Day: June 20, 2012

Fisheries Ministry audit reveals mismatched expenses, widespread abuse of fuel subsidies

The Auditor General’s report on the Fisheries Ministry for 2010 reflects “differences in interpretations” rather than actual fraud in the ministry, Minister of State for Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr Hussein Rasheed has claimed.

Dr Hussein Rasheed served as the Ministry’s Finance Executive from 2010 to 2012.

Parliament’s Finance Committee is currently investigating issues raised in the audit report published earlier this year. The committee on Tuesday summoned Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shafeeu and senior officials of the ministry for questioning.

Committee members expressed concern over the audit report findings. Committee Chair Ahmed Nazim said there was a “systematic problem” in the ministry, while MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa said “nothing had gone right”.

The Auditor General’s report highlighted several cases of the ministry’s failure in adhering to financial laws and regulations.

Issues raised in the report include discrepancies between financial reports submitted by the ministry for audit and actual expenses records kept by the ministry, reporting of unspent figures as expenses in the ministry’s financial report, failure to collect fines and other money owed to the state, bypassing bidding and tender processes in awarding projects, and irregularities in releasing fishing subsidies, among other things.

The disparities between financial statements submitted by the ministry and financial records at the ministry amount to a difference of more than Rf 4 million (US$260,000). The audit report said the ministry had reported unspent money in bank accounts and safes across different atoll and island offices as expenditure in the finance report.

However Rasheed said the ministry considered money deposited to island and atoll accounts for different projects as expenses.

“We record them as expenses after dispersing the money to the atolls. But the Auditor General considers it spent only after the money reaches the pockets of who it was meant for. The money is there in the accounts. It is not lost. This is just a matter of difference in interpretation,” said Rasheed.

He further said that although the ministry had officially responded to the draft audit report sent by the Auditor General, the ministry’s comments did not seem to have been considered in the final audit report.

“We cleared a lot of issues in our response. But the public is only exposed to the contents of the audit report which does not include any of the ministry’s comments. I am quite sad at the distortion of truth by some critics that has unjustly affected the ministry’s reputation,” said Rasheed.

The audit report expressed concern over the failure of the ministry to take action against bad contractors. It stated that in several cases where contractors had failed to finish the project on time, despite several deadline extensions, the ministry had not taken any action to collect fines and liquidated damages owed to the ministry by law.

The report also said the ministry had made payments to contractors without adequate evaluations of their work and to parties who did not meet the required standards for projects.

Rasheed said some of the contracts were signed before the change of government in 2008 and their contents did not always allow the ministry to take action.

Regarding the missing contents in the ministry’s safe, recorded in the audit report, Rasheed said he was confident that “under my authority and knowledge, nobody took away any money.”

“The auditors emptied the contents of the safe on a table which had books and other things already on it. That day they concluded that one envelope was missing from the safe but we later found it and informed the Auditor General’s office,” explained Rasheed.

Commenting on the accusation that the ministry had failed to properly maintain attendance records, Dr Rasheed said the audit report was compiled when the ministry had just started using a new security system after shifting to Velaanaage. He said the system registered staff going out even if they went to the adjacent office to use the bathroom. However despite the use of this system, attendance records were still kept as an Excel spreadsheet.

In 2010 the Majlis allocated 100 million rufiya as fuel subsidies for fishermen. According to Fisheries Ministry records, 75 million rufiya (US$4.8 million) was released as fuel subsidies to fishermen. Some of the concerns raised in the audit report included releasing fuel subsidies to fishing boats without collecting any data of fishing trips made, and the issuing of subsidies to non-fishing vessels such as passenger boats.

The Audit Office took a random sample of 168 boats which collected fuel subsidies on a specific date, and discovered that only two of the boats went fishing on that date despite collecting the subsidy.

Dr Hussein Rasheed said releasing the subsidies was based on the declarations made by the fishermen as it was currently impossible to confirm whether a specific boat went fishing before collecting the fuel money.

“This is a very important issue and we raised this concern even when the initial discussions about the subsidy were held in the parliament. The only way I can think of is installing a tracking device on the boats. Like we have said before, we can’t keep a policeman on every fishing boat,” said Rasheed.

The fishermen are required to fill both sides of a subsidy slip available from the ministry to collect the subsidy. The audit report also highlighted 3543 missing subsidy slips printed by the ministry.

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German tourist drowns while snorkelling

Haveeru have reported the drowning of a German tourist in Enboodhoo Village Resort in Kaafu Atoll.

Police said that the man died while snorkelling on Wednesday morning. His body was brought to Male’ at around 11.45am.

Police said the man was aged 63 and had been holidaying with his wife. Investigations are ongoing.

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PG’s Office to send Nazim fraud cases to the High Court

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has appealed cases concerning the alleged involvement of Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim in defrauding the Atolls Development Ministry to the High Court, reports Haveeru.

The case, which was dismissed by the Criminal Court in February, involves a 2004 deal to purchase harbour lights worth Rf1.95 million (US$126,000) on behalf of the now defunct ministry.

The PG’s office has told Haveeru that it intends to appeal a further four cases previously brought against Nazim.

The judge at the time of the dismissals concluded that Nazim’s “acts were not enough to criminalise” him legally.

If Nazim had been found guilty, he would have been ordered to pay a total sum of Rf5,315,618 (US$345,170) paid by the state for the projects and sentenced to between one to six years imprisonment.

Under provision 131 of the penal code, an extra month will be added to the jail sentence for every additional Rf1,000 (US$65)  if the fraudulent transaction exceeds Rf100,000 (US$6,493) .

In an interview with local media outlet Sun following the rulings, Nazim claimed the four cases were baseless and had been leveled at him by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, using false evidence.

“Today we are guaranteed of the existence of an independent and trustworthy judiciary. Former President Nasheed and the MDP will now believe we have an independent judiciary, because they know that the four cases were schemed with manufactured evidence. These are are absolutely untrue and baseless cases,” he said.

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MP Riyaz Rasheed proposes dissolving DRP-DQP coalition

Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, deputy leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), has proposed dissolving the party’s coalition with the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), contending that DRP MPs are working against the interests of the national unity government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

MP Riyaz Rasheed declared at yesterday’s sitting of parliament that the coalition with DRP “no longer exists” after an abstention by DRP MP Ali Azim allowed the now-opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to narrowly win a vote to debate a motion without notice on police brutality.

Accusing the largest party in the ruling coalition of “making deals with the MDP,” Riyaz said at parliament yesterday that he “strongly condemn the efforts carried out jointly by DRP and MDP to plant doubt and suspicion in the hearts of people about the service of the Maldivian police and army.”

Riyaz noted that the current Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed was a senior member of DQP and claimed that Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz was a member of DRP.

The Vilufushi MP was not responding to calls at the time of press. Riyaz however confirmed to newspaper Haveeru today that he has submitted the proposal to the DQP council.

“The Qaumee Party will decide to sever the coalition agreement,” he was quoted as saying. “Whether or not I remain in the Quamee Party will come down to that.”

Riyaz explained that in addition to MP Ali Azim voting in the Government Oversight Committee against a proposal by the Waheed administration to form two new ministries, Azim’s abstention in yesterday’s vote allowed the MDP’s motion without notice to be debated.

DQP’s main priority was sustaining the national unity government until presidential election in 2013 acting as “a shield for Dr Waheed’s government”, Riyaz continued, accusing the DRP of undermining the national unity government.

DQP meanwhile released a statement yesterday calling on parties in the ruling coalition to refrain from any action that could “encourage the efforts of former President Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned on his own, to bring the two oldest institutions of the country into disrepute and cause loss of public confidence [in the police and military].”

The statement added that “abetting Nasheed’s efforts to cause division and discord among the public is against the pulse of the people.”

It was therefore obligatory upon all parties in the ruling coalition to “defeat and fail Nasheed’s efforts to bring the government into disrepute and harass the police and army,” adding that the security services had become “prey to unlawful orders” during the past three years of MDP rule.

“In spite of political rivalry, what the Maldivian people want right now is for the allied parties to work in one spirit,” the statement reads, adding that the ruling coalition should band together to “uphold the dignity” of police and army officers “working courageously and tirelessly day and night for religion and the nation.”

“Oil man”

MDP’s motion without notice to debate both alleged police brutality and recent incidents involving police and army officers in uniform robbing expatriates was voted through with the support of two independent MPs – Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed and Dhuvafaru MP Mohamed Zubair – and government-aligned Jumhoree Party MP Abdulla Jabir.

MP Ali Azim meanwhile tweeted today: “When MP Riyaz Rasheed voted in favour of Speaker’s no-confidence motion, QP [Qaumee Party] did not utter a single word regarding the need for unity in coalition government and the best interest of the nation.”

On her twitter page, MP Rozaina Adam dismissed Riyaz Rasheed’s claim that current Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz is a DRP member as “an absolute lie”.

“CP Riyaz is not a DRP member. Never was. He was an advisor to DRP on law and order as a professional,” the MP for Thulusdhoo tweeted.

During yesterday’s debate, Rozaina argued that any issue of national importance submitted to parliament should be accepted for debate.

“There are a lot of issues we want to raise concerning this matter [alleged police brutality]. Thus, the only solution is not to dismiss the issue. The way forward would be to debate it,” Rozaina said.

MP Abdulla Jabir meanwhile concurred that motions without notice should be accepted for a debate on the floor.

Speaking to Minivan News today, DRP Deputy Leader Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef lambasted Riyaz as a political opportunist whose allegiances depended on “which way the wind blows.”

“I don’t take what Riyaz Rasheed says seriously,” he said, adding that his remarks had “no weight or substance” and that his political decisions were based on personal benefit and in favour of “whomever is willing to give him the biggest loan.”

“He is the oil man,” Shareef continued. “What he says and the way he votes always depends on the availability of credit facilities to buy oil. Look at his past history of voting in the Majlis and what he has said when he was in the Special Majlis.”

On April 26 this year, the State Trading Organisation (STO) issued a press statement announcing that it would file a case at Civil Court to recover Rf19,333,671.20 (US$1,253,804.88) unpaid by MP Riyaz’s Rasheed’s Meridian Services.

STO and Meridian Services signed an oil trade agreement on March 31, 2010, which offered the company a credit facility worth Rf20 million (US$ 1,297,016.86) for purchasing oil from STO, stipulating that payments had to be made within a period of 40 days.

However, in August 2010, STO lowered its credit limit from Rf20 million to Rf10 million (US$648,508.43) and shortened the payment period from 40 to 30 days, prompting Meridian Services to sue STO for alleged breach of contract.

Meridian Services however lost the case after Civil Court Judge Abdulla Jameel Moosa ruled in favor of STO.

Meanwhile, on Riyaz’s accusation that the DRP was “making deals with MDP,” Shareef said the Vilufushi MP suspected so because he was “number one for making deals.”

“He has made deals with both governments of [former President] Nasheed and [former President Maumoon Abdul] Gayoom,” he alleged.

On the possible dissolution of the coalition agreement with DQP, Shareef insisted that the party was “not worried.”

“DRP is a party that can stand on its own feet now,” he said. “We will always work in the best interest of the nation in line with the views of the majority of our members.”

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Bikini business: the challenges of paradise on a budget

This story was originally published on Minivan News’ spin-off travel review site, Dhonisaurus.com.

With tourism authorities committed to branding the Maldives as a luxury destination, the establishment of guest-houses for independent travellers is presently seen as more of a niche “bonus” for the country’s economy, rather than an up-and-coming business model.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, currently in the process of attempting to claw back consumer confidence in the destination damaged during the early months of 2012, is also in the process of outlining a fourth long-term master plan for pursuing growth within the Maldives travel sector.

As part of these plans, government officials have said they are presently analysing the contribution to the economy of all tourist properties – including resorts, safari boats and guest-houses – before unveiling how each sector will be developed in the future.

While the demand for experiencing guest-houses on the Maldives’ inhabited islands is said to be comparatively “low”, one expert providing independent holiday experiences in the country has said there was interest nonetheless in providing options for backpackers and budget holidaymakers.

As a Muslim traveller first arriving to the Maldives in early 2011, Raki Bench was looking for alternatives to the country’s well publicised island resort experience. Bench, an internet marketing specialist by trade, said that after asking around at what was then Male’ International Airport, he found it was possible with perseverance to negotiate an escape to a local guest-house or even a stay on a desert island.

“We didn’t want to go to a resort and were interested instead in guest-houses and experiences with local people,” he said.

However, when considering the country’s strictly Islamic society, which outlaws certain holiday staples travellers may take for granted at other destinations – like wearing bikinis and purchasing alcohol – Bench said that catering for the needs of holidaymakers outside the Maldives’ resorts was not without its challenges.

Aside from cultural sensitivities, he pointed to several logistical and transport issues, as well as a lack of government support in recent years for the sector, as key concerns holding back the development of the guest-house industry.

Yet almost a year and a half after first arriving to the country, Bench is now the founder of the Guest-houses in Maldives website, which offers specially prepared packages to tourists from all over the world looking for a more budget-friendly, independent holiday experience.

“We find that the business caters for a mix of more budget-focused travellers and also those looking to explore the natural environment in the country. Since 2011, we have started to get interest from families wanting to come to the Maldives on a budget,” he said.

“At present, our main customer-base are Europeans for sure, there are a lot of backpackers staying in Sri Lanka for instance with an interest in coming over to the Maldives for a few days to stay in guest-houses. We also receive some requests from countries like Singapore, but Asia is not our main market.”

The magic number

As the Maldives this year aims to attract a total of one million holidaymakers to its islands, Bench stressed that the country’s reputation as a luxury destination underlined that fact that the guest-house model would not cater for everyone’s tastes.

He added that in recent years, despite previous government commitments to provide more mid-market accommodation for visitors wanting to explore the country’s inhabited islands, further support had been lacking.

“The government has not really been helping guest-houses at all. It is a small sector, but it is showing growth within the wider tourism industry. I don’t see any promotion from authorities,” added Bench, who said he was realistic about the economic reasons for this.

“I do understand why this is the case. After all what is the point in promoting an industry with a value of US$50 a night when you compare that to what resorts can make.”

According to recently published official travel industry figures, the number of bed nights recorded at Maldives guest-houses during January 2012 was up 17.3 percent to 2,867 compared to the same period in 2011.

Over the same period, 622,944 bed nights were recorded by the country’s resorts. Bed nights are used by the hotel industry as a measure of occupancy per person per night.

While the actually occupancy rate of guest-houses was also found to have increased by 2.8 percent in January 2012 over 2011,  guest-house accommodation was found to be only at 20 percent of total capacity, according to the statistics.

Bikini restrictions

From his own experience, Bench said that as the country’s current crop of guest-houses had opened in recent years, not all their proprietors were perhaps experienced in running a travel business – meaning properties were not always being used to their full potential.

“My advice to guest-house owners would be to try and think of the problems they will face,” he said. “Think if there will be daily transfer to your island, think of the restrictions on wearing bikinis on local beaches, therefore is there a resort or private beach nearby?”

Both through his own website, and working as a guest-house product manager for the Maldives Dive Travel company, Bench said that he only offered customers full-board packages. He claimed this was important decision, both as a means to provide the best value for money, but to also overcome the potential challenges in hosting foreign guests.

Taking a typical day staying at a guest-house as an example, Bench said that upon waking up and having a traditional breakfast prepared by their hosts, visitors would then be offered a choice of excursions from diving or surfing, to spending a day aboard a liveaboard boat, private island or even a resort.

“The main reason for this is to leave the island to overcome bikini restrictions. All people who book with us are offered excursions due to the restrictions imposed under local laws,“ he said.

Bench claimed he also aimed to ensure guests booked excursions in advance, as arranging trips such as reef snorkelling or a day on a private beach once staying at a guest-house could prove much more costly.

“You can often find a room yourself at guest-houses for around US$70, which is cheap, but you need to be aware of the regulations and some of the hidden charges that are there,” he said.

Adapting

Despite cultural and legal restrictions on the wearing of bikinis and selling alcohol on the inhabited islands where guest-houses are based, Bench said that increased booking numbers, particularly from European tourists, highlighted that holidaymakers were adapting to the unique nature of more independent travel in the Maldives.

“The increased bookings seen at guest houses in general shows that people are adapting to local cultures during their stay and we haven’t faced too many problems in this regard,” he said.

Aside from guest-houses, with the Maldives’ territories estimated to be comprised of over 90 per cent water, it is perhaps not surprising the safari boats – with their cabins and trained dive staff – have also become an important part of the development of mid-market travel in the Maldives.

Maldives Dive Travel, a company Bench also represents, has itself begun offering guest-house experiences to customers along with its traditional liveaboard voyages, allowing the chance to combine a stay both above the water and on the country’s inhabited islands.

However, Bench said that as a wider industry development, collaboration in the country between safari boat operators and guest-house owners that would allow greater mobiltiy between local islands presently appeared far from viable.

“I know we have thought about combining voyages on safari boats and allowing guests to travel to different islands before. But the only real solution for this would be if a liveaboard boat had the same owner as guest-houses,” he said. “Logistically, for foreign companies like us, this would be impossible to arrange, the infrastructure is not there.”

Bench added that while the Maldives’ laid back island culture was extremely appealing for guests on holidays, a similar attitude sometimes found to be adopted within the country’s ministries and administrative offices also hampered coordination between different industries and sectors.

“Love and nurturing”

Adrian Neville, a veteran of travel writing in the Maldives, told Dhonisaurus that guest-houses had played a role in the development of the country’s holiday industry since being founded in 1972. However, the properties were abruptly closed for many years as of May 1, 1984.

“This was pretty much directly at the behest of the resort owners for obvious reasons and on the spurious grounds of social problems and the wrong type of tourists,” he said. “Of course, now those wrong types are just fine – now they are not ‘hippies’ but ‘independent travellers’.”

While guest-houses had been reintroduced back in 2008, Neville contended that he was not sure whether the general attitudes of resort owners in the country would have changed much, particularly in terms of supporting the fledgling industry.

“The sector is up and running, but it is a weakling in need of love and nurturing,” he said.

Neville claimed that while there was clear interest in the further development of a guest-house sector to allow independent travellers to take in the Maldives, the country’s long-term segregation of tourists from local communities may also serve to limit the potential.

“There is sufficient interest but it won’t grow quickly until the issue of separation or, most unlikely for the foreseeable future, co-habitation with different lifestyles, is resolved,” he said.

According to Neville, there was one key challenge that he ultimately believed would hold back the wider development of guest-houses and opening up independent travel up to tourists.

“Transport. Transport. Transport,” he added. “The ferry system is a sine qua non. A no brainer and a great idea but sadly it has died, withered on the vine as it tried to establish itself. The economic plan to make it happen turned out not to be viable,” he said. “Until this is reworked not enough is being done to open [guest houses] up to tourists.”

Master plan – version 4.0

Ahmed Adheeb, the recently appointed Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, said that provisions allowing guest-houses to cater for tourists were provided under law back in 2008.

However, with the government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan having replaced Mohamed Nasheed’s administration earlier this year, tourism authorities have said they were now in the process of devising an overall tourism plan that would include potential developments for independent travel.

Adheeb said that it was presently difficult “to say where we stand on guest-houses” as the industry was still relatively niche compared to the established resort market.

“The Maldives continues to be branded as a luxury destination within the tourism market. It is a bonus therefore that these guest-houses allow us to supply mid-market demand,” he said.

With the Ministry of Tourism of Tourism, Arts and Culture working with bodies like the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the development of a fourth national “master plan” for outlining tourism industry developments, the exact nature of diversification was as yet undecided.  The third master plan was concluded last year.

“We are formulating our plan right now. This will look specifically into how many guest-houses have been built and how they contribute to the economy,” he said.

Adheeb said that he would be also be looking at quality standards as well as issues of security at more independent properties as part of the master plan before divulging how the government might look to support and promote guest-houses.

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Waheed congratulates new Saudi Heir Apparent

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has sent a congratulatory message to the new Heir Apparent to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Following the death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz last week, His Highness Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud assumes the position of next in line to the Saudi Arabian throne.

President Waheed offered his congratulations on behalf of the Maldivian people.

“While I express my hope for further strengthening the brotherly relations and co-operation that so happily exist between our two countries, may I also take this opportunity to convey my personal best wishes for a long life in good health and happiness for Your Highness, as well as for the continued progress and prosperity of the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia,” read Waheed’s message.

The funeral of Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz on Sunday was attended by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as Waheed’s Special Envoy.

Gayoom was visiting Saudi Arabia to address the Constituent Council of the Muslim World League earlier this month, where he 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.

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.

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Comment: The spy who came in from the coup

Law and order appears to have gone a bit schizophrenic in  the Maldives in the last few days. First the Maldives Police Service (MPS) arrested its intelligence head, Chief Superintendent (MC) Mohamed Hameed, on charges of ‘endangering internal security’ by disclosing classified information.

Hameed is alleged to have co-operated with the co-authors of ‘The Police and Military Coup’, an MDP-affiliated investigation into the events of 7 February 2012. The report was released in response to the current government’s ‘findings’ into the events, published so prematurely as to be available for public feedback even before investigations began.

The MPS says drafts of the Coup Report, along with commentary, were found in MC Hameed’s gmail account. Nobody has yet answered the question of why the MPS was snooping around in the man’s private email account in the first place. Is it normal for the MPS to spy on their officers?

Then the Criminal Court granted the MPS a five-day extension to Hameed’s detention. He was promptly taken to Dhoonidhoo, the Maldives’ most famous prison island.  Hameed’s lawyers lodged an appeal at the High Court on the same day but he was not granted a hearing until the fifth and last day of his detention. Three Justices agreed unanimously that he should be detained for five days, just hours before the five-day detention period expired.

Now, is it just me, or is it a bit difficult to get your head around the question of why the High Court would deign to deliver that judgement at that particular time?  Three more hours, and the detention order would no longer be valid anyway. So what was the eleventh hour High Court ruling for?

The High Court’s behaviour becomes all the more inexplicable in light of the fact that shortly afterwards the Criminal Court released Hameed. It saw no grounds to detain him further. All told, the judiciary does not seem to know quite what to do, with itself or with a problem like Hameed.

What is to be done with Hameed? Was he ‘spying for the enemy camp’ as some are alleging? Or is he a heroic whistle-blower? Is he to be jailed for life, or celebrated as a voice that stood up for democracy?

National security violation or whistle-blowing?

The MPS is alleging that by talking to the authors of the Coup Report, Hameed had facilitated an ‘intelligence leak’. Here’s a Tweet by pro-government blogger endorsed by  Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz.

Was it an intelligence leak?

The Coup Report does not name any names that are not in the public domain already as having been involved in the events of 7 February; nor does it reveal information a third party had not been privy to previously. What the report seems to have done, for the most part, is gather together scattered evidence already available on various platforms on the Internet and other media into a coherent single narrative.

It appears the authors shared their drafts with Hameed, and he acted as some sort of a proof-reader or a fact-checker. Double-checking what was in the report against what he saw and knew as the Intelligence Chief on 7 February. The MPS says it saw evidence of this in Hameed’s gmail account.

In the absence of an Official Secrets Act or whistle-blower legislation (any lawyer wanting to stop practising the art of silence is welcome to contradict or complement this), what is the most likely legal instrument that would be used for prosecuting Hameed?

The Police Act is a likely resource. It is what the MPS says Hameed violated. The Police Code of Conduct says:

4. Confidentiality

Information obtained during police duty should be confidential and not shared with a third party. Information about police operations and information contained within official police records should not be made public unless their exposure is lawfully ordered.

So, technically, Hameed was acting against the Police Code of Conduct when he liaised with the authors of the coup report.

But, what if he was co-operating in revealing a crime? In such a scenario, Hameed cannot be regarded as guilty of misconduct or any other offence, but becomes a whistle-blower. In the absence of a Maldivian legal definition, let’s go by the dictionary definition:

whis·tle·blow·er or whis·tle-blow·er or whistle blower (hwsl-blr, ws-)

n.

One who reveals wrongdoing within an organisation to the public or to those in positions of authority: ”The Pentagon’s most famous whistleblower is . . . hoping to get another chance to search for government waste” (Washington Post).
whistle-blowing n.

What the Coup Report alleges, and is the opinion shared by tens of thousands of Maldivians, is that the elected government of the Maldives was illegally overthrown on 7 February with the help of police mutiny. If so, providing information on how the police mutiny occurred is not a crime.

Besides, information relating to those events should not be an official secret or classified information. What could there be of more grave public interest than knowing how a government most voted for ended so suddenly and in such questionable circumstances?

Would Hameed not have given the same information to the Commission of National Inquiry if it had bothered to ask him? Would he be not sharing the same information with CoNI now that it’s work has begun at long last? Or is this a way of making sure Hameed is not able to freely speak to CoNI?

If the State were to go after Hameed, there is also Section 29 of the Penal Code:

Whoever attempts to commit or participates in or facilitates the commission of an act against the State shall be punished with imprisonment for life or exile for life or imprisonment or exile for a period between 10 years and 15 years.

An ‘act against the State’ is a term so broad that the act does not necessarily have to amount to an offence to be deemed punishable. The State, meanwhile, is defined as:

the Cabinet existing in accordance with the Constitution, People’s Majlis and collectively all agencies that are entrusted with the administration of those entities. This definition shall also include all property belonging to the State.

So, anyone who does anything about anything to do with the State, which the state deems to be ‘against’ it, can be jailed for life, or banished for life?

Then again, the above definition defines the State as ‘the Cabinet existing in accordance with the Constitution.’ Which means that, if this government is found to be illegitimate, the Cabinet cannot be seen as existing in accordance with the Constitution, and therefore, Hameed could not have committed an ‘act against the State’.

Which brings it all back to the Mother Question upon which all other questions depend: is Waheed’s government legitimate?

Should that question not be answered first before pursuing people who talk about it for espionage and/or defamation? Shouldn’t any information made public for the purposes of answering that question be deemed valuable rather than criminal? Shouldn’t holders of such information be regarded as vital witnesses to be protected rather than traitors to be prosecuted?

Every question that depends on ‘if this government were legitimate’ should take a back-seat to that of how the first democratically elected government ended on 7 February. Especially the question of who is the hero and who the villain.

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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Religion extensively used for political control in the Maldives: Himal magazine

Islamic radicalism, which played a key role in the ouster of the government of Mohammed Nasheed, continues to grow in the Maldives several months after his ‘resignation’, writes Yameen Rasheed for Himal Southasian magazine.

“While Nasheed has repeatedly warned of the danger of growing religious intolerance, political polarisation around the issue has also meant that for the first time space has opened up that allows protests and criticism of religious extremists.

Religion has historically been extensively used for political control in the Maldives. While the active targeting of political opponents as apostates might be relatively modern, the Maldives has had a xenophobic view of ‘foreign religions’ for much longer. This state of fear has been carefully preserved and cultivated instead of being eradicated by modern dictators like former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who found it a useful political tool.

As anti-Gayoom sentiments spread, religious radicalism gained acceptance as a legitimate avenue of dissent. Towards the end of the democratic uprising in the late 2000’s, as the restrictions on media and freedom of speech were gradually lifted, Salafi radio stations mushroomed and bookstores began to sell fiery, jihadi titles publicly. A casual stroll down the capital today reveals an overwhelming majority of women wearing burqas – a dramatic transformation that took less than a decade.

Unlike in the Gayoom era when Islamic fundamentalism was harshly suppressed to project an air of stability and peace, perhaps with the tourism industry in mind, Nasheed’s administration publicly acknowledged the problem of widespread religious fundamentalism. Consequently, his government made the calculated move to align itself closely with India and the West, while controversially renewing ties with Israel – a move that sparked an outcry from the religious right.

Nasheed often defended the traditionally liberal, moderate and Sufism-influenced Maldivian belief system, and appealed to the public to reject imported practices such as female genital mutilation and keeping concubines. He also publicly threw his weight behind cultural activities such as music and dance which had long been under attack from the ultra-conservative religious right.

Perhaps as a result, the events leading up to the dramatic toppling of the first democratically elected government in February 2012 had a distinctly religious nature. The first major protests against the MDP government launched in early 2010 were against the government’s alleged plans to permit the sale of alcohol to foreigners in an upmarket hotel in the capital. Following the success of that protest, all the subsequent protests against the MDP government took on a religious tone, labelling the MDP as a promoter of ‘irreligiousness’.

In October 2011, during the 18th SAARC summit in Addu city, opposition parties organised strong protests with radical religious overtones. When monuments such as the statue of a lion gifted by Sri Lanka were declared ‘idols of worship’ and vandalised, the vandals were hailed as ‘national heroes’ by the parties which are now represented in Waheed’s cabinet. These parties also condemned Navanetham Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, when she spoke against medieval practices such as public flogging, which are still prevalent in the Maldives. Protesters on the street raised placards demanding that Pillay be flogged.

The series of religious protests culminated in a massive rally on 23 December 2011, when a coalition of opposition parties came under one umbrella to label the government ‘un-Islamic’.

The December rally exposed a dangerous strategy employed by the then-opposition coalition – a disturbing willingness to steer the rhetoric to the far, militant right. The official website for the protest even put up a demand for people who ‘went against Islam’ to be killed. The article was soon taken down, citing ‘technical errors’, but not before it was reported in the local media.

Although the 7 February police and military mutiny that eventually led to the fall of the Nasheed-led government was sparked off by clashes between pro- and anti-government groups, it ended up emitting strong religious tones by the next day. Videos from that fateful day show uniformed military and police personnel marching down the streets to loud chants of ‘Allahu Akbar!’, as they proceeded to attack the MDP party campus.

Ironically, by giving voice to an Islamic party, Nasheed allowed the Adhaalath Party to run programs preaching the conservative form of Islam to targeted sections of the society, including prison inmates, police and military personnel. When Nasheed announced his ‘resignation’, top police officials, along with the alleged coup leaders, chanted religious slogans loudly in celebration.

Meanwhile, vandals had broken into the national museum and smashed ancient coral statues of the Buddha and other priceless artefacts from the Buddhist period of Maldivian history.

Stanford-educated President Waheed personally holds modern, secular, liberal views much like Nasheed. However, unlike Nasheed, he simply does not have enough political clout to stand up to the religious right. Indeed, in late-February in an effort to cement his support base among the Islamists, Waheed gave a fiery speech, invoking jihadi phrases and calling upon the ‘mujahideen’ to protect the national identity. Recently the Ministry of Islamic Affairs requested Waheed to allow the military and police to grow beards. Given that his fledgling National Unity Party has no elected members in either the Parliament or the local council, it remains to be seen how Waheed will respond to pressure from ultra-orthodox sections in his government.”

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‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam reported to be forming political party

Independent MP for Meedhoo constituency and chairman of the Sun Travel Group Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam Mohamed is reported to be establishing his own political party under the title of the ‘Maldives Development Alliance’.

Local newspaper Haveeru has reported that more than one hundred people attended a meeting held at the Nalahiya Hotel in Male’ last night during which the formation of the party was discussed.

Shiyam was unavailable for comment at the time of press.

The President of the Elections Commission (EC) Fuad Thaufeeq said that he had not yet received any information on the new party. Haveeru said that the registration process was set to begin within a week.

A member of the EC stated that, in order to register a political party, a written request must be submitted containing the names of 50 people who support the party’s formation. After this initial registration, the party is given one year to gain a minimum of 3000 members.

The largest political party in the Maldives, by membership, is the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) with around 48000 members, followed by the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) with around 27000, and then the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) with around 16000.

There are currently 15 political parties registered in the Maldives, although only six of these have maintained more than the minimum 3000 members.

In a leaked audio clip released earlier this year, Shiyam was heard criticising the former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the head of the Majlis’s minority leading party, the PPM.

In the clip, Shiyam discussed the diminishing trust in the former president with Gayoom’s half brother Abdulla Yameen. Yameen is currently the parliamentary group leader for the PPM.

Both men were heard denigrating Gayoom’s political support and warning against his running again for the presidency. Rumours that Gayoom would contest the next presidential election on behalf of the PPM have persisted.

Shiyam expressed disappointment with Gayoom’s refusal to issue him a diplomatic passport and give him land for a boat yard in industrial Thilafushi Island. “These are the only two favours I ever asked of Maumoon,” Shiyam said.

Shiyam was formerly a deputy leader of the DRP, the party formed by Gayoom in 2005 to contest the country’s first multi-party elections. The DRP splintered in 2011, resulting in the formation of the PPM.

In 2010, Shiyam was reported to have had the worst attendance record of any MP in the Majlis.

Rising political tensions in the country have resulted in a number of MPs switching parties, with the PPM and the Jumhooree Party (JP) benefitting from recent defections.

Tensions within the government’s ruling coalition yesterday saw members of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) declare their alliance with the DRP to be over after members of the latter party supported a motion from the sole opposition party, the MDP, to debate police brutality in the Majlis.

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