacy of the transfer of power has said it will not conduct a criminal investigation, and has also come under fire from MDP and civil society groups for unilateralism and lack of independence.

At the same time, the state’s independent institutions have also said investigation into the legality and legitimacy of the transfer of power is not within their mandates.

The EU, Commonwealth, MDP and local civil society groups have called for independent and impartial investigation into the alleged coup, with the involvement of international experts.

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ACC investigates awarding of state-owned apartments to judges

Judges occupying state-owned apartments while simultaneously receiving living allowances are currently under investigation following accusations that they are receiving unfair privileges, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has confirmed.

“We have received complaints that some judges are living in government flats and taking living allowances. The complaint states that giving flats to only certain judges is giving them unjust privileges,” ACC Deputy Chair Muaviz Rasheed said.

Three judges are living in flats leased to the former Justice Ministry, including Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed, High Court Judge Ahmed Shareef and Civil Court Judge Abdullah Adheeb, according to local newspaper Haveeru.

Meanwhile, Haveeru also reported that the parliament’s Finance Committee has decided to grant the ownership of those flats to the judges and has forwarded the matter to the floor for a vote.

A Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP belonging to the finance committee confirmed the decision was taken in his absence during a committee meeting last month.

Minivan News could not get details of the decision at the time of press.

The finance committee is headed by MP Ahmed Nazim from the People’s Alliance (PA). the party headed by former President Gayoom’s half brother, Abdulla Yameen.  Multiple counts of fraud against Nazim were recently dismissed by the Criminal Court.

Asked whether the parliament committee can grant ownership of state property to judges, Muaviz responded that “I cannot comment on as it may affect the ongoing investigation.”

However, he added that parliament must follow the laws while deciding the salaries and privileges of independent institutions.

According to the Judges Act article 39(a) judges belonging to the same court shall be granted equal salaries and living allowances. Any discrimination in giving living allowances or benefits to judges is restricted under the same clause.

Under the state’s revised pay structure, judges of Superior courts receive Rf45,000, including a Rf30,000 basic salary and a Rf15,000 living allowance while island courts magistrates are paid Rf20,000, including a Rf16,000 basic salary and a Rf4,000 living allowance.

The Supreme Court Judges meanwhile receive a basic salary of Rf51,000 and a living allowance of Rf20 ,000 and the High Court Judges are paid Rf38,000 as basic salary and Rf15,000 as living allowance.

The revised pay structure endorsed by the parliament in 2010, raised the judiciary’s wages and allowances by 87 percent. According to the wage structure, Rf89 million (US$5.7 million) was included in the budget to cover the salaries and benefits for 244 judges in 2011, compared to the Rf 41 million (US$2.7 million) spent in the previous year.

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Indian government commits to $8.4 million renovation of IGMH

The Indian government has announced its intention to finance the complete renovation of the Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’. The work is expected to cost US$8.4 million.

The agreement to renovate was made during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attend the SAARC summit in November last year.

Representing the Indian government, P.S. Karthigeyan told local newspaper Haveeru: “This is a special project for India. India still sees IGMH as the most important symbol of the good relations between India and Maldives. Even though we say we are going to renovate the hospital, our plan is to almost entirely rebuild it.”

IGMH was a gift from the Indian government to the people of Maldives, first opening in 1995.

It has been a busy week for Maldivian-Indian ties in which both the foreign and defence ministers travelled to meet with their counterparts in India.

President Waheed is also said to be planning a visit to India next month, whilst former President Mohamed Nasheed is to visit soon after returning from the United States.

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IMF predicts dire consequences if deficit reduction fails

The IMF yesterday warned the People’s Majlis that if the country does not reduce its expenditure, it risks running out of reserves and miring the country in poverty.

“The expenditure has not been under control since 2009. It has been rising, and we have been [issuing] warnings since then,” Haveeru reported the Chief of the IMF mission in the Maldives, Jonathan Dunn, as telling parliament.

Previously highlighting “significant policy slippages”, in particular the government’s failure to curtail spending, the IMF felt it necessary to delay the third tranche of funding in 2010. Nasheed’s government contended that it had tried to impose austerity measures, in particular pay cuts for civil servants, but had been blocked by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and then-opposition majority parliament for political reasons.

Dunn recommended against printing money or obtaining loans from other countries, given the current economic frailty of the Maldives.

His suggestions for expenditure reduction included revising civil servants’ salaries and allowances, increasing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 6 percent to 15 percent, re-introducing import duties, and increasing bed tax by 50 percent, from US$8 to $12.

According to the World Bank, a 66 percent increase in salaries and allowances for government employees between 2006 and 2008 was “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”

Originally, it was foreseen that the shortfall from import duties was to be covered by Rf2 billion in tourism goods and services tax (T-GST) and Rf 1 billion as general goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

The IMF representative also noted that budget figures they studied did not represent the change in the way lease extensions for resorts were now being received.

The new government recently revised the policy on lease extension payments for resort islands, making the sums payable in instalments rather than lump sums. Former Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa has argued that this policy is largely responsible for the current budget deficit, instantly creating a US$135 million hole in the budget for the short-term financial benefit of several influential Maldivian resort owners.

Detailed national income statistics are now published monthly by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). Total revenue collected in March was Rf 648.7 million (US$42.1 million), more than triple the amount received in March 2010.

However, “revenue received [in March 2012] is 37.9 percent lower than the projected revenue, mainly due to the unrealised revenue from Lease Period Extension,” MIRA observed.

Total revenue collected during the first quarter of 2012 represents a 113.9 percent increase on the same period last year. Half of the revenue collected during this period was attributable to the Business Profit Tax (BPT) and GST, introduced during Nasheed’s government.

Head of the Majlis’s Financial Committee, Deputy Speaker and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim, met with the IMF last week and said their main concern was that the 2012 budget “may not be realised.”

“The IMF feels there is a big hole in the forecast revenue,” said Nazim.

He also felt the investigation of the expenditure on the Aasandha health insurance scheme to be relevant, as it represents more than 10 percent of the budget.

Although he described the scheme’s future as assured, he expressed grave concerns over the sustainability of the scheme as currently practiced.

“It is a hole in the pocket of the government. It seems odd that half of the population has used it, there is no epidemic, and yet it has used Rf 3 million (US$195,000) a day on medicine,” said Nazim.

Nazim also mentioned the shortfall of over Rf 500 million from the failure to privatise  Maldives Post Ltd, Island Aviation and Maldives In-flight catering.

Tourism Revenues

Due to the country’s reliance on imports, the waning of reserves was described as very dangerous, with the IMF comparing the situation with that of the Seychelles in 2008.

The Seychelles secured a US$26 million Stand-By Arrangement from the IMF after a balance of payments crisis saw the country default on international loans. In exchange, the Seychelles, whose economy also relies heavily on tourism, undertook stringent cuts, including shedding 12.5% of the government workforce.

The Seychelles crisis was partly attributed to a fall in the tourism trade damaging the country’s finances. Concerns have been raised regarding the effect of the current political crisis on the current Maldives’ government, with some figures suggesting numbers were down as a result.

Dunn anticipated that the tourism figures were likely to affect the amount of the GST that would be received, which he argued could not replace the income forfeited by suspending many import duties. Both measures were introduced with cross party support at the start of the year under the previous government.

The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) had previously warned that the industry stands to lose as much as US$100 million in the next six months due to widespread media coverage of the country’s political unrest.

More recently, however, the Tourism Ministry declared its confidence that this year’s arrivals will break all previous records. Maldives Association of Travel and Tour Operators (MATATO) yesterday revealed plans to specifically target certain markets with specially assigned staff members to help achieve those aims.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal said that the Tourism Ministry did not forecast that the decline would continue.

“The Chinese market is improving. Our [predictions] do not show that the Chinese market will decline to the extent the IMF has said, and we had a positive growth in the last three months,” he said.

Concluding his presentation, Dunn pressed home the harsh reality of the economic climate.

“These are tough steps to take. It requires your [MPs’] cooperation. It is your responsibility as well. This is necessary for the nation. Immediate steps have to be taken. This is the reality, we have to face it.”

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Q&A: Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz was appointed following the change of government on February 7 in what former President Mohamed Nasheed and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) contends was a police and military-led coup d’état. Riyaz had previously served as Assistant Commissioner but was dismissed by Nasheed’s government in 2009.

Daniel Bosley: Why did you decide to promote so many officers all at once?

Abdulla Riyaz: Well, most of the promotions have been overdue for a long time, and when I took office I looked at the reasons and discussed with the executives, as I have mentioned, that we have been working to restructure the whole organisation which I have done. It has been selected to under directorates which would be able to form some departments, and in the departments there will be several units which will cover the whole country. We have a constitutional responsibility as well as from the police act. We have a lot of responsibilities to protect and serve the people, to keep the peace in society, and to maintain law and order so I thought it is necessary that these arrangements should be made and that is what we have done. All the promotions that we have awarded are based on the promotion regulations.

DB: Is this re-organisation linked to your aim of de-politicising the police force?

AR: Well, there is no politicisation in the police any more. But for the last three years, this organisation has been heavily influenced by politicians. I’m sure all professional journalists, if they have done this analysis or investigation, would find that. Since I have taken office I have looked at some of the issues and have found that some of the promotions have been given just because of political influence. There have been some officers transferred from one police station to others just for the political reasons, so I am here to make sure that I am serving this organisation, also the people of the Maldives, without bias. Today I can say very proudly say that we are working without any political influence, from the President or from the Minister. It is totally, one hundred percent, independently operational now.

DB: So, there have been demotions as well?

AR: No, there hasn’t been any demotion – definitely not so far, and I have no intention to either. If there has been any misconduct, any unlawful act done by any police officer; if they have been found guilty by law or by disciplinary boards, through the due process. If that kind of advise or that kind of verdict comes, I will definitely take those actions [to demote]. I will never hesitate to demote a police officer if they are found guilty of any unlawful act.

DB: There has been a lot of talk about reform and enhanced training; what kind of things do you have in mind for the future?

AR: For the training, our main challenge at the moment is to keep the peace in our society. To do that we have prioritised our operational practice. One of these is drug trafficking; the second is violent crimes, organised crime, counter terrorism, and road discipline – so these are the five main operational priorities that we are going to focus on this year. Most of our resources will go to make sure that we get results in these areas and our training will be focused on that.

We said that we would also want to make sure that we can convince the public and increase the public perception about the trust and confidence in the police, we need to improve that. That is one of the main areas we need. For that we need to assure that the police is not biased, that the police are professional, that we deal without any gender bias or without any political differences of that nature.

So, I am very confident that we will be in a better position to get this [confidence] back. I am pretty confident that we can achieve public trust and confidence. It’s just a couple of months that I have taken office and so far the feedback that I have been getting is very positive, and of course I am open for any comments or suggestions from the members of the public;  from which we will definitely make changes to our programmes or our projects.

So mostly, all our focus will be on that. We are doing a lot of training on professional development; investigations to make sure that, rather than on the number of cases we investigate, we concentrate more on making sure that we have more successful prosecutions. Because we have seen in the past a lot of cases that have not been proven at the court of law. That is a big concern for me, so I am working very closely with the Prosecutor General as well to make sure that our officers are trained professionally to investigate, to interview, trained to collect evidence, analyse it, submit reports and present it at the court of law, and make sure we have successful prosecutions. That is the other main area.

We are also very much concerned about our officers safety – I condemn the acts of some of the people who have attacked the police officers. We have not lost any lives but there have been several serious injuries and we had to take a couple of our officers abroad for treatment. A lot of their assets have been targeted and vandalised on the other atolls, on the islands, while they were serving the public. So, one of our concerns is also to improve their welfare and working conditions, plus their working shifts. We know that some of the officers have been working very hard, very long hours and that we need to improve that. For that reason we needed more officers to be recruited into the organisation, which we are going to do this year. We have been approved for 200 more police officers to be included, so they will be initiated this year. We are also seeing that due to the long shifts and fatigue, that we need to make sure that our officers are dealing with the public professionally.

We are getting some of the reports of complaints about police officers’ dealings and because of that reason we have restructure our professional standards. They are responsible to deal with complaints against the police, also to do counselling for officers, and that kind of program has already been initiated. The counselling program will involve almost all of the police officers in the service. It is professional counselling to make sure that they don’t have worries with their families or whatever issues that they have, if that comes back to us, then our organisation will know what are the things we need to improve. These are the main areas we need to improve.

DB: We have already touched slightly on internal disciplinary procedures – have these been changed in any way?

AR: The internal disciplinary procedures all these years has been that, if there is any complaint against the police, the case has to register at the Professional Standards Directorate (PSD). It had to be registered, somebody had to complain. But I have changed it to act that if we hear information from any sources – it is more pro-active. Then the PSD has the responsibility to do an inquiry, and they will also work very closely with the Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM), with the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), with Amnesty International (AI) or other organisations who are dealing with these kinds of areas, so they are very pro-active – more proactive than ever before.

Once they investigate the cases, if they feel that there has been a criminal case, then it will be dealt with by the criminal investigation department, whereas if it is a disciplinary issue, it will go through the disciplinary board. We have a disciplinary board of five or seven members; we have changed the board now. Some commissioned officers have been complained about so it has been restructured so very senior officers will be sitting to deal with the commissioned officers and so that is the procedure. If the board decides that action should be taken then I will definitely endorse it. That is how it is done in terms of disciplinary issues and if there is a call for dismissal then I have to write to the Minister for his authorisation. If it is a criminal case it will go to the prosecutor general who will deal with it in accordance with the law.

DB: Could you comment on recent complaints by Amnesty International regarding the treatment of female detainees?

AR: It’s very unfortunate that it has come up. Normally, these kinds of organisations, before they issue a release, they will ask for our comments. They have never done that; I am very disappointed about that. We have given Amnesty full access every time they asked; it is even now open. We have a very open policy. To be honest with you, even during a demonstration, every time we are working on the street, HRCM or PIC is on the ground to watch us. Normally, if we apprehend someone, before we even know their names, HRCM would have registered it by themselves. So it is in the normal cases.

We are giving them access to our reception, we are giving access to Dhoonidhoo island. In fact, they don’t have to ask to visit, they could just go by boat and say that ‘we are here’, they could make surprise visits – feel free, it’s open. Even Amnesty or Open Society or whatever – please come and visit us and see if there is anything we have been doing systematically to harass or do anything. On that matter, I am very disappointed that Amnesty has released that statement without contacting us for our comments. I don’t see that there has been any investigations done, none of our officers was questioned, interviewed – neither by them nor by the police integrity commission, nor by the human rights commission. I don’t think that’s fair and that’s the reason we had to respond to it [with a statement].

DB: Regarding the investigation of the events of February 7 and 8, what are the roles of the HRCM and the CNI?

AR: I can’t talk on behalf of CNI, obviously, but I think they are investigating an overview, that’s how I feel. They are not doing a criminal investigation. I was interviewed as well and I was told it wasn’t a criminal investigation. So I think we will have to wait for the outcome. I think it’s a very positive move by the government, to have an independent commission to make sure how events took place. The HRCM is perhaps doing a part of the investigation, or the PIC is doing some as well, so let’s wait and see how it comes.

DB: You have already mentioned the public sentiment problems, is there anything you would like to add on that subject?

AR: I can understand that this is not the best time for police, there have been a lot of things [that have happened]. What I would like to convey to the members of the public is that the police institution will remain as an institution. People come and go, the leadership comes and goes; the institution will remain. Even for the politicians or the members of the public who are not comfortable with us, I would want to convince, or give the message, that the institution will remain, so we will have to give that respect to the institution. If there is an issue with the commissioner or if there is an issue with any of the officers, I think we will have to follow the processes; if there is any complaint, deal with it. All these institutions that have to be there within our constitution are already there in place, it’s functioning.

I think that PIC, HRCM, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) are very independently doing the investigations and we should allow that to happen rather than blaming the institutions for no reason. I don’t think that is going to be healthy, either for them, nor for society, nor for us. I think we have to strengthen the institutions, we have to advocate even the members of the public and the politicians as well. The future political leaders must also make sure we give the space to strengthen the institutions.

I think that this is a great opportunity for the Maldives. Why it is great is because now, at this point of time, I can say the police is very much operationally independent. This is the only time I can happily say that. I can see a lot of smiles from the police officers, I can see that they are not exhausted.  I have been scared with some of the incidents they have gone through during  the last three years – some of the decisions that have come from executive of what to do and what not to do. These things are not here, I don’t get calls from my president. That is why I’m saying that this is a great time and I think that this is a time for our lawmakers to look at how this institution has been politicised, how can we improve for the new leaders; not only the executives but also the commissioners? How strong should the commissioner be to make sure the institution is not politicised?

I think these are the [important] areas and, of course, from all that we have seen about the arrest and detention of the criminal court judge, we can see that the whole thing is coming from the executive’s instructions. So what made the Home Minister and the Commissioner decide to come back and ask for assistance from the police, and the Commissioner to go to Defence, and the Defence Minister asking for the rank and files to make him arrest and all this – we have to look at these things. Do we want this to happen again? No. Do we want change of government like this? No. We are talking about making institutions professional, we are taking about strengthening institutions, we are talking about giving them space to effectively run the main responsibilities for the people.

Police are not there protect the government, police are there to protect the people. We have to differentiate these things, while in my position I have to decide whether my work will be to protect the government or should I use all my legal authority and machinery, the resources that we have, to protect the people. These are the decisions; these are two different things. I think in a democratic society, the policing is always for the people and I am confident that the President has pledged [this], and that was one of the reasons why I accepted to come back to the police. I have my trust and confidence in the president, also in my minister, and even if I get do get any unlawful order, I am confident to say that I will say no and I will  never do that. All the actions, all the decisions that we will take will be based on our legal positions, by ourselves. It will never be influenced by politicians.

DB: Has the precedent been set for police to overthrow government when unlawful orders are issued?

AR: I see February 6 as a day when the police have upheld the constitution and the laws of the land. They have been repeatedly instructed and given unlawful orders for which they have [refused to follow] several times. I see that as a day that they have upheld the law and constitution, I don’t see that they have overthrown the government. I see the whole process went very peacefully. I don’t see it as a coup either. I don’t know how it went inside the chambers of the Presidnt or inside his office, but obviously what I have seen is that he was very voluntarily resigning. I saw his resignation speech as well from close by, so I don’t see that there was any coup. I don’t believe the police force have overthrown the government.

In fact, if you look from minute to minute on the sixth, what they have been asking is for one thing –  not to give unlawful orders, that’s the only thing they had been demanding. That was with a reason. Why were they at the Republic Square? Because the seniors asked them to stay there. So, the events have unfolded the next day and several things have happened, and the President has decided.

Definitely, I was never involved in any coup. I can one hundred percent guarantee that if there is any investigation from any agency, I can one hundred percent say that I am very innocent in that. Whatever role I played, it was based on national interest, nothing else. We never wanted to see any bloodshed, we never wanted to see anything happen wrong there and that was a time when I thought that the nation had asked for my support or my presence. That is how I was there. Unless, if anything is proven in a court of law, I don’t think I can be convinced otherwise.

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MDP to take confidence votes on leadership in “coup attempt”, claims MP

A resolution has been submitted to the Gaumee Majlis (National Council) of the Maldivian Democratic Party, demanding confidence votes in the party’s leadership.

The apparent factionalisation follows an attempt by Party President and former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi to introduce a shadow cabinet to the party.

The resolution called for a “confidence assessment” of all the members in the senior leadership of the party, and was forwarded by the party’s Chair of Elections Committee and former head of National Social Protection Agency (NSPA), Ibrahim Waheed.

The resolution submitted proposes that the national council take a confidence vote in the leadership of the party President Dr Ibrahim Didi, Vice President MP Alhan Fahmy, Interim Chairperson MP Moosa Manik and Deputy Chairperson (Finance) Ahmed Mausoom.

In a separate resolution, a motion of no confidence was forwarded against the party’s Secretary General Hassan Shah.

MP Alhan Fahmy has described the resolution as a “coup attempt” to depose him from his position as the party’s vice president following his reform attempts, he  told local newspaper Haveeru.

Fahmy stated that the resolution had been forwarded contrary to the MDP’s constitution.

He also said that he had been elected to the position with a higher number votes than the number of votes that the Party President, Dr Didi, and said he did not believe that such a motion could be forwarded to the national council.

According to article 30, clause (f) of the MDP’s constitution available on its website, the chapter describing the powers of the national council states it is able “to debate and assess the confidence of the President of the Party or the Vice President of the Party or the Chairperson or a Deputy Chairperson, if the members of the party submits a complaint in disapproving their actions.”

Fahmy was not responding to calls at time of press. However the sponsor of the resolution, Mohamed Waheed, said that he had submitted the resolution under the right given from the MDP Constitution.

“I submitted the resolution in accordance with the MDP Constitution. The reason for the submission was that some of the party’s leaders have been issuing statements and interviews against the MDP’s Constitution, after the coup on February 7,” he said.

Responding to MP Fahmy’s claims, Waheed said that Fahmy “should read the MDP constitution thoroughly. The party constitution gives me the right under the article 30. Reforms should be brought in accordance with the party constitution,” he said.

Party constitution manipulated?

Waheed alleged that some officials of the party leadership had manipulated the party’s constitution after it was passed at the party’s congress on October 2010.

“There was a committee selected to draft the party constitution. I was the chair of the committee. The other members were MP Mohamed Aslam, MP Mohamed Rasheed and former state minister of Youth Ministry Mohamed Hussain Rasheed ‘Bigey’,” Waheed said.

Waheed alleged that the version of the party’s constitution on in the party’s website was a ‘manipulated’ version.

“The current version [of the party constitution] that is available on website is not the original version that was passed in the congress.”

“I remember very clearly that the version that was originally passed in the congress did not include a party cabinet, and did not include the phrase that the party president was the highest authority when the party is in opposition,” he continued.

“During the congress the powers of the Party President and Vice President were delegated to the Chairperson and the Parliamentary Group leader. But the amendment to remove the post of party president and vice president did not pass, therefore the two positions remained as ceremonial positions since their powers had been delegated.

“But, the party constitution has now been manipulated and now includes stipulations that were not originally included in the party constitution. For instance, see the powers that are included for the party president in the version available on the party website. It contradictswith the powers of the chairperson,” Waheed added.

MDP President Dr Didi was not responding at time of press.

The MDP National Council is held a meeting at 5:00pm on Tuesday, however Minivan News understands that Waheed’s resolution was not on the agenda.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed is currently in the United States to promote the Island President, and meet with State Department officials. Other senior party figures such as Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail are in India meeting authorities to clarify the events of February 7 and seek support.

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Juvenile Court sentences murderer to 16 years imprisonment, two months fasting

The Juvenile Court has ruled that Ibrahim Asheer ‘Atira’ of Gahdhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll is  guilty of murdering Shahudh Abdulla ‘Faudy’ on February 2, 2006.

Faudy was inside Cinamale’ flat area when a gang attacked him. He tried to flee but was hit in the head with a weapon believed to be an iron bar, fell to the ground and was beaten with iron bars and other weapons before the assailants left.

Shahudh died two days later on February 4. Asheer fled after police and an alliance of gang members began looking for him, but he was subsequently arrested.

The Juvenile Court ordered Asheer jailed for 16 years and six months and to fast for two months. He was also ordered to pay Rf133,333.33 in compensation.

Although the amount determined to compensate the family of the victim was Rf 100,000 (US$6500), it was increased in this case because the crime was committed during the holy month of Ramadan.

Asheer was obliged to pay the money to the Civil Court within a month’s duration.

Shahudh’s murder was notable at the time as murders were considered to be uncommon, and because it was a rare gang-related incident. There were no revenge attacks.

Every year a friendly ‘Baibala’ tournament, a traditional sport, is held in memorial to the death of Shahudh. The tournament is called the ‘Faudy Cup’.

Asheer was only 17 years old at the time of the murder. The death of Shahudh ended a long battle between his gang Shahudh and that of Asheer.

Since 2006 the use of sharp weapons such as knives have become more common in gang fights, resulting in more fatalities.

Mohamed Shuaib, of  Shady Cabin, was stabbed in the neck on August 12, 2008, the first incident in which a sharp object was used to attack someone in a gang-related fight.

One suspect was arrested in connection with the case, however the Criminal Court ruled that not enough evidence was submitted to prove that the accused was responsible for the crime.

On Sunday a group of men stabbed a man to death near the West Park restaurant in Male’. Ali Shifan of Fairy Corner in Maafannu Ward was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

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