Day: May 1, 2013

HRCM to investigate Immigration Department’s promise of mass repatriation

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has expressed concern over a pledge by immigration authorities to repatriate 10,000 “illegal” expatriates on the back of wider reservations at the treatment of foreign workers potentially trafficked into the country.

HRCM member Jeehan Mahmoud has told Minivan News that the commission was concerned not just over plans to repatriate a predetermined number of unregistered workers, but also whether they were being punished for the actions of employers or agents acting outside the law.

The concerns were raised as the Department of Immigration and Emigration announced yesterday (April 30) that 1,748 foreigners found to be working illegally in the country had been repatriated – the majority by their own request – during the year so far.

Immigration officials also announced commitments to send a further 10,000 unregistered workers back to their home nations during the remainder of 2013.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali said that the repatriated workers had either come to the Maldives with sufficient funding to afford transportation back to their home countries, or that their fares were covered through previously paid “deposits”.

Dr Ali did not however elaborate as to how the immigration department had devised the figure targeting the return of 10,000 unregistered workers to their respective countries.

He stressed that his department would be investigating and punishing employers and agencies responsible for bringing the now unregistered workers to the country if they had acted illegally.

“[The immigration department] will do that with vigour now,” he said.

Dr Ali was reported in local media as adding that 146 foreigners alleged to have involvement in criminal cases were deported this year so far, with 85 illegal workers also sent back to their respective home nations.

“More foreigners come to us voluntarily as we toughen our approach towards them. Everything will be arranged for those who come to us voluntarily. Island Aviation now has direct flights to Dhaka,” he told Sun Online, referring to the large number of Bangladesh nationals working in the country.

Dr Ali told Minivan News last week that while almost all foreign workers coming to the Maldives arrived under registered companies, some were finding themselves “illegally used” by employers due to “systematic abuse” of the visa system once here.

HRCM investigation

Responding to the immigration controller’s pledge this week, HRCM member Jeehan said that the commission itself had not been consulted by the Immigration Department over its proposed crack down on unregistered workers.

From the perspective of the HRCM, Jeehan said there was particular concern about the safety and vulnerability of the foreign workers set to be returned by authorities, particularly in the case of expatriates who were heavily in debt as a result of paying companies or agents to come to the country to find work.

“If they are working or staying here undocumented, how safe are they to be returned home,” she said. “We must consider how vulnerable some of these people are, it is different for those who request repatriation or course.”

The HRCM is now set to investigate the conditions by which these foreign workers are being repatriated, especially in regards to concerns that unregistered expatriates may have been detained as a result of the actions of agents or employers in the country.

According to Jeehan, issues also needed to be addressed over how the Immigration Department had decided to set a predetermined number of foreign workers that it would look to repatriate.

“How has the state arrived at this number? Whether it is the result of a baseline study or some other research we need to know,” she said. “Also, how is the state identifying the 10,000 workers that need to go back home and are they sure they are undocumented? Questions also need to be asked of what the state is doing with these expatriates before they are sent home. It is unfair if they are being detained as a result of the faults of others.”

Jeehan added that before any undocumented foreign workers were being repatriated, it was also important to ensure that employers had paid the salaries of all staff and were honoring their obligations to workers.

“These employees should be provided with their due wages and compensation, it is for the state to guarantee this,” she added.

Jeehan said that the HRCM was presently seeking to consult the Labour Relations Authority (LRA) over a number of issues that it said would include how unregistered workers were being sent out of the country.

“We will look to meet with the LRA first, as they are the state authority outlining employment practices, s we can see what role they may have had in outlining these policies,” she said.

Jeehan added that if the LRA has not had a role in the outlining this repatriation policy, than the HRCM might “have an issue” with the process.

When contacted by Minivan News today, LRA Assistant Director Aishath Nafa Ahmed said the body had no involvement in outlining policies on the repatriation of foreign workers since last year.

She added that although the LRA was involved in a steering committee that focused on issues surrounding the country’s foreign workforce, the authority had not had any discussions over plans to repatriate 10,000 workers this year.

Human trafficking

The Maldives has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for three consecutive years. Should the Maldives drop to tier three – the worst category – then the country is expected to face significant reductions in aid and potential travel restrictions on its citizens.

Despite the government last year launching a special state program to try and draw awareness to the problems beyond human trafficking, concerns have continued to be raised by various NGOs and authorities at the scale of human trafficking in the country amidst fears of widespread corruption within the visa system.

Just last month, a source working within the immigration department alleged that companies across the Maldives were freely abusing visa regulations by generating fictitious labour demand to directly profit from trafficking foreign workers into the Maldives.

The source told Minivan News that almost no human verification was being undertaken by authorities to ensure workers were genuinely employed once a business or construction project was approved in the country.

In theory, a Maldivian company could submit design plans for an existing structure such as Manchester United’s 75,811 seat Old Trafford Stadium – and then be assigned a computer-generated quota of foreign workers, the same source claimed.

One former Bangladesh High Commissioner in the Maldives alleged back in 2010 that the exploitation of foreign workers in the country rivalled fishing as the most profitable sector in the national economy after tourism.

Addressing the current scope of unregistered foreign labour, Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) former President Mohamed Ali Janah said earlier this year that an estimated 40 percent of the foreign employees in the sector were thought not to be legally registered.

Considering these numbers, Janah said he could not rule out the involvement of organised crime in certain employment agencies, which supply a large amount of foreign labour to building sites in the Maldives.

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Drug Court sending addicts to jail after detox centres reach capacity

With government detox facilities at capacity the Drug Court is sending addicts to jail in the interim, prompting the Maldives’ National Drug Agency to call on private businesses and NGOs to fill the gap.

Twenty-four men have been sent to prison for 90 days, or until space becomes available for treatment, in accordance with the Drug Act which states the court has the authority to do so if “rehabilitation centers are unable to facilitate treatment”, according to local media.

All emergency medical detox centers are full nationwide – the Himmafushi Island, Villingili Island, Fuvamulah and Addu, National Drug Agency (NDA) Chairperson and State Health Minister Lubna Mohamed Zahir Hussain confirmed to Minivan News today (May 1).

“Rehab is not full, however detox is full for the next 14 days. Demand is so high that clients are waiting in prison,” said Zahir.

“The Drug Court is sentencing too many people every day. There are so many – too many – cases. The court doesn’t want to delay sentencing, so people eligible for rehab must wait in prison – for a maximum of three months,” she added.

Zahir stated that 24 men currently in jail – awaiting the first phase of rehab, which is detoxification – will be moved to the drug rehabilitation center on Himmafushi island within two weeks. No women are awaiting detox, claimed Zahir.

“We are calling for help”

Zahir emphasised that current government regulations allow for the privatisation of rehabilitation centers and the NDA has requested bids for private companies in the government gazette, however no applications have been submitted thus far.

“We are looking forward to receiving applications. It’s time the government opened international bidding to do so,” declared Zahir.

“[The NDA] is open for discussions about opening a rehabilitation resort. A similar program to cabins in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is a really good program.

“For example, foreigners can come to the island destination [for drug rehabilitation], the profits of which could be used to subsidise treatment for Maldivians,” Zahir explained.

The private rehabilitation centers would be supplementary to the national treatment center for men and women, which is required by law, according to Zahir.

She also highlighted the need to strengthen aftercare programs in partnership with local communities. This is a particular challenge for NGOs who are working with drug addicts.

“Communities fail to understand the work NGOs are doing with drop-in clients. Awareness and education are needed, because NGOs are running into lots of problems with communities,” said Zahir.

Political polarisation and the focus on the upcoming presidential elections seems to be preventing this work from occurring, claims Zahir.

“It is easy [for NGOs] to apply for and get community [drug] rehab licences to conduct relapse prevention. And we are really calling for help,” she implored.

NDA has also issued requests for qualified people to apply for councillor positions with NDA to support their outpatient community rehabilitation programs.

There are between 200 and 400 clients, but very few councilors, Zahir explained.

Facilities lacking

The limited space within the Himmafushi rehabilitation center becomes available on a revolving basis – as clients complete their treatment – however capacity to conduct the three day emergency medical detoxification is extremely restricted.

The Himmafushi center has space to detox about 20 people at any given time, however it only has the capacity to manage about 10 individuals. The center is able to conduct drug rehabilitation for 150 men and 12 women maximum. Additionally, 12 detox spaces are available on each of the islands of Villingili, Fuvamulah and Addu.

“Two years ago we used a detox dorm for women on Himmafushi, however they were shifted to the female specific unit established on Villingili June 26, 2011,” explained Zahir.

“The NDA and Gender Department – under the Health Ministry – ran the rehabilitation center for women on Villingili. But it was closed in 2012 when the Gender Department became the Gender Ministry and took over the building.

“We requested from [former Gender, Family and Human Rights Minister] Diyana Saeed to keep center. Demand is high, we need a unit always,” she added.

Subsequently, women in need of drug treatment did not have a center for seven months until the original female dorm located on Himmafushi was reopened.

The NDA is planning to add three additional units to the Himmafushi drug treatment center and had requested government funds for the project, according to Zahir.

“NDA lacks implementation capacity”

“Drug abuse is too much money for the government to bear, because the problem is so wide-spread and the cost is so high,” an expert in holistic drug prevention, treatment, and aftercare told Minivan News today.

“The government is doing almost nothing for drug prevention, which then puts a huge burden on the government, including the public health sector. There is also a dire need for early intervention,” claims the source.

“NDA lacks the capacity and staff to do everything. They are not able to handle prevention, inpatient or outpatient treatment. Currently, they do not even have a CEO and are operating outside of the law,” the source continued.

“NDA should act as a governing body and watchdog only. Otherwise they cannot handle the demand,” added the source. “There is only one rehabilitation centre and it’s always full because there are so many people in need.”

The source suggested that the state-run detox and treatment centers should be outsourced to private or civil society institutions, leaving room for the NDA to oversee and regulate. Additionally, building NGO capacity to address drug abuse would “benefit the entire nation”.

“There is no one to monitor and make them responsible if NDA is the implementing body,” said the source.

A “clear cut” country strategy – similar to the recently released 2013-2020 European Union drug strategy – needs to be developed in the Maldives, the source believes. The entire sector in Maldives works at cross-purposes and is not aiming for one particular prevention, treatment, or aftercare goal.

“Addiction is a lifelong chronic, relapsing brain disease. A person will relapse six to eight times or more before they completely stop using and live a sober life,” explained the source.

“Relapse is not failure, rather it’s due to the treatment program or person lacking some kind of support. Addiction is a very complex disease and affects each person differently.

“Often addiction is accompanied by another disease, such as depression or other mental health issue, but treatment in the Maldives does not address this. Thus, people relapse easily, which adds to the stigma surrounding drug users.

“This concept needs to be internalized in the Maldives and a continuum of care must be provided. This includes environment based intervention, evidence based and client focused treatments, as well as continuing guidance, education and support programs,” said the source.

The source further recommended referring to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse to structure these programs.

“The government spends so much money and this is such a small place, they should be able to do something,” concluded the source.

Nationwide drug abuse controversy

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and NDA published a survey in February, claiming there are 7496 drug users in the Maldives.

Informed sources who participated in the survey process previously expressed serious concerns about the “flawed methodology” of the data collection process, which they claimed had produced a final report that inaccurately and grossly underestimates drug use in the Maldives. Key populations such as those in jail, women, and users of ‘party drugs’ were left out of the survey.

The NDA subsequently refuted criticisms over the drug report’s methodology in a letter sent to Minivan News.

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MDP condemns use of Islam as “political weapon to sow discord”

The former ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has strongly condemned “irresponsible and misleading” political rhetoric against former President Mohamed Nasheed over his remarks on Islamic radicalism during an address to the Danish parliament.

“Misleading” statements were made in the media by political parties and “those wearing the hat of sheikhs to use religion as a weapon,” the MDP said in a press release yesterday (April 30).

“The party believes that this is done to sow discord, unrest and chaos in this peaceful Maldivian land,” the opposition party said.

The condemnation follows a statement by the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) earlier this week accusing the MDP presidential candidate of labeling Muslims as “extremists,” insulting Islam and allegedly portraying himself as “a warrior engaged in a mighty effort against Islam, to please the people of false religions.”

The government-aligned religious party had reiterated its claim that former President Nasheed was pursuing “a secular agenda” with support and encouragement from “missionaries of false religions.”

The self-titled ‘National Movement’ led by the Adhaalath Party meanwhile protested on the streets of Male’ on Monday night (April 29) calling for Nasheed to be “hanged” for apostasy.

The movement was born out of the unofficial December 23, 2011 coalition of eight political parties – now part of the coalition government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed –  and an alliance of NGOs that rallied at a mass gathering to “defend Islam” from Nasheed’s allegedly liberal policies.

On the same night as the national movement’s protest, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom contended that Maldivians faced a choice between a secular, anti-national ideology and an Islamic-nationalistic ideology best represented by his Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

In a thinly-veiled reference to the MDP, Gayoom accused the former ruling party of trying to impose Western secularism on the Maldives to “put the country in control of an anti-Islamic organisation.”

The government-aligned PPM also claimed that Nasheed “shamed the nation” with his allegedly anti-Islamic remarks.

“A former president of a 100 percent Islamic nation speaking in such a fashion, insulting the religion of Islam and mocking Prophet Muhammed is a derogatory act that brings disgrace to the country in front of other Islamic nations,” the largest party in the ruling coalition said in a statement.

“Reformation”

At a question and answer session following his lecture at the Denmark parliament last month, former President Nasheed said that the spread of radical Islam or Wahhabism throughout the Middle East and East Asia was “very worrying.”

“This is not Islam necessarily but more a Hejaz or Saudi thinking – their culture. And it is an idea to impose that culture upon all Islamic societies. And I’m afraid that the spread of that thinking is very, very rapid, partly because we haven’t stood up and given an alternative narrative,” Nasheed explained in response to a question asking for his viewpoint on the struggle between “progressives and reactionaries” within Islam.

Nasheed added that moderates have not offered “a proper narrative that can counter the radical Islamic viewpoint.”

“Now, what the radicals are doing, they have an answer for everything, anything. You can ring up in the middle of the night and say, ‘Sheikh, I’m not able to sleep.’ And then the Sheikh would give you a hadith (Prophet’s sayings) and a revelation on what the Prophet did and what God has prescribed on sleeping in the middle of the night and then you go back to sleep,” Nasheed had said, prompting the allegations this week that the remarks constituted a mockery of Islam or the Prophet Mohamed (pbuh).

“We don’t a helpline. We don’t have an alternative narrative,” he said, adding that moderate Muslims should propagate “the actual version of Islam.”

Nasheed suggested that Islam needed “a reformation” similar to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

“Because Maldives is a very Islamic country, apparently, it is able to play a very important role in the spread of these religious ideas. And similarly, I believe that with proper democracy in the Maldives we can play a very important role as a counter to the reformation, or rather the Jesuits have to come up quickly,” he said.

Pro-government broadcaster DhiTV however reported the remarks as Nasheed calling for “a Christian missionary-like organisation to come out against the Islamic extremist ideology spreading fast in the Maldives.”

“Haram”

The MDP meanwhile said in its statement that it was “regrettable” that local sheikhs were “providing misleading and false information” to the public for “short-term” political purposes, which was leading to loss of respect for religious scholars in Maldivian society.

Former President Nasheed called on moderate Muslims to stand up against extremism, the press release stressed.

The MDP noted that accusing a fellow Muslim of apostasy was forbidden in Islam.

Former President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, who recently joined the MDP, was quoted in the party’s statement as saying that the sheikhs were more deserving of the “laadheenee” (irreligious or secular) label as the alleged coup d’etat they orchestrated was also haram (prohibited) in Islam.

The MDP statement called on all parties to be more “responsible” while making statements concerning religion.

As Islam was a “moderate” religion based on peace and fraternity, the party appealed for politics to be kept out of religious debates.

Meanwhile, speaking at a campaign rally on the island of Meedhoo in Dhaalu Atoll on Monday night, Nasheed said that the laadheenee (secular) label was used by the then-opposition as a false pretext to topple the government.

The allegation was “saddening” and “worrying” as the members of MDP were also brought up as Muslims and taught Islam just as any other Maldivian, Nasheed said.

The belief that the “only path for salvation in this life” was following the principles of Islam was deeply-rooted “in the bottom of our hearts,” he added.

“God willing, we will remain upon that belief and no policy will be formulated or implemented in the Maldives any other way,” he said.

In a speech the previous night in Faafu Bilehdhoo, Nasheed said Adhaalath Party scholars “sold out Islam” to bring about a coup d’etat on Febraury 7, 2012.

Islamist-backed coup

In his lecture in Denmark, Nasheed argued that “the Islamists were never a credible electoral threat.”

“The Islamic extremists also didn’t like the Maldives’ new democracy because they were unpopular. They failed to win the Presidential elections in 2008, they failed to win local government elections – in 2011 they won less that four percent of the vote. But now, after the coup, extremists have been rewarded with three cabinet positions in government, and in many ways set the tone of government communications. They are busy trying to indoctrinate people with a misguided version of Islam,” Nasheed said.

In its statement, the Adhaalath Party objected to Nasheed implying that the party had “no influence or power,” insisting that the former president “feared” the religious conservative party.

The party accused Nasheed of “placing idols” in Maldivian lands – a reference to the SAARC monuments gifted to the country by other South Asian nations during the 2011 SAARC Summit hosted in Addu Atoll – and of “giving our assets to foreigners” – a reference to the concession agreement to manage and upgrade the international airport granted to Indian firm GMR.

Nasheed meanwhile pledged to “remove the Islamist rhetoric from the official discourse” for the Maldives to become a more tolerant, liberal society.

He went on to accuse the former dictatorship of organising the alleged coup d’etat on February 7, 2012 “because they could see the edifice of their economic and political power crumbling.”

“It was crumbling because Maldivians had rejected authoritarianism, rejected feudalism and largely rejected Islamic extremism,” Nasheed said.

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High Court overturns lower court ruling on Hajj quota controversy

The High Court has overturned a lower court’s ruling on the Hajj quota controversy, in which the Civil Court ordered the Islamic Ministry to reevaluate several unsuccessful bids presented by local Hajj groups offering pilgrimages this year.

The Maldives’ quota of 874 pilgrims was divided among eight companies selected by the Islamic Ministry, while the tenders of Al-manasik Private Limited, Al-fathuh Hajj And Umra Group, Al-Safa Private Limited, Classic Hajj and Umra Private Limited were dismissed.

The Islamic Ministry previously told local media that the proposals were rejected because they had not followed the procedures, but were at first accepted by mistake and later dismissed when the ministry realised the proposals were not compliant.

The High Court ruling issued yesterday stated that if people were allowed to do things in violation of procedures, this would make way for corruption.

High Court Judges Abdul Gany Mohamed, Abdulla Hameed and Shuaib Hussain Zakariyya presided over the case and the bench was chaired by Judge Abdul Gany Mohamed.

The ruling of Abdul Gany dissented from the ruling of the other two judges, which formed the majority opinion.

On April 16, the Civil Court ordered the Islamic Ministry reevaluate the proposals of four groups it previously rejected from arranging Hajj pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia this year for Maldivians.

The lawsuit was first filed at the Civil Court by Almanasik Hajj Group, AlFath Hajj And Umra Group, Alsafa Hajj Group, Classic Hajj and Umrah Group.

Performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime is one of the five pillars of Islam.

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Guesthouse potential thrusts Maldives mid-market tourism into political fray

This story was originally published on travel review site, Dhonisaurus.com

Since the inception of Maldives tourism over 40 years ago, the country has seen the development of more than 100 islands into exclusive resorts which – by focusing on secluded luxury – are almost entirely cut off from local laws and politics.

The potential for expanding mid-market tourism in the Maldives through the “niche” guesthouse segment may emerge as an early election issue after senior opposition and government figures clashed over how best the country’s inhabited islands can profit from visitors.

While the present government has boasted of nearly doubling the number guesthouse business since coming to power in February last year, the country’s opposition unveiled plans to address what it called a “total disconnect” between the lucrative island resort model and local people.

‘Real Maldives’

Beyond the political rhetoric, a growing number of specialist operators have emerged trying to cater to the mid-market demand from tourists looking to experience the ‘real Maldives’ –  a side of the country often unseen due to the prevalence of the lucrative ‘one island, one resort model’.

One such group is Secret Paradise, which this year began offering tourists special packages in North Male’ Atoll and South Male’ Atoll aiming to combine the traditional tourist staples of sunbathing, water sports and diving with authentic Maldives experiences like cooking and eating with local families, or assisting at island schools.

Ruth Franklin, a senior UK business figure who helped develop Secret Paradise with a local partner, said that aside from providing a more authentic travel experience, a key selling point for the business was to provide more affordable holidays for tourists concerned the Maldives was out of their price range.

Franklin added that trying to realise the full potential for mid-market tourism was not without challenges, especially in terms of a tourist’s perception of budget.

“To many travellers, ‘budget’ means a room for US$20 or less a night in many Asian destinations. In the Maldives, budget should be interpreted in relation to the cost of a night on a resort for bed and breakfast. Guesthouses on average start at US$50 verses the cheapest resort at US$250,” she said.

Franklin identified another hurdle in the general lack of information available to tourists about life outside the country’s resorts; from the cost of transportation and the availability of local ferries – which are further limited on Fridays and public holidays – to adhering with local laws and culture on ‘inhabited’ islands. On these islands, drinking alcohol and wearing bikinis are not permitted.

“Our packages are designed to take this into account so that travellers have the option of day visits to resorts, sandbanks and picnic islands where the restrictions do not apply,” Franklin added.

Franklin said that compared to the country’s resort and even safari boat industries, the niche status of guesthouse tourism did grant the segment a unique appeal in the region.

“Independent travel will never be in my opinion as it is in Thailand for example and quite frankly I wouldn’t want it to be. My belief is that local islands should have a set number of tourist beds available that is governed by the Tourism Ministry,” she said.

“Whilst I think it is right to open up the island to tourists to allow travellers to experience local customs and traditions and to help support local economy I would not want to see islands inundated with travellers to the point that the best of the Maldives customs and traditions disappear.”

Franklin suggested that wider success for the guesthouse industry could eventually lead to growing pressure to amend laws relating to alcohol and allowing women to wear bikinis on local beaches as part of a potential trade off for greater economic viability of mid-market tourism.

“Whilst my belief is that alcohol will not and should not be available on local islands there is definitely already a keen interest by guesthouse owners to provide private beach areas for tourists,” she added. “I am not in support of this as I think those guests who stay on a local island should do so to also experience culture and tradition and as ‘guests’ should respect a country’s law and regulations.”

Compromise calls

In December last year, the author of the latest Lonely Planet travel book to focus on the Maldives told Dhonisaurus that compromise would be needed by authorities should they wish to ensure independent travel was viable for a wider number of businesses going forward.

Lonely Planet author Tom Masters said he ultimately believed that local islands could still provide independent travellers with “sufficient attractions”, even within the strictly conservative laws practices outside of the country’s resort islands.

“However, I think only a tiny proportion of potential visitors would be happy to accept such a number of restrictions on their annual holiday, and so if some degree of compromise could be reached on issues such as alcohol or sunbathing, then the number of travellers opting for island tourism over that in an expensive resort would rise enormously,” he said at the time.

“A weakling in need of love and nurturing”

Adrian Neville, a veteran of travel writing in the Maldives previously told Dhonisaurus that beyond the recent political arguments, guest-houses had played a major role in the development of the tourism industry, dating back to their foundation in 1972. However, such 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.

Quality standards

Tourism authorities last year noted that guesthouse demand would likely remain “quite insignificant” when compared to demand for the country’s island resorts.

However, speaking to Minivan News in March this year, Deputy Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamal praised the industry as a “phenomenon” that the present administration would look to continue to support.

“The industry is doing well right now in Hulhumale’ [an island situated ten minutes from the capital by speedboat]. I understand major operators are already coming out with their own brochures,” he added.

Despite pledging government support for the industry, Maleeh claimed that it would be vital to ensure that quality standards were maintained across the industry in line with the reputation built up by the Maldives resort industry over the last forty years.

“We don’t want anything unexpected to happen,” he added. With a growing number of domestic airports anticipated to be developed across the country in the coming years, Maleeh said he expected a growing number of guesthouses would be established to meet demand .

“Where there are transports hubs, there will of course be more guesthouses appearing,” he said.

However, Maleeh stressed that the success of mid-market tourism was dependent on making sure that infrastructure was in place to welcome tourists.

“In some of these islands, the infrastructure is just not there; sewerage, drinking water, garbage disposal and 24 hour electricity supplies are needed,” he said. “My main interest is that while any Maldvian can open a guest-housem can we make sure that the customers are there?”

Ahead of presidential elections scheduled for September this year, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed Nasheed has pledged to promote and support wider guesthouse development as part of efforts to try and aid wider economic growth.

“Having tourists on inhabited islands is not going to result in the community facing any additional detrimental effects that do not already exist. On the contrary, having tourists will empower the islanders to overcome whatever objectionable issues that they may face,” the former president claimed.

“Maldivians will have to open their eyes to outside cultures, and allow for the increase in opportunities for development. In addition to direct employment and income generated by guesthouses, it will also boost other existing island businesses.”

Despite guesthouses seemingly being in vogue as a topic for electioneering, Raki Bench, founder of the guest-houses in Maldives website last year said he was  critical of the role played by the present and former government to develop the industry.

Bench added 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.

“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.”

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Comment: From confrontation to conciliation and coalition?

With the Maldives warming up for presidential polls slated for September and the Election Commission fixing July 15 as the date for opening nominations, the climate of confrontation from the past year is slowly but surely giving way to the possibilities of new coalitions, pointing to the inevitability of conciliation and/or reconciliation now and later.

If still some political leaders will still not talk about conciliation and nor talk to one another, and instead hold grudges against one another, it has have more to do with personal hurt and/or ego than politics and political philosophies.

Independent of the political implications involved, Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid’s decision to join the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), after quitting the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP), is a case in point. At the height of the ‘power-transfer’ in February last year, the MDP charged him and the Majlis with impropriety in hurrying through the ‘succession processes’ after President Mohammed Nasheed gave way to Vice-President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik in a surprising yet not wholly unexpected turn of events. Earlier, too, Speaker Shahid was locked in a series of procedural issues between the Executive under President Nasheed and the Majlis, where as the ‘minority party’ the MDP saw him more as an ‘opposition man’ than as an unbiased Speaker of the House.

A fortnight after Speaker Shahid’s formal announcement, no major party in the ruling coalition has demanded his resignation. Nor has any of them talked about moving a no-trust vote against him. Individual voices have been raised, but they have remained as such.

The DRP to which he had belonged until the other day and of which he was among the leading-lights, has since gone about its national congress as if nothing had happened. The party has enough worries on hand, in terms of its continued stability and future, starting with DRP Leader Thasmeen Ali contesting the presidential polls of September. Going by media reports, the national council has amended the party’s constitution, authorising the executive committee to formulate the internal laws for dissolving the DRP, if and when it so desired.

Army told to stay away

In a fitting and much-needed direction ahead of the polls, Defence Minister Ahamed Nazim has reportedly told the armed forces not to get involved in direct politics. They should stop with exercising their democratic rights as voters, and should not identify with individual political parties, the local media quoted him as telling the personnel of the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF). A retired colonel of the armed forces, Nazim was at the centre of the controversy attending on the MDP charges of a ‘politico-military coup’ against President Nasheed in February 2012.

Minister Nazim’s direction now should have a salutary effect on the morale of the Maldivian forces in the future, if it is taken to its logical conclusion. It could help ensure free and fair elections, which the constitution has promised every five years. More importantly, it could set the tone and tenor for the political class and the armed forces reconciling themselves to the division of the security requirements of the State between the MNDF (external security) and the Maldivian Police Service (MPS for internal security duties), when the unified National Security Service (NSS) was bifurcated for the very reason in 2006, during the relatively long run-up to the democratisation process.

The political executive not having kept its part of the deal, the MNDF and the MPS have remained extremely and excessively politicised with their top-rung getting a make-over with every change of government. Given to practices from the past and also the paucity of MPS personnel at the ground-level, successive Governments too commanded the MNDF to what essentially are policing duties, leading to a cycle of ‘mutual dependency syndrome’ and consequent controversies. The fact that the MNDF was involved in the arrest of political personalities by successive Governments even after the bifurcation, in the one-day closure of the Supreme Court, all escalating to levels in which the force and also the MPS got entangled in the ‘power-transfer episode’ of February 7, 2012, speaks volumes.

Coalition realignment

Coalition and conciliation have been the basis for the emergence of multi-party democracy in the country and its sustenance since. Elections-2008 became possible, and results became pronounced, thanks to the opposition coalition of the time, particularly in the second-round, run-off polls to the presidency, despite what otherwise may be parroted in public. The process went unacknowledged as such, but that was what it was. Despite the controversial circumstances for which the 2008 constitution had not provided for, the realignment of that coalition was a major factor in the ‘transfer of power’ in February 2012.

In the run-up to the September polls, there is a talk of further realignment. Every party is talking to every other party, or is possibly sending out feelers. Whatever the reason, senior leaders of parties which were supposed to have been after one another were known to have met over the past year of conflict, controversy and confrontation. Where some such meetings were supposed to have been private, affairs became public knowledge almost immediately, whatever the reason, whoever leaked it.

Thus, Nasheed had DRP leader Thasmeen Ali and PPM’s Abdulla Yameen, since elected as the party’s presidential nominee, calling on him on separate occasions over the past year, like Speaker Shahid would do months later. Their’s was however said to be either a courtesy call on a former President or was to discuss specific issues like deadlocks in Parliament, where the MDP is the single largest party and controls many House Committees. Yet, the ice was broken, post-February ’12.

Protagonists remain. Of the three, Maumoon Gayoom and Mohammed Nasheed were past Presidents. The third one, Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, is the incumbent. Waheed has since called on Maumoon, talking about a possible coalition still for the September poll, against Nasheed and his MDP. President Waheed has also been talking to ruling coalition partner and Jumhooree Party (JP) presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim and Gayoom’s PPM rebel, Umar Naseer. He already has the religion-centric Adhaalath Party (AP) and Presidential Advisor Hassan Saeed’s Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) in alliance with his own Quamee Iththihaad Party (QIP), all backing him for the presidency.

Gasim and Thasmeen Ali, leader of the DRP, founded by Gayoom before he split away and launched the PPM had once projected themselves as partners. There are also reports from time to time that the MDP has been sending out feelers or receiving them to and from partners in the ruling coalition. For them, Gayoom not contesting the primary even while retaining the party presidency and Yameen becoming the PPM’s presidential nominee should blunt some of their misdirected angst from the past, near and far.

The MDP is the single largest party, both in Parliament and outside now, going by the numbers. The recent cross-over by Speaker Shahid and a few others has added to the party’s parliamentary strength. MDP leaders claim that it is a reflection of the public mood ahead of the presidential polls. Candidate Nasheed has declared since that the party would not opt for a coalition as it was unworkable under the Maldivian constitutional scheme, which provided for Executive Presidency.

Party leaders attribute Nasheed’s declaration to the MDP’s confidence in being able to win the presidential polls by itself. Critics remain. They say, there are no takers for a coalition with the MDP after the 2008 experience, and that the MDP was making a virtue of a necessity. Yet, through the past year there have been occasion in which the MDP, and some of the leading partners in the ruling coalition like the PPM and the DRP, voting together on crucial pieces of legislation, reflecting the need and possibilities of ‘bipartisanship’, which is an inherent, yet unpronounced element of the Executive Presidency scheme.

End to ‘negative politics’

It is but natural for any nation that has continued with and under the same political leadership for three long decades, and a history of sorts before it, to suffer the effects of ‘anti-incumbency’ afflicting the regime. The 2008 Constitution and the presidential polls were the cause and effect of the anti-incumbency finding a democratic expression, leading to the most controversial of ‘transfers of power’ that the nation had anticipated or others had gone through. There is no reason why 2013 could not be a repeat of 2008, pushing 2012 to the background and permanently so, at least as far as the process are concerned and independent of the results, which rests with the people of the country.

If Elections-2008 were thus won and lost on ‘negative votes’, it may not be any different in 2013. In most democracies the world over, ‘anti-incumbency’ rather than the ‘promised moon’ has been at the bottom election-driven power-transfers. In some of those nations, palpable in the Third World than in the First, internal dynamics of individual political parties have been driven by their inherent belief in ‘anti-incumbency’ – and not their ‘positive’ politics, policies and programmes – putting them (back) in power.

So complete has been the belief that some leaders in some of the parties would rather fight to keep the party leadership with them, ready to be catapulted to power by the externality of anti-incumbency against the ruler of the day. This throws up the problem of the newly-elected not having thought of working out and working with a ‘positive programme’ to endear him and his party to the people at large, who thus end up crying ‘anti-incumbency’ before long.

Democratic over-heating

It is under these circumstances that post-poll governments in these democracies have often been driven to stick to their electoral promises which are mostly confined to ‘exposing’ those that they had replaced and bringing them to justice for whatever offence that they might have been said to have committed while in power and abusing that power. This ‘eye-for-an-eye’ merry-go-round, if it could be called so, has only made every one blind to the power that they have come to enjoy and enforce, rather by default than any other way.

This alone has had the potential to defeat the people’s faith in democracy, as they get to feel little or no positive contributions and consequences of democracy touching their everyday life. Despite hopes to the contrary at birth, Maldives has proved to be no exception. However, in this case, over the past five years of democratic over-heating Maldives has proved that popular democracy has come to stay. So has coalition politics, in power and/or out of it.

‘Coalition-compulsions’, a new phrase that Maldives and Maldivian polity will have to come to terms with even while practising it already, would imply that all stake-holders should be ready for future cross-over by individual parties and their individual leaders and should not say or do things that they might regret on a later date. In a nation where the total registered membership of all political parties does not add up to half the electorate, it is saying a lot.

It is a message to the political parties that they need conciliation processes and reconciliation procedures in their own larger and future interest than their short-lived present, which the first five years of democracy has proved to each one of them, individually and collectively. If at a critical stage in the nation’s history, Presidents Gayoom and Nasheed could ensure a smooth power-transfer through a promise of give-and-take in 2008, there is no reason why the un-kept promises as perceived by various stake-holders cannot be revisited in the run-up to the second presidential polls under the multi-party democracy scheme.

There is thus a need for finding institutional solutions for ending mutual conflict and consequent confrontation that the nation can ill-afford in times such as these — when political stability is threatened alongside by economic downslide. It can blame the economy on the external world. Political problems are a Maldivian making just as the transition to democracy was a boon earlier. Both have had the ‘Made in Maldives’ brand sealed all over them.

The writer is a Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation

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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Civil servants march for International Labour Day

Civil servants in the Maldives began a march around the Maldives at around 6:00am this morning, calling for workers’ rights.

The small group, carrying placards, started outside the government offices at Velaanaage and concluded at the Artificial Beach in Male’.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) will mark Labour Day by encouraging employees to attend office in traditional Maldivian dress tomorrow, local media reported.

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