April 7, 2013 – Minivan News

Parliament to hold no-confidence vote against Home Minister Jameel, Defence Minister Nazim, JSC member Gasim Ibrahim

Parliament has scheduled a series of no-confidence votes for tomorrow concerning Home Minister Mohamed Jameel, Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim and JSC member Gasim Ibrahim.

Parliament rules state that a minimum of 39 votes are required to successfully pass a no-confidence vote against a government minister. The opposition MDP currently has 29 MPs, short 10 votes of the required majority.

While the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has said it will back the trio, the DRP, which has 15 MPs, has said the party will “decide tomorrow”.

Following the scheduling of the vote, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan told local media that he was confident that the government-aligned parties would “defend” his ministers from impeachment.

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High blood pressure “silent killer” of one in 10 Maldivians

High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for Maldivian deaths, and is much more prevalent among women than men nationwide.

One in 10 deaths in the Maldives, equaling over 100 yearly, can be attributed to this “silent killer” which often presents no symptoms.

High blood pressure – also referred to as hypertension – is a condition where blood vessels have a persistently raised pressure which can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, loss of vision, and premature death.

In the Maldives 32.9 percent of women, compared to 29.7 percent of men, are affected by hypertension, although the prevalence of men with hypertension is higher regionally and globally.

Hypertension has been increasing over the past decade in the Maldives. Economic progress has caused lifestyles to change drastically, reads a World Health Organisation (WHO) World Health Day report.

“In the era of globalisation, all countries are interrelated, rapid urbanisation, transition from agrarian life to wage-earning, and modern city life are considered to be the major contributors in the elevated blood pressure in urban areas,” WHO Representative Dr Akjemal Magtymova told Minivan News.

Unhealthy lifestyle and behavior risk factors for hypertension have increased, including consumption of processed foods containing excessive salt, low levels of physical activity, tobacco use, and obesity.

“Increasing levels of mental stress contribute to the adoption of unhealthy behaviors thus putting people at a higher risk of acquiring hypertension and related noncommunicable diseases,” the WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Dr Samlee Plianbangchang stated in his World Health Day 2013 message.

Magtymova explained “Some of the factors that may contribute to the higher prevalence of hypertension among Maldivian women include: no enough physical activity (affecting 41 percent of women in the Maldives compared with 37 percent of men), unhealthy diet (higher intake of salt, sugar and fat, – total cholesterol level in women is higher than in men), higher stress level, malnutrition in childhood and during reproductive age.”

For both men and women the prevalence of being overweight or obese is the highest in the Maldives compared to other countries in the South-East Asia Region.

“The 2008 data from the Maldives shows that among the adult population, 53 percent of women are overweight and 30 percent of men are overweight,” said Magtymova.

Over the past 14 years there has been an increasing trend of hypertension at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), physician Dr Ali Abdul Latheef explained in the WHO World Health Day report.

“What is alarming is that we now see a lot of young hypertensive patients. Many patients are in their early thirties and sometimes as young as early twenties,” said Dr Latheef.

Prevention

High blood pressure is both preventable and treatable, but remains a growing global public health issue, which is why ‘control your blood pressure’ is the WHO’s World Health Day 2013 (April 7) theme.

The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise weekly to prevent diseases like hypertension, according to the WHO World Health Day article.

Eating a healthy diet including fruits and vegetables, while reducing salt and processed foods is also important.

Stopping tobacco use and reducing harmful alcohol intake must also be addressed.

However, regular blood pressure checkups are essential, because there are rarely warning signs of hypertension and it can also develop as blood vessels harden with age.

Magtymova stated the WHO recommends implementing evidence based strategies to address all behavioral risk factors for preventing hypertension.

“High level commitment is needed to reverse the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases in the Maldives.

“The WHO is assisting the Government of Maldives and working closely with the Ministry of Health to improve available data on risk factors, prevalence and trends, as well as address risk factors by establishing preventative measures,” said Magtymova.

She further detailed that the WHO closely collaborates and supports non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as the Diabetes Society of Maldives, SHE (Society of Health Education), Aged Care, the Autism Association, and Care Society.

Magtymova emphasised “A multi-sectoral approach is a key in addressing prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases as many determinants of non-communicable disease lie outside of the health sector.”

Thus, other UN agencies are also promoting healthy lifestyles, eating habits, school health education, as well as monitoring trends in malnutrition among children and mothers.

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Actor Ali Seezan newest addition to government’s list of political appointees

Local Actor Ali Seezan has been appointed as technical advisor to Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture Ahmed Adheeb, reports local media.

According to the President’s Office, Seezan was appointed to the position last Thursday with a salary of MVR 15,000 (US$ 972.76) and an additional allowance of MVR 10,000 (US$ 648.50), a total monthly income of MVR 25,000 (US$1,621.27).

Seezan – who is the nephew of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik – has won National Film Awards and Maldives Film Association Award twice and is a member of business tycoon and MP Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party (JP).

He has recently been seen attending President Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP) rallies.

Minister Adheeb – who was recently pictured in the media with an infamous pair of Armenian brothers linked with drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya – told local newspaper Haveeru that he had no role in the appointment of Seezan.

According to statistics obtained by local media outlet Sun Online, the government is spending MVR 5 million (US$325,000) a month on 136 political appointees, approximately US$4 million a year.

The monthly spend includes 19 Minister-level posts at MVR 57,500 (US$3730), 42 State Ministers (MVR 40,000-45,000, US$2600-2900), 58 Deputy Ministers (MVR 35,000, US$2250), five Deputy Under-Secretaries (MVR 30,000, US$1950) and 10 advisors to ministers (MVR 25,000, US$1620).

President Mohamed Waheed is officially paid (MVR 100,000, US$6500) a month, Vice President Waheed Deen (MVR 75,000, US$4850).

Waheed’s Special Advisor Hassan Saeed, the Chancellor of the National University and the Controller of Immigration are paid at ministerial level.

The country’s 77 MPs are meanwhile paid a base salary of MVR 42,500 (US$2,750) per month, a further MVR 20,000 (US$1,300) per month in allowances for phone, travel, and living expenses, and a further MVR 20,000 in committee allowances.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile criticised President Mohamed Waheed for appointing family members and activists “who took part in the coup that ousted the democratically elected president.”

President Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP) was earlier accused of offering illegitimate inducements to join his party to people ranging from youths to employees of government companies, in a bid to shore up the party’s membership base ahead of parliament’s dissolution of parties with less than 10,000 members.

In October 2012, a number of young people came forward and alleged to Minivan News that they were offered government positions, promotions, jobs with salaries of more than MVR 10,000 (US$650) a month, music equipment and even hosted parties, if they joined GIP.

GIP Secretary General Ahmed Mushrif dismissed the allegations at the time as an “outright lie”, and said that the party from its formation had never attempted to add members illegally.

A young Maldivian working in the tourism sector told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that a parliament member and prominent figure in the industry had called him and asked him to sign with GIP “as a favor”.

“He told me that in return for me joining the party, I would be rewarded with a position in the current government that I could never have even imagined. He further tried to convince me that all I needed to do was join the party – I could vote for anybody I wanted,” he said.

Another person who has worked in the civil service for the last 15 years told Minivan News that he was contacted by GIP with a promise that he would “easily be promoted” to a supervisor level job if he joined the party.

“A GIP member called me and told me that I could easily get promoted to supervisor level if I left my current party and joined GIP. Even though I am not an active MDP member I said I would think about it, but later did not respond to his calls,” the civil servant said.

A third person – aged 20 – claimed that he and his group of friends aged around 18 to 22 were approached by GIP through a friend and were invited to the party’s office where they were received by the party’s Deputy Leader and the former Maldives High Commissioner to Malaysia, Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki.

“When we arrived we were received by ‘Nazaki’ Zaki and treated with pizza. He said that in return for joining GIP, he would offer each of us a job with a salary not less than MVR 10,000, but asked us not to question where the jobs would be allocated from,” the youngster claimed.

Apart from the job, the source alleged that Zaki had offered him and his friends “music equipment and a place to play for free” to those among them who wished to play music. He added that the group were also promised various entertainment activities such as “hosted shows and parties”.

“They asked us to join the party and work in the party’s youth wing,” the source said.

When they asked what they were supposed to do as members of the party’s youth wing, the source said Zaki had told them that their main task would be to increase the party’s membership as it was “currently very low”.

At the end of the meeting, the high commissioner reportedly suggested the holding of a party event that would be fully funded by GIP.

“They said we should all party sometime. Maybe they said that because we had long hair and looked stylish,” the source suggested.

Download a ‘Who’s Who’ spreadsheet of Dr Waheed’s ministerial appointees (English)

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JSC rejects complaint by High Court judges against Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has rejected the case submitted by eight members of the High Court against Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef over his suspension of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s trial in the Hulhumale Magistrate Court.

Last Wednesday eight of the High Court’s nine-member bench filed the case claiming that the chief judge had issued the stay order without registering the case, had failed to assign a case number to the case, and had not discussed the matter with the other judges.

The judges also accused the chief judge of taking the matter into his own hands by not discussing the matter with them before issuing the order.

A spokesperson from the JSC confirmed to Minivan News at the time that the commission had received a “letter” from the eight judges regarding Judge Shareef.

A High Court official denied the allegations made by the judges, stating that the case concerning the stay order was registered at the court the previous week and that the former President’s legal team had paid the charges the following day. He also added that the order was issued after the court had received the payment.

During a meeting held on Thursday the JSC decided to not look into the case, claiming that a conflict of interest existed in the commission probing the matter, as it had appointed the three member judges panel to the Hulhumale Magistrate Court. The court is currently hearing all trials concerning the arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

The members of the judicial watchdog also came to the conclusion that the case filed by the eight judges included issues concerning High Court procedure, which it claimed could only be looked into after the Supreme Court made a decision regarding the matter.

Six of the 10-member commission were reportedly against looking into the case while only one member was voted in favour, according to local media.

The High Court Chief Judge issued the injunction after the Hulhumale Magistrate Court rejected a request by former President Nasheed’s legal team to defer his trial until the end of the scheduled presidential elections, despite no objection from the state prosecutors.

The former president – who stands charged of unlawfully detaining the Chief Judge of Criminal Court during his last days in power in January 2012 – appealed the decision at the High Court while also contesting that the JSC had appointed the panel of judges to the magistrate court arbitrarily.

Following the appeal, the High Court granted a stay order ordering the magistrate court to halt Nasheed’s trial until it decided on the legitimacy of the panel of judges appointed to examine his case. The stay order was signed by Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef, and stated that the court was of the view that Nasheed’s ongoing trial must come to a halt until the legitimacy of the bench was established.

Concerns

Following the filing of the case at the JSC against Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef, member of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team Hassan Latheef has expressed his concern as to whether JSC would look into the matter impartially and transparently.

Speaking during an opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally held on Wednesday evening, Latheef – who was the minister for human resources, youth and sports during Nasheed’ presidency – argued that the decision by the Chief Judge of High Court regarding the stay order was made in accordance with the High Court’s normal procedures.

Latheef claimed that based on the documents published at the high court website, out of the 15 stay orders issued in 2012 by the High Court in 2012, 10 stay orders had been signed by just one High Court judge.

“The Hulhumale Magistrate Court which is hearing the case of President Nasheed was ordered to be suspended by High Court in according to its usual practice in such cases. The case was registered at the High Court and even before there were instances were stay orders had been issued that had only one signature,” Latheef said.

Latheef also dismissed the claims that the case had not been registered at the court.

“We filed the case on March 31. The stay order was issued the afternoon of the following day, after we had even paid the charges for filing the case in the court,” he contended. “Another question is who will look into the case impartially – all the other judges have filed this case at the JSC against Chief Judge Shareef. Eight judges are on one side while the chief judge is on the other side. These are new issues which have come out of the case.”

He noted that this was the first time in Maldivian legal history where an entire panel of judges had teamed up against the chief judge following a decision on a case.

JSC under heavy scrutiny

The JSC has come under heavy scrutiny over its appointment of the panel of the judges to Hulhumale Magistrate Court to hear cases concerning the arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed – which several lawyers and members of the JSC itself have claimed exceeded the JSC’s mandate.

Among the JSC’s critics include JSC member Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman – the member appointed from among the public. Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman previously claimed the JSC had arbitrarily appointed three magistrates from courts across the Maldives to Nasheed’s case after dismissing the three names first submitted to the commission by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid – who is also a member of the JSC – stated that he believed that the judicial watchdog had acted unconstitutionally in assigning magistrates to a particular case.

“In deciding upon the bench, the JSC did follow its rules of procedures. As in, it was voted upon in an official meeting and six of the seven members in attendance voted on the matter. The seventh member being the chair, does not vote in matters,” Shahid explained.

Other critics included United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, who also said the appointment was carried out arbitrarily.

“Being totally technical, it seems to me that the set-up, the appointment of judges to the case, has been set up in an arbitrary manner outside the parameters laid out in the laws,” Knaul said, responding to questions from media after delivering her statement in February.

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PPM to decide whether to discipline Umar Naseer for allegations of corruption in party primary

The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)’s disciplinary committee has accepted a case forwarded to the committee by the party council against PPM Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, after he refused to publicly apologise for the claiming the party’s recent primaries were rigged in favour of PPM Presidential Candidate Abdulla Yameen.

Head of the PPM Disciplinary Committee, MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur, said the deadline for Umar Naseer’s apology expired on Sunday at 10:00am.

Abdul Azeez told local newspapers that within two days the committee will conclude its investigation of the case, in which “Umar Naseer violated the party charter and made huge accusations.”

He also said the committee will refer to the party’s charter when deciding on what action to take against Naseer.

After losing the PPM Primary, Umar Naseer held a rally and declared that despite admitting defeat, the party’s internal election had involved discrepancies including the influencing of voters, vote buying and intimidation of his supporters. He also alleged that many of his supporters were denied the right to vote, claiming that their names had not been on the lists.

“Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s children were with Yameen, the largest gangsters in the country were with Yameen, all the drug cartels in the country were with Yameen, the most corrupted people were with Yameen, the whole elections committee was with Yameen and a large chunk of PPM’s parliament members gathered around Yameen.

“We came out knowing that the referee, the linesman and even the match commissioner along with his 11 players were playing on his side. Our team had the poor and the middle class players,” Naseer said at the rally.

“We even witnessed that those who are heavily involved in drug trafficking were present at the polling station wearing Yameen’s campaign caps,” he said. “Not only did they exert undue influence, they travelled to islands with stashes of black money and attempted to turn the votes. In fact they even did turn some votes.”

In September 2010, Umar Naseer was the Deputy Leader of Dhivehi Rayyiithunge Party (DRP), the DRP Council in a meeting decided to file a case against Umar at the Disciplinary Committee for forging a press release and for causing division in the party.

Later in December 2010, Umar Naseer was dismissed from the party – an incident that eventually led to a splintering of the DRP into a new party under Gayoom, the PPM.

Umar Naseer’s mobile phone was switched off at time of press.

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Beyond Earth Hour: Conservation efforts prove “challenging”, but vital for Maldives resorts

For 60 minutes on March 23 this year, resorts across the Maldives attempted, on a voluntary basis, to throw their guests into darkness – or at least dimness – for the high-profile Earth Hour event, reports Minivan News’ spin-off travel site, Dhonisaurus.

Earth Hour, established by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) NGO, aims to encourage cities, organisations and households all over the world to simultaneously turn off lights and other electrical appliances for a single hour in an attempt to raise the profile of energy conservation measures.

Public and private sector organisations were among those participating across the Maldives’ capital and other islands this year, which was celebrated afterwards, somewhat paradoxically, with a dance event complete with a large sound system in Male’.

However, attempts at cutting the use of artificial lighting at resorts across the Maldives to celebrate this year’s Earth Hour have been claimed by hospitality groups to be reflective of wider efforts across the country’s lucrative tourism industry to better balance sustainable operations with high-end luxury.

Starwood Hotels, which operates both the W Retreat and Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort and Spa, claim to have participated in Earth Hour for the last five years – commitments the company has claimed are well appreciated by guests.

“Year on year, we’ve seen positive responses from the guests regarding the various [sustainability] initiatives,” stated a spokesperson for the group. “Naming for example the ‘Coral Planting Project’ at Sheraton Maldives was very well received by some guests who found it very informative and rewarding as well to contribute back to the nature.”

“Quite challenging”

Beyond occasional, high-profile commitments such as Earth Hour, Starwood Hotels said that trying to balance more sustainable operations in the Maldives with consumer expectations of luxury and fine dining was not without its challenges.

“It’s quite challenging being in the Maldives due to its geographical nature, but being in the Maldives gives us an even greater meaning to work towards a more eco-friendly holiday experience and sustainability through efficiency and better use of resources in order to reach our goals by 2020,” stated a company spokesperson.