Day: June 17, 2012

Two thirds of MDP membership vote in party’s single candidate elections

Two-thirds of the MDP’s 48,181-strong membership base turned out to vote in the party’s single-candidate internal elections, held over the weekend to determine its presidential candidate.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed ran unopposed in the party’s election of its presidential candidate, however the party’s regulations require any candidate to receive at least 10 percent of the party’s vote to secure the nomination.

Following the final count of the 258 ballot boxes, Nasheed recorded 31,798 votes in favour to 269 against his being the party’s presidential candidate.

Chairperson candidate Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik had 29,044 votes in favour to 2160 against, while Deputy Chairperson candidate Ali Shiyam had 563 in favour to 7 against.

The MDP has maintained calls for early elections following its ousting from power on February 7, with Nasheed resigning during a police and military mutiny under what he subsequently claimed was duress. The party has held regular demonstrations since that time calling for early elections.

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CNI’s new co-chair revealed to be retired Singaporean judge G.P. Selvam

The President’s Office has revealed the name of the retired Singaporean judge who will join the reformed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which has today been reconstituted by presidential decree.

The name of the judge who will co-chair the commission with Ismail Shafeeu was revealed to be Govinda Pannir Selvam.

GP Selvam is a former Supreme Court Judge who served in the Singapore Supreme Court between 1994 and 2001.

According to the Singapore Court of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), where Selvam has served as a panel member, the judge graduated from the University of Singapore in 1968 and will celebrate his 76th birthday in July. Selvam arrived in Male’ this morning.

Local media today revealed that the judge had arrived, without mentioning his name, whilst the President’s Office did not reveal the judge’s identity until this afternoon, saying that there was to be an official ceremony this evening.

The name of the judge was finally revealed on the President’s Office website at around 6:30pm.

President’s Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said that the commission was now “definitely” ready to begin work on Thursday and would comprise the previous members of the commission – Ismail Shafeeu, Dr Ibrahim Yasir, and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef – as well as the Nasheed nominee Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed and, finally, G.P. Selvam.

Abbas also stated that there were to be two resource persons added to the commission to support its activities, including a retired Indian judge. Abbas said that anybody who wished could come and observe the commission’s work, just as with the previous manifestation of the CNI.

The President’s Office also stated that representatives from the United Nations and the Commonwealth will advise the CNI’s work.

Former President Nasheed yesterday alleged that the government was intentionally delaying the revision of the CNI and deceiving the international community.

The initial deadline for the reform was mid-May. After agreements were reached with the Commonwealth, a deadline of June 1 was given to approve former President Mohamed Nasheed’s nomination to the commission.

The MDP and the government, however, were unable to agree on  suitable candidate until June 4 after the MDP’s first 11 suggestions.

Abbas was today reported in local media as saying that Nasheed’s comments were merely intended to deflect criticism from the MDP’s internal elections, which Abbas claimed had “no spirit of democracy” after Nasheed won the MDP’s presidential nomination unopposed.

MDP spokesman Imthiyaz Fahmy today also questioned the reasons for the delay in signing the resolution agreed with the Commonwealth.

“The government is deliberately delaying the process of forming the new inquiry commission as much as they can,” he said.

The reforms have been instigated largely at the behest of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which is scheduled to hold a teleconference this Wednesday.

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Government, MDP Chairman, trade threats of jail time

Fresh from his election as Chairman of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik has said the those found guilty of being involved in what his party alleges was a coup would be jailed for a long time, reports Haveeru.

Moosa’s comments comes two days after the same newspaper quoted the Home Minister and Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Mohamed Jameel Ahmed as saying that former President Mohamed Nasheed’s crimes would see him go to prison .

Nasheed’s alleged crimes, said Jameel last week, were due to reach the Prosecutor General’s desk within a week.

“[The charges] include the case known to all which is the unconstitutional arrest and subsequent detention of Criminal Court’s Chief Judge. I’m quite certain that Anni (Nasheed) would be found guilty in that case by a court of law,” Jameel claimed in Haveeru.

Moosa responded to these claims today that it is Jameel, amongst others, who will be jailed.

“We will not be afraid of Jameel, we will not be afraid of Habeeb, neither will we be afraid of Nazim,” Moosa is reported to have said.

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Gayoom calls for Muslim World League assistance to protect national peace, order and faith

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has called for assistance from Islamic Arab countries in developing education and other services in the Maldives, as well to protect the country’s faith by “groups” he alleged are trying to weaken it.

Speaking at the Constituent Council of the Muslim World League in Saudi Arabia, Gayoom said that cooperation from Islamic Arab countries would be vital to fight political and economic challenges currently facing the country, according to the Sun Online news service.

The former president reportedly claimed that the present economic downturn, a loss of peace and order in the country and efforts “by groups of people to weaken people’s Islamic faith”, were among the most pressing challenges presently facing the Maldives.

The Muslim World League is an Islamic NGO said to consist of sixty members representing 30 different nations.

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Government silent over Maldives bankruptcy claims

The government has refused to comment on claims made in local media by leader of the coalition-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) that the Maldives was now bankrupt and already unable to pay some civil servants.

JP Leader and MP Gasim Ibrahim claimed that despite government efforts, the Maldives was now bankrupt and unable to pay some civil servants after steady economic decline within the nation, according to newspaper Haveeru.

Just last month, Parliament’s Financial Committee revealed that expected revenue for 2012 had plunged 23 percent, whilst spending was set to increase by almost 24 percent.

President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza today said that he was unaware of the bankruptcy comments linked to Gasim and could not comment on the matter, referring Minivan News to Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad.

Both Jihad and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed were not responding to calls by Minivan News at the time of press.

Although the country’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) said that it had been involved in discussions with the Minister of Finance to try and overcome economic concerns, Chairman Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said that there had as yet been no issue with payments to staff.

“As of last month, all payments have been made in full, however it is the Finance Ministry who would know about the current situation,” he said.

Speaking to Minivan News on Saturday, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem said despite some reports circulating to the contrary, he was not aware of any problems with payments to military officers.

Spending review

In attempts to counter its present spending shortfall, the government has unveiled proposals such as a revision to the country’s import duties and Goods and Services Tax (GST) to alleviate its financial difficulties.

The proposals have come under criticism from former finance chiefs serving under the previous government, who allege that such changes “do not make sense”.

Whilst committed to reducing state expenditure, Jihad recently announced his aim to avoid cutting the salaries of civil servants in order to tackle the nation’s budget deficit, seeking to make savings in other areas of expenditure first.

“Civil servants are the lowest ranking of all government employees. We will try to cut all non-wage expenditure by 15 percent. Salaries will be considered after this,” he said at the time.

Despite this pledge, Jihad added that a review of public salaries was set to be conducted by a pay review board that would also focus on independent commissions in order to reach an agreement on the necessary reductions.

Civil Service salaries

Between 2004 and 2009, the country’s fiscal deficit increased exponentially on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill.

The year’s 2007 to 2009 included the most significant largesse as the World Bank found wage expenditure to have increased from Rf 2 billion to almost Rf 5 billion even as revenues began to recede.

According to statistics from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the number of permanent civil servants has more than halved between 2006 and June 2011.  There has been some contention in the past, however, that the transfer of many civil servants to state owned companies under the previous government masked the true figures.

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) published figures for May that estimated the government will spend Rf2.6billion (US$168 million) on salaries and wages in 2012.

Maldives Bankrupt?

JP Leader Gasim – himself a former finance minister – claimed the Maldives had already been bankrupted after steady economic declines in recent years. He said that the evidence of the country’s troubled economy may not be immediately apparent, but would be seen in the “near future” as the state lacked the “necessary finance” to settle debts, according to Haveeru.

Gasim was reported as saying that “pointing fingers and blaming others” would not provide the country with an economic solution, calling instead for parliament to pass bills to alleviate the economic situation. The nature of these bills were not specified in local media.

Gasim’s phone was today switched off, while JP presidential candidate Ibrahim Didi was not responding to calls.

However speaking to local media, the JP leader added that the “actions of some” had negatively impacted on the nation’s economy, pointing to what he claimed were calls for a boycott of the Maldivian tourism industry.

Gasim, Maldives Vice President Waheed Deen and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) MP Abdulla Jabir are among a number of figures associated with the present coalition government that are included in a list of resort owners included in the Maldives Tourism Advisory (MTA).

The advisory, established by the Friends of Maldives NGO, has a website utilising a ‘traffic light’ system recommending guests avoid resorts alleged by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to be directly linked in bringing about February’s controversial transfer of power.

Travel associations in the country have in turn criticised the MTA, expressing “serious concern” over what it alleged was a “concerted international campaign against several of the country’s resort operators.

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Arrest of intelligence chief sign of “growing paranoia”: MDP

Additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has issued a statement condemning the arrest of police whistleblowers who cooperated with the production of its report into the controversial transfer of power of February 7.

Police head of intelligence, Chief Superintendent Mohamed Hameed, was arrested on Thursday and detained on Dhoonidhoo.

A police statement alleged that Chief Superintendent Hameed “distributed information obtained pertinent to his tenure as Head of the Intelligence Department, police matters and internal security, along with [providing] misleading information to certain individuals for reaping benefit out of it to drive rift within police officers and the community.”

He was presented to the Criminal Court that afternoon, which extended his detention period by five days. Hameed’s family have appealed the case in the High Court, arguing that his pretrial detention period was extended in violation of the law as Hameed was arrested over a disciplinary issue and not a criminal offence.

Hameed’s lawyer told the court that there were police officers accused of more serious crimes who had not been detained, alleging that in one instance a senior police officer stood accused of attempting to rape a woman and in another incident, influence a judge in a case involving the police officer’s interest.

His lawyer argued that the Criminal Court judge had extended Hameed’s detention period not based on what the police told the judge, but based on the judge’s own view, and that therefore Hameed had lost the right to respond to the accusations.

In response, the prosecution lawyer said that Hameed was accused not of a disciplinary issue but a criminal offence, and contended that the Criminal Court judge had declared Hameed a threat to society because police told the judge he might seek to influence evidence.

He also noted that the matter involving the police officer accused of rape had been sent to the Prosecutor General’s office.

Several other officers were also reported to have been detained last week, however Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said Hameed was the only officer formally arrested.

The MDP held protests over the weekend calling for Hameed’s release, while a Hameed’s family have appealed the case in the High Court, and said the court was due to issue a verdict later on Sunday evening.

In a statement, MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the arrest of the Chief Superintendent was “further evidence of the Maldives’ rapid descent into a police state.”

“Brave men and women who wish to stand up for the rule of law, for democracy and for human rights are today subjected to constant threats and intimidation. This purge of police officers who the Government considers possible opponents demonstrates President Waheed’s growing paranoia and the fact that his coalition Government are determined to rule by fear,” Ghafoor said.

“MDP calls on the EU, the US, the UN Human Rights Council and others to urgently enquire into the well-being of these police officers and to hold this illegal government accountable for their growing use of violence and intimidation for political means,” he added.

President’s Office Spokespersons Masood Imad and Abbas Adil Riza were not responding at time of press.

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Independent Institutions Committee investigating CSC Chair for alleged sexual harassment

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has launched an investigation into alleged harassment of a female staff member by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair, Mohamed Fahmy.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the incident occurred on May 29 and the victim was a female senior research officer.

According to the paper, both Fahmy and the victim were summoned to committee after the complaint was lodged in the first week of June.

Fahmy was alleged to have called the female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, “I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

Speaking to Minvian News today, Fahmy said the allegation was false “and a blatant lie.”

“The female staff member concerned did not win a scholarship to Singapore, and that is why she is doing this in return,” Fahmy said.

He alleged the claim was politically motivated issue, as she would have otherwise filed the case with police and not parliament.

“All I have to say is that it isn’t true,” he added.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said the police cases database did not show that the case had been reported.

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Political changes in Maldives would have gone unnoticed if not for SAARC: World Bank official

A senior official at the World Bank has told a journalism workshop that attention of the world on the recent political strife in the Maldives is a result of the nation’s membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperationn (SAARC), reports Sri Lanka’s Sunday Observer.

“Considering its size, the political changes in Maldives would have gone unnoticed to the rest of the world if not for its position within SAARC,” Diep Nguyen-Van Houtte told the event, organised by the World Bank.

“It received unprecedented attention from the world’s media due to its position within SAARC,” she continued.

Nguyen Van Houtte told the group of journalists from across the region that the smaller SAARC countries could strengthen their positions within the organisation by focussing on the provision of services such as tourism, medicine and IT, rather than trying to compete with the larger members in trade and production.

“Size is no reason for them to be sidelined within the grouping. Take the example of Singapore. Despite being such a tiny country, the South East Asian nation is at the top of World Bank’s development indices”, the Sunday Observer reported Nguyen Van Houtte as saying.

“This proves that small is beautiful and that size is no barrier when it comes to holding your own.”

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MDP elects Nasheed as presidential nominee

The Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) members have elected former President Mohamed Nasheed as the party’s candidate for the next presidential elections.

Nasheed stood unopposed for the presidential nomination, although MDP regulations state that sole candidates must receive the votes of at least 10 percent of the party’s membership.

The MDP’s current membership stands at 48,181 according the Election Commission (EC)’s figures, giving it the largest membership of any party in the country. Therefore Nasheed had to gain just over 4,800 votes to secure the nomination.

Following the final count of the 258 ballot boxes, Nasheed recorded 31,798 votes in favour to 269 against his being the party’s presidential candidate, after over two-thirds of the party’s membership turned out to vote. Chairperson candidate Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik had 29,044 votes in favour to 2160 against, while Deputy Chairperson candidate Ali Shiyam had 563 in favour to 7 against.

The MDP has called for fresh elections on a regular basis since Nasheed’s resignation from the presidency on February 7 – a resignation he later claimed was made under duress. The party has held regular demonstrations since that time calling for early elections.

The current President, Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, has stated repeatedly that the earliest date elections can be held is July 2013 according to the constitution. He recently also told UK media that he refused to resign and hand power to the speaker, a decision which would also trigger an early election. Speaking to the BBC last week, Waheed also said that holding elections before key institutions can be strengthened would be hazardous to the stability of the country.

Despite the questioned  legitimacy of the current President , MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the party had never wanted to return Nasheed to the Presidency without fresh polls.

“The remedy is election, not reinstatement,” he said.

Ghafoor also stated his belief that, with the reformed CNI due to begin its investigations soon, there was no reason for the MDP not to begin its election preparations.

Today’s internal elections decided upon a number of other key posts within the party including chairperson and deputy chairperson, as well as atoll constituency presidents and secretaries.

Polling took place around the country as well as in three locations around the capital Male’, including Male’ City Hall.

MP for the Hulhu-Henveiru constitutency in Male’ Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik was standing uncontested for the role of party chairperson, having served in this position on an interim basis previously. The position of deputy chairperson was being vied for by Nasheed’s former economic advisor Ali Shiyam.

Both men also appeared to have achieved the 10 percent minimum vote at the time of press.

In-fighting

The elections come after a period of internal dissent within the party, culminating in a vote to oust the party president and vice president from their positions.

The MDP’s National Council met on April 30 to vote on the no-confidence motions against the President Dr Ibrahim Didi, and Vice President Alhan Fahmy.

Hamed Abdul Ghafoor said at the time that the motions had come after both men had been making statements considered to be against the official party line regarding the events surrounding Nasheed’s resignation, alleging they were trying to bring about a coup within the party.

A party resolution on February 8 had declared that the previous day’s events had amounted to a coup d’etat and that Nasheed and his cabinet should continue to sit in the party’s National Council as senior members of government.

The motions were approves by 95 percent of those present and both Didi and Fahmy have since left the MDP, joining the Jumhooree Party earlier this month.

Didi and Fahmy have criticised the internal democracy of the party, alleging that Nasheed’s authority within the party has become too great, blaming him for personally instigating their ejection.

“No one person or a group can hijack a party like that,” said Fahmy at a rally held to ‘free the MDP’ from Nasheed’s allegedly nefarious influence.

Didi and Fahmy have also been quoted in local media as describing Nasheed as a ‘spiritual leader’ who removes anybody that speaks out against him.

Last month, the pair also alleged that the recent removal of MDP General Secretary Hassan Shah, who subsequently moved to the JP, was intended to manipulate today’s elections

Fahmy is reported to have grouped Nasheed with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, charging both men with “hijacking” Maldivian politics.

“These two people had hijacked the whole country’s political beliefs during the political turmoil in the country. This is not an idea anymore. Former President Gayoom and former President Nasheed are here now. The people need to understand that democracy is not something we get by following a certain person’s belief,” Haveeru reported Fahmy as saying in late May.

‘Reeko’ Moosa has since been called on any prospective candidates to replace the two deposed members to halt their campaigns whilst the party considers whether the posts of party President and Vice President are still needed.

Voting for these posts was scheduled for August 31.

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