Day: September 6, 2012

Maldives likely to leave Commonwealth if not taken off CMAG agenda: Dunya

State Minister of Foreign Affairs and daughter of former President of 30 years Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Dunya Maumoon, has said the Maldives would likely leave the Commonwealth if not removed from the formal agenda of the Commonwealth’s human rights and democracy arm.

Speaking at a press conference held in the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, Dunya said, “We call on all the member countries of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to remove us from the agenda at the earliest possible opportunity. We do not altogether deserve to have been put on this agenda”.

Dunya stated that following the release of the report by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), many foreign countries had complimented the commission’s work. While she expressed concerns that “reactions from two countries are somewhat worrying”, she declined to name either country.

President Mohamed Waheed’s government reformed the CNI at the Commonwealth’s request, to include a representative from Nasheed and a foreign legal authority as co-chair. The government requested a retired Singaporean judge, and G P Selvam was duly appointed.

The final report, published at the end of last month, concluded that the transfer of power on Feburary 7 was constitutional, that President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation was not made under duress, and that there had not been a police or military mutiny. It also noted that there were “acts of police brutality on 6, 7 and 8 February 2012 that must be investigated and pursued further by the relevant authorities.”

Nasheed’s representative Ahmed Saeed resigned from the CNI the evening prior to its publication, denouncing its credibility and alleging that the final report excluded testimony from key witnesses as well as crucial photo, audio and video evidence.

While subsequently accepting the report, Nasheed observed that it had effectively set a legal precedent under Maldivian law for the overthrow of an elected government through police or mob action.

This, he said, left the Maldives “in a very awkward, and in many ways, very comical” situation, “where toppling the government by brute force is taken to be a reasonable course of action. All you have to do find is a narrative for that course of action.”

CMAG ministers are due to consider the report in a teleconference on September 11.

Dunya said that should Maldives remain on the CMAG agenda following the teleconference, there were reservations within the government over whether the Maldives would choose to remain as a Commonwealth member.

She said there were a “huge number” of people who felt the Maldives should leave the intergovernmental organisation.

“Should the Maldives continue to be kept on the CMAG agenda, I have to say that there are a lot of citizens and very senior members of the government who have many serious concerns regarding whether the Maldives will stay on as a member of the Commonwealth,” Dunya said.

“There may not yet be an official decision by the President himself, or by any other high-level government official. We do not want to highlight this just yet. But from what I have heard, and the information I have received, there are a lot of people who no longer want [the Maldives]  to remain a Commonwealth members.”

Dunya’s comments were echoed by President Waheed’s Political Advisor, Dr Hassan Saeed.

“CMAG seems in no hurry to remove the country from its agenda. This is a continuing infringement on our sovereignty and is tantamount to holding us hostage,” Saeed wrote, in an article for local newspaper Haveeru.

“Since the publication of the CoNI report there has been absolutely no justification for keeping the Maldives on CMAG agenda –not even for a single day,” he claimed.

“In view of this I would now argue that if CMAG does not remove the Maldives from its agenda in its next teleconference on 11th of this month, we should end our relationship with the Commonwealth and look to other relationships that reflect modern realities of the world,” Saeed said.

The CMAG had placed Maldives on its formal agenda in February, at the time citing ‘the questions that remain about the precise circumstances of the change of the government, as well as the fragility of the situation in Maldives’ as reasons.

The government has maintained that the CMAG ‘lacked mandate’ to place Maldives on the agenda. Following this there has been multiple instances where the government had expressed disapproval in what it termed ‘interference’ by the Commonwealth.

Members from the coalition government has submitted bills in the parliament in late April to withdraw Maldives from the Commonwealth.

The government itself has said in March that it “may reconsider” membership in the Commonwealth.

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Director General of Elections Commission alleges political motivations behind dismissal

The recently dismissed Director General of the Elections Commission (EC), Ahmed Tholal, has alleged that his removal is related to his participation in a strike earlier this year which had questioned the impartiality of certain commission members.

Following his dismissal Tholal took to Twitter, suggesting that his dismissal was politically motivated.

“The reason for my dismissal is to retaliate because we protested, and also because votes cannot be rigged at 2013 Elections if we are there,” he tweeted.

“On March 20, the Elections Commission staff protested. I believe this is the reason for my dismissal,” he told Minivan News. “I received a chit saying  that I’ve been dismissed yesterday because I have another post.”

“I am President of the Athletics Association – that is not a job, that is a social responsibility,” he added.

Tholal explained that he had been on the executive committee of the Athletics Association since 2004 and had been promoted to chair of the committee in July this year.

The strike in question, which included 45 EC employees, demanded better remuneration for staff as well as the resignation of three of the five members of the commission who were accused of acting with bias and in violation of EC regulations.

“They have not been following rules and regulations,” said Tholal. “I fight for the right thing, always – I always tell them they have to follow the regulations.”

He noted that the three commissioners in question – Mohamed Farooq, Ali Mohamed Manik and Ogaru Ibrahim Waheed – were still on the commission.

Tholal also pointed out that other staff members who had taken part in the protest had faced repercussions. He noted that a fellow Director General had been demoted and the Human Resources Director dismissed.

“I will fight for my rights,” said Tholal.

The right to strike is protected by Article 31 of the Maldivian constitution.

Secretary General of Elections Commission, Asim Abdul Sattar, denied that Tholal’s dismissal was politically motivated, arguing that Tholal had acted against the rules of the commission.

“It is against the rules of the commission to have any other job, whether paid or not, it is a conflict of interest,” said Sattar.

Sattar also said that the March strike had mainly been about money and that the issue had now been settled.

He explained that the decision had taken one and a half months to be made, although Tholal has claimed his dismissal came without warning.

Independent institutions such as the EC have come under increasing scrutiny once more following the release of the Commission of National Inquiry’s final report (CNI).

This week has seen prominent members of both the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) question the ability of their own institutions to fulfil their mandates.

Transparency Maldives’ Aiman Rasheed suggested that weak and unassertive institutions must take some of the blame for the events of February 7 and the surrounding political crises.

“The independent institutions need to step up their game by standing for and protecting the values for which they were constituted,” said Aiman.

Although the EC was not specifically mentioned in the final CNI report, it has been mentioned as an institution in need of strengthening by prominent members of the government.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon told the BBC in April that the EC was too weak to withstand the rigours of an early election campaign.

This charge was dismissed at the time by EC President Fuad Thawfeeq and, when asked today about the need to strengthen the commission, Sattar was equally confident.

“We have a good system but we feel there is always need for improvement and capacity building,” he said.

“For any constitutional elections, we will be given two months – we will be able to do it,” said Sattar.

When asked the same question, Tholal suggested that the key to strengthening the EC was to change some of the body’s members.

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