February 4, 2013 – Minivan News

Abbas Adil Riza appointed spokesperson for President’s party

Former President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza has been appointed as spokespersons for the Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP), headed by current President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik.

Sun Online reported that Abbas had joined the party last month.

Abbas courted controversy in his previous position after he made disparaging comments Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay during at a pro-government rally against Indian infrastructure giant GMR, describing him as a “traitor and enemy of the Maldives and the Maldivian people”.

The government later distanced itself Abbas’s comments, and he was made State Minister of Finance.

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Adhaalath Party vows to reach 10,000 members by end of February

Adhaalath Party has said it will reach more than 10,000 members by the end of February.

Sun Online reported Adhaalath Party Spokesperson Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed – also Minister of Islamic Affairs – as saying that although the political party bill was vetoed by the President, the parliament will pass it again.

According to Sun, Shaheem said that there are 900 forms at the Elections Commission to be approved.

Shaheem also said that the party was urging everyone waiting to join Adhaalath later, to join now.

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US private equity fund buys both Maldivian seaplane operators for undisclosed sum

US-based private equity fund Blackstone has bought a controlling stake in both the Maldives’ seaplane operators, Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) and Maldivian Air Taxi (MAT).

Blackstone, with annual revenue of US$3.119 billion and total assets of US$18.845 billion, bought the seaplane operators for an undisclosed sum.

Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Blackstone’s Private Equity unit based in New York, Prakash Melwani, said the investment “will enable us to build a strong partnership with the Maldives.”

“We are excited to partner with MAT and TMA, whose seaplane operations have contributed significantly to the development of resort islands further away from Male and making them accessible to tourists. Blackstone manages, through its portfolio companies, the largest number of hotel rooms in the world and this transaction marks our sustained enthusiasm for the travel and tourism space,” he said.

Founder of MAT Lars Erik Nielsen and majority shareholders of TMA, Lars Petré and Hussain Afeef, will retain “a substantial shareholding and continue to play a significant role in the companies, including serving as directors on the board,” Blackstone said in a statement.

“The Maldivian economy will gain from the presence of one of the world’s largest and most respected investment firms,” said Petré.

Nielsen stated that the move will benefit the career growth of the workers employed by the two airlines.

“In addition, together we look forward to delivering more efficient services to the tourists coming to the Maldives and the resorts in which they are staying. This combination will increase service efficiency to our resorts,” he said.

TMA Director Afeef said Blackstone would “bring to Maldives a wide global experience and an established track record in the tourism and hospitality sector. Incorporating global best practices would be beneficial not just to the companies but to the tourism industry, in general.”

TMA was started in 1988 as a helicopter operator under the name ‘Hummingbird’, which was changed to TMA in 1998 after the fleet was switched to Twin Otter aircraft. Competing operator MAT was set up in 1992.

Together both airlines operate over 40 aircraft and play both an iconic and critical role in the country’s tourism industry, transferring arrivals at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to resorts in neighbouring atolls and greatly expanding the capacity for tourism around the capital. Domestic air travel over longer distances – to destinations such as Addu Atoll – is served by conventional aircraft.

The substantial investment comes months after the Maldivian government expropriated the main international airport from Indian infrastructure giant GMR, declaring its concession agreement void and ordering it out of the country within seven days. The US$511 million project was at the time the country’s single largest foreign investment.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said the Blackstone investment was a sign of confidence in the Maldivian economy, and represented a “green light” to other foreign investors.

“When a large company such as Blackstone invests in the Maldives, it shows that investors have confidence in the Maldives. Moreover, investors have set their sights on Maldives and is on their radar,” Adheeb told local media.

Deal creates a monopoly in critical sector

Former Minister of Economic Development Mahmood Razee, also former Minister of Civil Aviation, noted that the purchase “is not really a foreign investment since no additional equity is being brought into the country. Another firm has just bought the shares,” he said.

Moreover, the purchase of a controlling stake in the only two seaplane operators by a single company had effectively monopolised the market, he warned.

“This is a very exclusive market, and critical to the tourism industry. Even though both MAT and TMA operate the same aircraft, they have not previously been willing to cooperate,” Razee said.

“Now, without any discussion, they have been taken over and effectively become a monopoly,” he said, explaining that the Maldives did not have anti-monopoly laws which may have otherwise obstructed the sale: “We were looking at these when we were putting together the economic reform package [under the former government].”

Previously, resort managers could approach both companies seeking the better price for seaplane services, upon which they were reliant for the vast majority of their guest arrivals: “Now there is no effective competition, as the major shareholder is one and the same,” Razee said.

He acknowledged that “in an ideal world” prices could come down, as the two companies have been operating identical aircraft but duplicating maintenance and other services. However the end of this practice could affect jobs, he suggested.

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Local media links proposed foreign expert for CoNI review to MDP-commissioned report

A foreign legal expert sought by parliament’s Government Accountability Committee to help review the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) was also behind a report concluding former President Mohamed Nasheed had resigned under duress, local media has reported.

According to local media, a legal team including Associate Professor of Public International Law and Director of Centre for International Justice at University of Copenhagen Anders Henriksen was selected to help oversee the parliamentary review.

The Sun Online news agency today reported that Henriksen, who had been chosen to oversee parliaments CoNI review – delayed late last month over a reported lack of funds – had previously been commissioned by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to produce a legal report on February’s controversial transfer of power.

The report was published in July 2012.

“To the extent that a ‘coup d’etat’ can be defined as the ‘illegitimate overthrow of a government’, we must therefore also consider the events as a coup d’etat,” read the analysis co-produced by Henriksen, entitled ‘Arrested Democracy’.

The legal team were one of two parties that applied to oversee the review, according to local media.

Sun Online cited sources within the commission as claiming that Henriksen had been chosen after being identified as the most capable party to conduct the review.

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High Court ruling “clearly means I will not be allowed a fair trial”: former President Nasheed

The High Court has ruled in favour of the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court rejecting an appeal filed by former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Nasheed is being tried in the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court for the controversial detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.

The former president had contested the Hulhumale’-based court’s ruling on three procedural issues raised during an initial hearing of his case in October 2012.

Among these issues, Nasheed’s legal team argued that the Hulhumale-based magistrate court could not hold hearings on a nearby island – in this case the capital Male’. Moreover, a summoning order issued to Nasheed by the court on September 26, 2012, was inconsistent with existing laws, his lawyers claimed.

Finally, Nasheed’s representatives claimed Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court was formed in contrast with the Judicature Act.

Issuing a verdict today, the three member judges panel overseeing the appeal ruled that there were no “legal grounds” to declare the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court and its decisions illegitimate.

“Therefore, based on the points highlighted remains as such, the sitting judges unanimously agreed that the High Court had no legal grounds to declare the decisions made by Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court in its ruling no. 397/HMC/2012 on October 9, 2012 illegitimate,” read the verdict.

Responding to the first procedural point raised by Nasheed, the High Court stated that holding a hearing in a spacious venue in Male’ was essential to achieve the purpose of articles 42(c) and 42(d) of the constitution, demanding transparent and open court hearings.

The court also declared that holding such a hearing in Male’ did not compromise the rights of any party and that there existed no law barring a court from holding a hearing in a different venue.

The court also noted that the holding of trials in different venues was a practice carried out by other courts of law.

Regarding the legitimacy of the magistrate court, the High Court said it did not have the authority to overrule a decision by the higher court, despite an appeal by Nasheed’s legal team to the contrary.

The High Court claimed additionally that as per the constitution, the Supreme Court remains the highest authority in deciding legal matters – therefore its decisions are final and binding.

The Supreme Court has previously declared that the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court is legitimate and can operate as a court of law, following a request by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that it clarify the court’s legality.

Highlighting the third procedural point, the High Court ruled that the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court has the legal authority to issue a summons and that no barrier existed to issuing such orders.

The High Court also stated that principles followed by both itself and the Supreme Court did not limit the magistrate court from issuing such an order.

Immediately following the ruling, President Nasheed was served a summons to attend the Hulhumale’ Magistrate court on February 10.

MDP response to verdict

In a statement following the verdict, Nasheed said the decision “clearly means I will not be allowed a fair trial.”

Former MDP Chairperson MP Mariya Didi noted that the High Court concluded the case after only two successive hearings, adding that it seemed the Hulhumale’ Court “had prepared summons before the High Court judgement was even delivered.”

“Today was a travesty of justice and demonstrates how much President Nasheed’s case is a politically motivated trial,” she said.

Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel – formerly Justice Minister during President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30 year government – has meanwhile told local media that swift prosecution of Nasheed before the Presidential Election was necessary to protect the “political and social fabric of the Maldives”.

“Every single day that passes without a verdict will raise questions over the justice system of the Maldives in the minds of the people,” Jameel told newspaper Haveeru.

Background

The Prosecutor General (PG) pressed charges against the former President in the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court on the grounds that holding the trial in Male’ at the Criminal Court represented a conflict of interest on behalf of Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, whom the case concerned.

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) appointed the three-member panel of judges to oversee the trial of the former president. The Commission’s members include two of Nasheed’s direct political opponents, including Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid – Deputy of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) – and Gasim Ibrahim, a resort tycoon, media owner, MP and leader of the Jumhoree Party (JP), also a member of the governing coalition.

While maintaining the trial was a politically-motivated attempt to block Nasheed from contesting the election – scheduled now for September 7 – the former president’s legal team raised procedural points challenging the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

They argued that the court was created by the JSC in violation of the Judicature Act, and had no legal or constitutional authority.

The team raised the issue during the first hearing of the trial held on October 2012, along with other procedural inconsistencies, but all were rejected.

The former President’s legal team subsequently lodged an appeal in the High Court challenging the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court’s ruling on the procedural points.

Despite its initial rejection of the points, the High Court later accepted the appeal. It therefore issued an injunction ordering the magistrate court to suspend Nasheed’s trial until a decision on the procedural points raised by Nasheed’s legal team was reached.

Nasheed’s legal team said it was prepared to appeal the case in the Supreme Court depending on the outcome.

Nasheed’s legal team were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Presidential prospect Gasim Ibrahim also backs drilling for oil

Leader of the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), business tycoon MP Gasim Ibrahim, has vowed to find oil in the Maldives should he be elected president of the country later this year.

Gasim – who owns television station VTV and the Villa group of companies and resorts – has already announced that he would be contesting in 2013 presidential elections. The Presidential candidate is also a member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), responsible for appointing a three-member panel of judges to oversee the criminal trial of fellow presidential candidate, former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Gasim is currently campaigning under the slogan ‘Tharaggee Gaimu’ (‘Development Guaranteed’).

Oil exploration has emerged as a key policy for several candidates aligned with the current government, including Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) presidential prospect, Abdulla Yameen.

Gasim unsuccessfully contested in the 2008 presidential elections finishing the race in fourth place with 15.2 percent of the total vote. He finished behind candidates including then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, eventual winner former President Mohamed Nasheed and political advisor of President Dr Mohamed Waheed, Dr Hassan Saeed.

Gasim announced his plans to try and uncover oil during a press briefing held Sunday (February 3), after concluding a trip to France to buy a new aircraft for his company, Villa Air.

Speaking to the media, he claimed there was evidence to suggest oil could be located in Maldives and that technology was now sufficient to make drilling for fuel financially viable.

The chairman of Villa Group added that previous oil expeditions ended in failure because of “lack of technology” at the time and it would still be impossible if Maldivians tried to dig for oil “eighties style”.

“I was the first one who brought the idea to the government. I even spoke of this during the 2008 presidential elections,” Gasim said.

Blessing

Gasim, stressing the importance of seeking oil in the Maldives, said it was wrong to turn away from a blessing given by Allah.

He went on to dismiss claims made by former Deputy Leader and a PPM presidential prospect Umar Naseer, who has claimed that digging for oil could destroy the tourism sector and the country’s economy.

“It is very wrong to turn ourselves away from a blessing given by Allah. On the other hand, with current technological advancements, that oil can be extracted safely without causing any harm to tourism sector,” he said.

During a PPM Rally, Umar Naseer claimed that digging for oil is “too risky” and it would take one oil leak into the sea to ruin the Maldives.

Gasim further said that it was a “baseless and irrational” to suggest that drilling for oil could harm the tourism sector. He added that if the drilling process is carried out within proper standards and with international expertise, such risks are unlikely to take place.

“There will always be a way to get things done. When you know that you have to get the technology to do that. We don’t have to use the technology that was used 70-100 years ago to find oil in the world,” he said.

“The way I see it, it is something we should pursue. If I get to be the President, it would be the first thing my government would turn towards,” he added.

Tested and trusted

Speaking to Minivan News, Spokesperson for the Jumhoree Party Moosa Rameez said his party’s presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim was a “tested and trusted” candidate and that he was “100 percent sure” Gasim would be successful in seeking oil.

“Gasim Ibrahim is very experienced in the field of business. He is very familiar with almost all kinds of industries in the world including the oil industry. He was the first one who pledged to find oil in the country in 2008,” Rameez said.

With the announcement, Gasim becomes the second presidential hopeful who has expressed desires to search for oil within the country.

Earlier, PPM Parliamentary Group Leader and contender in the party’s presidential primary Abdulla Yameen also announced that he would attempt to seek oil in the country if he gets elected.

During a rally held to kick off his presidential primary campaign, Yameen proclaimed that “when the PPM comes to power” it will conduct oil exploration, attract foreign investment and create 26,000 tourism jobs.

“It is very possible oil might be found in the Maldives,” Yameen said at the time.

Referring to Yameen’s pledge, JP’s Spokesperson said that when Gasim first announced that he would drill for oil, it was Yameen’s supporters who “mocked him” and made a joke out of it.

“Now when [Yameen] claims oil can be found in the country, it shows that Gasim was telling the truth from the very beginning,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb – who is backing Yameen in the primaries – has told Minivan News that Maldives’ environmental image and commitments are no obstacles to developing of an oil industry.

Adheeb told Minivan News last month the Maldives was “a big nation, and places not in marine protected zones or tourism areas could be explored for oil, like in the less developed north.”

“Oil exploration is a term and [we] cannot conclude something with out the details. Regulations and more planning need to be done,” he said.

Previous oil exploration attempts in 1980 found the cost of retrieving the oil was too high compared to the US$20 (MVR 308) price per barrel at the time. However the present price of US$125 (MVR 1925) per barrel made further exploration feasible.

Yameen was not responding to calls at time of press.

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Male’ City Council calls for release of Councilor Falah

Male’ City Council (MCC) has called for the release of Councillor Mohamed Falah, who is currently being held in police custody in Dhoonidhoo detention centre.

In a statement, the MCC alleged that Falah’s arrest was unlawful and politically motivated.

Falah was arrested along with 14 other senior members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on charges of obstructing police duty, objection to order and breaching police green zones on Friday (February 1).

In a statement issued at the time, police condemned the protest by MDP activists.

Police said that 15 persons were arrested near the party’s protest site at Usfasgandu after they allegedly attempted to breach its barricades. Police fenced off the site after the high court ordered it be repossessed pending a dispute over ownership between the council and government.

However, a protester who was present at the time disputed police allegations that demonstrators broke through police lines.

“We were just standing behind the barricades when they came in, we didn’t even move or run. We just stayed there, we didn’t even call them ‘baaghee’ (traitor) but we kept on telling them they should give a proper reason for arresting a person, they just can’t take people for no reason,” the protester told Minivan News.

Demonstrators kept questioning the police as to why they were making the arrests when none of them had crossed the police line.

“We kept on asking what the [the arrested protesters] had done. After taking in a few protesters, they came towards us and took [Youth Wing Leader] Shauna. They came towards her and said she had to come with them whether she liked it or not. Two to three of us were holding her when they took her,” the protester added.

The detained activists were presented to the Criminal Court on Saturday (February 2). The court extended their detention by a further five days.

The MDP meanwhile alleged that the court did not even consider remarks made by the detainees’ defence lawyers during the hearing.

Ownership dispute

The Civil Court has previously ruled that the Usfasgandu land plot was under the jurisdiction of Housing Ministry and ordered the MCC to hand it over to the ministry.

The council refused and appealed the ruling at the High Court.

The MCC later appealed the High Court warrant to keep the area under police supervision until the court concluded the case.

Minivan News understands the Supreme Court has not yet informed the council if the case has been accepted.

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Comment: Commonwealth must reopen CoNI in light of new evidence

Dear  Secretary  General Kamalesh Sharma,

New  evidence  has  emerged which  casts  doubt  over  the  validity  of  the  final  report  by  the  Commission  of  National  Inquiry  (CoNI),  published  in  August  2012.

Following  its  publication,  CoNI’s  report  was  sent  to  the  relevant  Maldivian  parliamentary  oversight  committee,  who  decided  to  investigate  the  facts  and  procedures  of  the  report  to  ensure  its  accuracy.  Through  careful  review  of  the  report,  it  has  been revealed  that  vital  evidence  relating  to  CoNI’s  core  mandate was  ignored  and  no  explanation  was  given  as  to  the  reason  for  this,  despite  claims  by  CoNI  that  no  information  was  disregarded.

CoNI’s  mandate  was  to  investigate  whether  President  Nasheed  resigned  under  duress,  due  to  threats  to  his  life,  or  not.  The  committee  summoned  Former  Commissioner  of  Police,  Ahmed  Faseeh;  Former  Chief  of  Defense  Force,  Moosa  Ali  Jaleel;  Brigadier  General,  Ahmed  Nilam;  Former  Chief  Superintendent  of  Police,  Mohamed  Hameed  and  Former  Superintendent  of Police,  Mohamed  Jinah  under  the  power  vested  in  a  parliamentary  committee  by  Article  99  of  the  Constitution.

Former  Chief  of  Defense  Force  Jaleel;  Former  CS  Hameed  and  Brigadier  General  Nilam  confirmed  to  the  committee’s  investigation that  there  was  a  plot  to  assassinate  President  Nasheed  and  that  on  the  7th  of  February  2012,  the  environment  was  such  that  President  Nasheed  had  reason  to  believe  that  his  life  was  in  danger.

This  information  was  further  verified  when  PPM  Deputy  Leader,  Umar  Naseer,  in  an  interview  with  Minivan  News,  confirmed  that  the  ousting  of  President  Nasheed  “did  not  happen  automatically”  and  that  “planning,  propaganda  and  lots  of  work”  went in  to  oust  the  constitutionally‐elected  President.  Mr  Naseer  refused  to  cooperate  with  the  Commonwealth  approved  CoNI.

In  addition,  former  cabinet  minister  (for  the  present  government),  Ms  Dhiyana Saeed  has  published  a  memoir  regarding  the  events  of  7th  February  2012,  and  states  that  a  certain  ‘Mr  X  and  Mr  Y’  (later  revealed  as  Deputy  Speaker  of  the  Parliament,  Mohamed  Nazim  and  MP  Mohamed  Nasheed  respectively)  had  spoken  to  her  of  a  plan  to  assassinate  President  Nasheed,  in  which  the  present  Minister  of  Defence  and  the  Commissioner  of  Police  were  involved.

It  is  a  grave  matter  of  concern,  that  none  of  these  issues  were  highlighted  by  the  two observers  appointed  by  the  Commonwealth  to  CoNI’s  investigation.

In  light  of  the  above,  it  is  evident  that  the  validity  of  the  CoNI  report  is  questionable.  These  are  the  three  issues  we  would  like  to  see  the  Commonwealth  focusing  on:

1.  Reopening  the  CoNI  report  in  the  light  of  the  latest  information  and  establishing why  these  testimonies  and  evidence  from  leading  members  of  the  military  and police  were  not  included  in  the  CoNI  report.

2.  Overseeing  a  further  inquiry  into  the  threats  against  the  life  of  the  former  head  of  state,  President  Mohamed  Nasheed.

3.  Pressuring  the  current  president  to  establish  a  caretaker  government  until  free  and  fair  elections  can  be  held.

Lucy Johnson is a member of UK-based NGO, Friends of Maldives

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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