Month: December 2012

“Technical problem” prevented former President Nasheed from leaving, Immigration Department claims

Former President Mohamed Nasheed was prevented from leaving the country yesterday (December 21) to visit his ill father in Bangkok, Thailand due to a “technical problem,” the Department of Immigration and Emigration has claimed.

Nasheed was told by immigration officials on Friday morning that his passport was held because of a court order by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court that had been sent to the department on December 18 imposing a travel ban on the former president.

The formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate is currently on trial at the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court over charges of illegally detaining Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed in January this year.

However, on December 18, the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court authorised the former President to travel overseas between December 19, 2012 and January 6, 2013. The letter granting permission to travel was signed by Magistrate Hussain Mazeed.

Following the incident on Friday morning, the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court confirmed to local media that the Immigration Department was informed of the decision on December 18.

In a statement later in the day, the Immigration Department said the court order lifting the travel ban was received and entered into the system.

However, Nasheed was told his passport had been withheld due to a “technical problem with the system,” the Immigration Department claimed.

“The issue has now been identified and fixed a short while ago,” the statement read. The department did not elaborate on the nature of the “technical problem”.

Controller of Immigration Dr Mohamed Ali told Minivan News today that the system error “affected both arrivals and departures from 7:30am to about 2:00pm.”

He added that the incident involving the former President was “the only case” of a passport being held due to the disruption.

“The system at airport did not show the release, while the release was entered on Wednesday (December 18). It was a simple system dependent decision by the duty officer at that time.  We have apologised to [Nasheed] and all who were affected and even have a letter sent to him assuring that he can leave during the specified period,” Dr Ali said.

However, the Immigration Controller told newspaper Haveeru on Friday that Nasheed’s passport was held due to a court order.

“He cannot leave until the court orders [the passport] to be released. When he wants to go somewhere, the court will instruct us to release it within a certain period,” Dr Mohamed Ali was quoted as saying.

Nasheed was reportedly due to leave for Bangkok on a private visit ahead of his father’s surgery.

Former President Nasheed’s office meanwhile issued a statement contending the move blocking the former President’s departure was in violation of the constitution.

The statement noted that article 128 of the constitution entitles former Presidents to “the highest honour, dignity, protection, financial privileges and other privileges entitled to a person who has served in the highest office of the land.”

Moreover, article 41 of the constitution guarantees “the freedom to enter, remain in and leave the Maldives” to every citizen.

“This office condemns in the harshest terms the act by the current government to deliberately obstruct President Nasheed from leaving the country for his father’s operation,” the press release stated.

It added that the Immigration Controller’s claims in the media that a travel ban had been imposed by a court order on December 18 was a “deliberate falsehood.”

The Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court informed Nasheed’s lawyers on Friday afternoon that the Immigration Department was sent the court order lifting the travel ban.

The statement called on the government to “respect the constitution and immediately cease these attempts to harass and hassle President Nasheed.”

The former President’s office also called on the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court to take action against the Controller of Immigration for making false claims regarding the court.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Ahmed Sareer takes up Maldives Permanent Representative role at UN

Ahmed Sareer has taken up the role of the Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Thursday (December 20) after presenting his letter of credence, local media has reported.

Sareer, who was appointed to the permanent representative role by President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan earlier this month, was officially confirmed in the position at a ceremony overseen by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon at the organisation’s headquarters.

In a Foreign Ministry statement seen by local newspaper Haveeru, Sareer praised the UN for its ongoing role in the Maldives pushing for national developments in areas such as human rights and climate change.  He also welcomed the UN’s role in providing the nation with technical assistance such as with the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for next year.

Sareer has previously served as the Maldives’ High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Sareer’s name was earlier forwarded earlier this year for parliamentary approval as a replacement for Abdul Gafoor Mohamed, who resigned from the UN post over concerns about February’s transfer of power.

Gafoor announced his intention to resign from the post live on Al Jazeera’s ‘The Stream’ programme shortly after the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed.

“I believe the new president should have the opportunity to have his views and policies presented to the world community through representatives who serve him without equivocation or reservation,” Gafoor told Al Jazeera at the time.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Government cannot accommodate MVR2.4billion budget reduction: Jihad

Finance Minister Abdullah Jihad has said the government cannot accommodate MVR2.4billion (US$156 million) worth of cuts to the proposed state budget as recommended this week by a parliamentary committee review.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Jihad said that although there was room to reduce the proposed MVR 16.9 billion (US$1.1 billion) budget unveiled last month, the level of cuts recommended by Parliament’s Budget Review Committee were not feasible to run the state next year.

The parliamentary committee this week recommended an almost 15 percent reduction to state expenditure proposed for 2013 – resulting in a total budget of MVR 14.5 billion (US$947 million). The committee’s decision was met with mixed reactions from opposition and government-aligned parties who will vote on whether to approve the budget in parliament.

The committee opted to make cuts to the budget in line with recommendations from both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Governor Fazeel Najeeb as part of efforts to ensure a more manageable expenditure for next year.

A recent mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had urged the government to implement a raft of measures to raise revenues, advising that strengthening government finances was “the most pressing macroeconomic priority for the Maldives.”

Some senior finance figures within the country confirmed to Minivan News this week under condition of anonymity that the reductions made by the budget committee were an “encouraging” development in trying to manage state expenditure, with the proposals likely to receive Majlis support.

However, Jihad said that the Finance Ministry was presently in discussion over potential cuts to state spending, maintaining that a budget of MVR 14.5 billion would not be acceptable to the state.

“If the government agrees to cut some of the budget, I don’t think we can go that level,” he said, adding that it remained too early to give an acceptable figure by which the state would approve budget reductions.

Jihad yesterday told local media that the MVR 2.4 billion in cuts proposed by the Budget Review Committee would impact on the provision of healthcare and education – two areas he claimed had been “neglected” during the past two years.

However, the finance minister said today that the budget review committee had not suggested any specific areas or sectors where the budget needed to be cut, adding there had been “no mention” of further reductions to the health budget.

Speaking to Minivan News yesterday, MP Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that the MVR 2.4bn in cuts had been made largely by reducing “unnecessary recurrent expenditures” within the budget.

Nasheed claimed that the committee had looked at specific areas of the budget where “fat” could be cut from state expenditure without directly impacting services.

“What we proposed was that there could be reductions to internal and external transport [for government employees],” he claimed. “We have big delegations going abroad at present. What we have called for is a 50 percent reduction of transport costs. It is not necessary to send 30 people abroad on trip. Five people could go for example.”

Another area Nasheed claimed cuts could be more easily made was in the purchase of new office furniture that could reduce spending by some MVR 451 million in line with the costs of supplies like stationary and paper. He claimed such expenses could be reduced through more effective online governance.

Cuts were also said to have to be made in the proposed provision of specific services to islands around the country, which Nasheed claimed had never been viable considering the current economic challenges facing the Maldives.

“[President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan] has made many lousy promises on his tours of islands for developments that cannot be granted. We cannot work from a fantasy budget,” he claimed at the time.

Civil servant salaries were not said to be included as part of the cost cutting, according to Nasheed.

DRP view

Despite Nasheed’s claims, the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has said that cutting the budget to MVR 14.5 billion from the proposed MVR 16.9 billion would impact the provision of government services and the functioning of independent institutions at a vital time.

DRP Deputy Leader and MP Dr Abdullah Mausoom claimed therefore that the party would wait for the government to decide whether it could function during 2013 with a reduced budget of MVR14.5 billion, before deciding whether to back the changes in the People’s Majlis.

“We need to know whether the government thinks it can manage to function with this MVR 14.5 billion. If it can then we would have no problem,” he told Minivan News yesterday.

Mausoom said that considering the cross-party composition of the Budget Review Committee that approved the cuts, support for the amendments in the People’s Majlis could prove likely.

Mausoom also contended that the “drastic” nature of the proposed reductions had raised concerns about whether funding would be distributed “fairly and equally”, as well as having a detrimental impact on the running of the state.

“It is a shame that such drastic reductions have been made. We have had a very different year [in 2012] to other years with the change of government. With 2013 set to be a presidential election year should the budget be squeezed as a result of political rivalry,” he stated.

Mausoom said that of noticeable concern was how the budget cuts may potentially impact the work of independent institutions that he said would be increasingly vital over the course of a contentious general election next year.

He added that a wide number of independent institutions in the country had already gone on record to address concerns about how the present budget would impact on their operations.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MACL Managing Director appointed as Transport Minister

President Mohamed Waheed has appointed Mohamed Ibrahim as Minister of State for Transport and Communications after removing him from his Managing Director post at Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Replacing Ibrahim as MD of MACL is Dr Ibrahim Mahfooz, who has served as the Chief Internal Auditor of State Trading Organisation (STO) for the last 16 years.

Mohamed Ibrahim will be taking over from Acting Transport Minister Mohamed Nazim.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

AG drafts bill outlining executing death sentence, favours lethal injection

Attorney General Azima Shukoor has drafted a bill outlining how the death sentence should be executed in the Maldives, with lethal injection being identified as the state’s preferred method of capital punishment.

Shukoor today held a press conference to provide local media with information about the bill, which is also to be opened for public comment.

The Attorney General’s Office has said that it has looked to procedures followed by Egypt, Malaysia and the US in carrying out the death sentence, while also obtaining the opinions of religious scholars and lawyers when drafting the bill.

With the bill favouring the use of lethal injection to execute suspected criminals, Shukoor said the proposals would be open for public comment for one month.

Court procedure

In the case of a suspected murder trial, the bill drafted by Shukoor obliges the accused to be represented by a lawyer during their trial.  In any case where the accused refuses to have a lawyer, the bill would require the state to provide legal representation for the respondent.

According to the new bill, when the Criminal Court proceeds with a murder case, it would need to have a bench consisting of three judges, one of whom has to have studied Islamic Sharia.

The bill would also oblige the High Court to have a panel of five judges overhearing murder cases, with the Supreme Court required to have a panel of seven judges.

According to the bill, any death sentence cannot be executed without the final judgement of the Supreme Court.

Photographing and filming of any execution carried out by the state would also be deemed unlawful under the attorney general’s proposals.

Should a suspect who is a minor, pregnant or in a critical medical condition be found guilty of murder, the bill states that the execution shall be delayed.

Shukoor also included an article concerning the authority currently given to the Head of State to commute death sentences to life sentences.  The bill noted that AG’s Office needed further time review the matter as the opinions of different experts were inconsistent on the president’s prerogative to commute sentences.

According to the bill, a suspect found guilty of murder would also be provided with the opportunity to meet his family on the day of execution and say their last words.

In October this year, the government has announced its intention to introduce a bill to the People’s Majlis in order to guide and govern the implementation of the death penalty in the country.

“It is currently a punishment passed by the judiciary and a form of punishment available within the penal system of the Maldives,” said Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed at the time.

“But for full guidance and matters governing the matter, legislation is required,” he added.

The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

Statistics show that from January 2001 to December 2010, a total of 14 people were sentenced to death by Maldivian courts.

However, in all cases, the acting president has commuted these verdicts to life sentences.

Judicial concerns

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this month, former Foreign Minister and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Dr Ahmed Shaheed identified the “pathetic state of the [Maldives] judiciary” as one of the key human rights concerns he believed needed to be addressed in the country.

“[The judiciary] is not only corrupt, but also coming under the influence of radical Islam, even to the extent of violating codified laws of the Maldives and clear international obligations,” Dr Shaheed claimed yesterday.

“Disregard for rule of law has also meant that a culture of impunity is deeply entrenched, rendering many of the human rights of the people meaningless.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

State guarantee for GMR to obtain bank loans had no limits: Attorney General

Attorney General (AG) Azima Shukoor has claimed that a loan guarantee provided by the former government to infrastructure group GMR would have allowed the company to obtain finance without limitation.

According to local media, the attorney general has alleged that such a loan agreement would have contravened the country’s financial regulations unless approved by parliament at the time.

However, her claims have been dismissed by former Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad, who claimed that the agreement was conducted within state laws.  Sawad helped oversee the agreement between GMR and former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government back in 2010.

GMR’s concession agreement was terminated by the Maldives government  late last month after it decided – citing legal advice – that the sovereign contract was invalid from the outset.

Speaking to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday (December 19), Shukoor revealed that the Maldivian state had agreed under the cancelled contract to act as a guarantor for all loans obtained by GMR under its agreement to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

According to the attorney general, this provision had been approved despite not being part of any senior finance agreement.

Shukoor added that under the primary agreement between the state-owned Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) and GMR, should MACL fail to make any repayments, the Maldivian state would have to cover any resulting costs.

“[The state] is not part of the senior agreement, thus to act as guarantor for loans obtained by another group – whether this was done with approval or not – would be to give a ‘blanket’ guarantee. I don’t think this can be permitted. I don’t believe that even the Public Accounts Committee would do that,” local media reported Shukoor as saying.

The agreement, which states that the Maldivian government is responsible for all loans obtained by GMR, was made with the approval of former Attorney General Sawad, Shukoor said.

According to Shukoor, Sawad had permitted the agreement in writing, concluding at the time that the deal would not result in any legal problems.

She also claimed that approving the agreement without parliament’s approval was in violation of the Finance Act.

“Financial guarantees given by the state should have limits. We are signing an agreement allowing future groups to obtain as much money as they want under our guarantee – I don’t believe that this is a valid legal concept,” Shukoor was reported to have said.

Responding to Shukoor’s comments, Sawad today told Minivan News that he “did not believe” there had been a violation of any law whilst he held the position of attorney general.

“I deny her claims, although I’m not actually sure what her claim is. I don’t think she knows what her claim is,” he said.

“She [Shukoor] needs to figure out if it was a guarantee or not a guarantee, because in the meeting she said that it ‘was a guarantee’ and then said that it was like a guarantee’.  Regardless of whether or not it was a guarantee, the whole thing is irrelevant as she has stated the GMR contract is void ab initio (invalid from the outset),” Sawad claimed.

GMR’s tender agreement to develop INIA was overseen at the time by legal and financial experts including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a World Bank entity.  The deal also obtained the certified approval of former Attorney General Sawad.

Attorney General Shukoor was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Speaking to the committee yesterday, local media reported Shukoor as stating that Singapore’s Axis bank had permitted GMR to obtain loans worth $386 million, of which GMR had taken $165 million. Shukoor highlighted that should GMR fail to repay this loan, then the government would have been required to meet any resulting costs.

She stated that if the government found itself unable to pay back these loans, the image of the state will be damaged, leading to potential implications for securing future finance.

“When we think about taking legal action in relation to this matter, we see that the head state prosecutor has advised that signing that agreement should not cause any legal problems. So it becomes something the state has to honour,” she added.

Despite the former Attorney General approving the agreement, Shukoor stated that government has a strong legal argument over the loan issue, whereby under the Public Finance Act, the government cannot act as a guarantor without the parliament’s approval, which was allegedly not obtained.

“The State is acting as the guarantor to the loans taken based on the transactions between GMR and Axis Bank. I believe that is not something permitted under the Finance Act. It is like a blanket sovereign guarantee. We may not be able to classify it as a sovereign guarantee. But we are seeing an assurance given by the State,” Shukoor was quoted as saying by local newspaper Haveeru.

GMR bid qualification

Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GMR Airports Sidharath Kapur today rejected comments made by President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad in Indian media alleging that the company did not originally qualify as a bidder to develop INIA in a technical evaluation process.

Masood was quoted in the Business Today publication as claiming that the technical evaluation committee during the bidding process acted under pressure from former President Mohamed Nasheed, who then qualified the GMR Group for the project.

In response, Kapur said that the company had won the project in an “open and transparent” bidding process, stating that GMR had qualified in the technical, financial and legal evaluations.

Kapur noted that the bidding process was supervised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and that the IFC had successfully handled such public-private partnerships in the airport sector in many countries.

“While other bidders opted for the ‘earn and pay’ route, the GMR consortium adopted a ‘pay and earn’ strategy, and hence paid $78 million up front to the Government of Maldives,” he added.

Kapur also attacked the present government’s handling of the GMR issue, alleging that the resulting arbitration case to decide on compensation owed to the company from the contract cancellation could have serious financial ramifications for the nation.

“Compensation believed owed to GMR due to the illegitimate cancellation of the contract by the government of Maldives may put a significant and avoidable financial burden on the people of Maldives,” he stressed to Business Today.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Decision to halt live programme not politically motivated, state broadcaster claims

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of state broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM) Mohamed ‘Mondhu’ Asif has said that yesterday’s decision (December 19) to cease transmission of the live show ‘Thafaas’ was not politically motivated.

Speaking to Minivan News Today, Asif dismissed allegations circulating on social media alleging that the programme was halted following a direct order from Dr President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, claiming the decision was taken over a violation of “editorial policy”.

“I can confirm you that no order was sent from either President Waheed or any governmental authority. We are now an independent television station as under the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation Act,” he said.

Asif admitted that the programme had been halted during a live telecast, but claimed the decision was made over concerns that the show’s content had violated the station’s editorial policy.

“We had done that previously as well. As a principle, in a live television programme, if [the show’s content] violates the editorial policy set out by the company, we would usually halt the telecast of that programme,” he explained.

Asked if any action may be taken against members of staff over the issue, Asif explained that TVM had only decided to halt the yesterday’s live broadcast at present. He added that TVM management would need to assess in future how guests were briefed over what they could and could not speak about on the state broadcaster.

During the terminated broadcast, Feydhoo constituency MP Alhan Fahmy and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) council member and a local lawyer Ibrahim ‘Wadde’ Waheed had been invited to reportedly discuss current parliamentary issues.

Twitter response

Despite Asif’s claims that the show was taken off air in line with concerns over editorial policy, the host of the ‘Thafaas’ show, Ali Shamin, yesterday used his personal twitter account tweeted to claim – “I’m done with this, it’s all politics,”.

One of the guests, MP Alhan Fahmy responded to the tweet urging Shamin to “make it clear” for the public about what happened.

“[Please] make it clear to the public. [People] need to know what happened! [Don’t] worry about the job,” read MP Fahmy’s twitter response to Shamin’s tweet.

Speaking to Minivan News, Communications and Advocacy Manager of local NGO Transparency Maldives, Aiman Rasheed Ibrahim said that the NGO had noticed that “an incumbent government had always had the opportunity to unduly influence the content of the state media [in the country]”.

Transparency Maldives had previously conducted a media monitoring programme back in 2011.

“Perhaps the new legislation may mean state influence may not be as extreme as was the case prior to the ratification of the legislation, but the ground reality is that an incumbent government has always had the opportunity to unduly influence the content of the state media,” Rasheed suggested.

When contacted by Minivan News today MP Alhan Fahmy said that he was very busy and had already given information about the matter to private broadcaster Raajje TV.

The MBC has been previously involved in a protracted legal battle against former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration over whether the executive – via the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) – or parliament should have responsibility for overseeing state media.

The MNBC was established by Nasheed to run the state media, removing its employees from the jurisdiction of the Civil Service Commission (CSC). In 2010, the then-opposition majority parliament created MBC and demanded the transfer of MNBC’s assets to the new body, which Nasheed’s government refused to do, alleging political partiality on behalf of the MBC board.

Following the controversial transfer of power that saw President Mohamed Waheed Hassan take office in February, MBC was granted control of the state broadcaster.  On February 7, the channel – then called MNBC one – was renamed TVM.

Meanwhile, fellow state broadcaster Raajje Radio was re-branded as Voice of Maldives. TVM and Voice of Maldives were used as the names for the two channels during the autocratic 30-year rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

STO owed MVR 1.45 billion in overdue bills from state institutions, government companies

A large portion of the national budget had been “managed through the cash flow” of the State Trading Organisation (STO), the Auditor General’s Office has said, revealing the state-owned enterprise is owed MVR 1.45 billion (US$94 million) in overdue bills from government companies and state institutions.

In his professional opinion (Dhivehi) on the proposed 2013 budget submitted to parliament’s Budget Review Committee and made public this week, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim stated that the “state’s cash flow was being managed through STO”.

“This shows that state expenditure is managed outside of the state budget, that this is an ‘off balance sheet’ finance arrangement and that the actual deficit will be much higher than stated in the state budget,” the Auditor General’s report to parliament stated.

The Auditor General stated that the practice was “worrying” and recommended changes to current treasury management “to put an end to depending on a government-owned company to manage the state’s cash flow.”

STO is a public company with an 81.6 percent stake owned by the government. The company was set up in 1964 to import and supply staple foodstuffs and fuel at controlled prices.

In its report to parliament, the Auditor General’s Office revealed that STO was owed MVR 398 million (US$25.8 million) in overdue payments from state institutions and government companies for goods released on credit.

Of the outstanding amount for items purchased on credit, the Finance Ministry owed MVR 388.1 million (US$25.1 million), according to the findings.

In addition, the Male’ Health Corporation (MHC) owes MVR99.4 million (US$6.4 million), Gan Airport Company owes MVR 61.8 million (US$4 million), Southern Utilities Ltd owes MVR 75.6 million (US$4.9 million), the State Electricity Company (STELCO) owes MVR 53 million (US$3.4 million) and the Works Corporation owes MVR 10.1 million (US$654,993).

Moreover, Fuel Supply Maldives, a subsidiary of STO, was owed MVR 186.2 million (US$12 million) for oil released on credit, mainly from government utility companies, the report added.

As a consequence, STO was owed a total of MVR 1.45 billion (US$94 million) in overdue bills, including outstanding bills worth MVR 289 million (US$18 million) from 2011 and MVR 8.2 million (US$531,776) from 2010 and earlier.

A total of MVR 1.15 billion (US$74 million) is owed to STO from overdue bills in 2012, according to a statement shared by the Finance Ministry showing STO’s receivables.

The government’s health insurance company ‘Aasandha’ meanwhile owed STO MVR 18 million (US$1.1 million) in overdue bills, the report noted.

The figures also showed that state institutions and government companies were “heavily dependent on STO’s working capital” to function.

“And as a result of not receiving millions of rufiyaa owed to STO from the state, STO has not paid any dividends to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury since 2009,” the Auditor General revealed.

In November 2011, the government sold five plots of land measuring 87,155.2 square feet to STO for MVR 522.9 million (US$33.9 million) and deducted the amount from monies owed to STO.

“This was carried out by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury following deliberations by the cabinet and based on the advice of the cabinet,” the Auditor General noted.

The Auditor General contended that the sale was in violation of amendments brought to the Public Finance Act in 2010, which stipulated that state assets and property must be sold in accordance with a law passed by parliament.

The plots were sold to STO in the absence of a law governing the sale of state properties.

“Therefore, we note that it is important to further investigate how this transpired and that the Ministry of Finance and Treasury’s plans to settle payments owed to STO from the government must be clarified before the budget is passed,” the Auditor General recommended.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MP Yameen accuses National Movement of damaging diplomatic relations with India

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Leader Abdulla Yameen has said in local media that any damage to relations between India and the Maldives  is the result of the actions of the National Movement.

During an interview with private broadcaster DhiTV on Tuesday (December 18), Yameen claimed that the airport was not withdrawn from GMR due to the pressure of National Movement, which had strongly opposed the deal.

He added that the decision to void the airport development agreement was made by the coalition government after all parties backed the move, according to the Sun Online news service.

Yamin also alleged that during rallies held by the National Movement, some participants spoke in a tone about GMR and the airport development that might have caused diplomatic issues with India.

According to Sun Online, Yameen was also quoted as claiming that the ongoing protests and rallies being held by the National Movement were unnecessary.  He added that the Maldives might have to face difficulties due to the recent activities of the National Movement.

Earlier this week, National Movement steering committee member and Minister of State for Finance Abbas Adil Riza said efforts would be taken to “break up” parliament should its dispute with the Supreme Court continue.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)