Day: June 17, 2013

Male’ City Council, MDP deny receiving notice to clear Usfasgandu site by June 27

Male’ City Council (MCC) has denied receiving any notice from the Housing Ministry requesting it hand over the Usfasgandu grounds, which it continues to lease to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for campaign activities and rallies.

Male’ Mayor Ali Manik said this evening that despite hearing rumours Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz had given the council ten days from tomorrow (June 18) to clear and hand over the plot of land, he had not received any information on the matter from the government.

“I can’t say anything about something that I haven’t even received.” he told Minivan News. “The only things I have heard on the issue have been from the lips of other people.”

Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz however told Sun Online today that a notice had been sent to the MCC today for them to clear and vacate the area by June 27 – or else police would be requested to assist in clearing the area.

The housing minister was quoted as saying that the state would not be taking responsibility for any damage caused to items of equipment left on the site after the requested handover date.

Dr Mohamed Muiz also told local media today that the MCC had previously been sent a notice on February 25 requesting it hand over Usfasgandu to his ministry within seven days, a request that was not made following a court ruling.

The ministry sent the notice in February just a day after the High Court overturned a Civil Court ruling backing the government’s order that the land be handed over to state authorities.

The High Court claimed at the time that the lower court had not followed legal procedures in the case.

Usfasgandu was handed back to the MDP by the MCC in March of this year. The council claimed at the time that no other party had requested use of the land at the time.

Muiz was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

MDP claims intimidation

MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said today that the party had not received any official notice from the housing ministry regarding calls to clear the site within ten days.

He alleged that the reports of the Housing Ministry seeking to reclaim Usfasgandu reflected an attempt by the state to intimidate political rivals such as the MDP and its supporters ahead of an election in an attempt to destabilise the country ahead of September’s presidential election.

Ghafoor refused to speculate at present on whether the MDP would hand back the land should an official request be received.

He responded that authorities had previously sought to take Usfasgandu back from the MDP in the past, but had been unsuccessful due to what he claimed was “public pressure”.

“Our thinking is this is not a valid government, it therefore has no authority and this is why we are advocating in parliament for a transitional government ahead of the election,” he said. “Otherwise, how can we go through an election like this.”

A media official for the Maldives Police Service (MPS) told Minivan News that it had received no request or notice from the Housing Ministry for assistance in clearing the site.

Male’ City Council leased the Usfasgandu area to the ousted ruling party in March 2012, prompting repeated attempts by the government to reclaim the area on the grounds it was being used for criminal activity, including the practice of black magic.

The MDP had moved to the area after a previous protest camp at the tsunami monument was dismantled and completely repainted by police and military on March 19, 2012.

On May 29,2012, police raided the Usfasgandu site after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court, ordering the MDP to vacate the area. The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) then began dismantling the protest camp.

The Housing Ministry filed a case with the Civil Court after the MCC refused to hand the land plot to the ministry.

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Three Burmese nationals rescued after jumping overboard

Three Burmese expats who jumped off a boat to get to Male’ have been rescued, report police.

In a statement today, police said the three men jumped off the boat in an attempt to leave the country and return to Myanmar, after their employer failed to pay their wages for three months.

Police said the men were found in the sea by a small dingy that was out fishing this morning at 5:30am.

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Jumhoree Party Leader Gasim Ibrahim confident of securing presidential election in first round

Business tycoon and leader of the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), MP Gasim Ibrahim, has expressed confidence he will win the upcoming presidential election in the first round of voting.

Speaking at a rally in the party’s Male’ headquarters yesterday (June 16), Gasim was quoted in local media as claiming that he was well placed to become the Maldives’ next president based on a recent spike in the JP’s membership.

According to the latest statistics from the Elections Commission (EC), the JP’s current membership stands at 12,154 members (five percent of eligible voters) with a further 1,374 membership forms pending approval.

The JP, a member of President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s coalition government, recently announced that it would decide whether to contest the election alone or within a coalition after the conclusion of its national conference later this month.

However with the party expected to officially unveil its leader during the congress, MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla said the JP anticipated fielding its own candidate during the election.

“What I will say is that our articles and regulations state that our leader has to run as a presidential candidate. We have to run for the seat on our own,” he said last week.

Raheem added that the party did nonetheless have criteria under which it would look to join a coalition.

Speaking last night, Gasim predicted a growing number of MPs would join his party and unite behind him in order to back a candidate he claimed could steer the country from corruption.

“[That leader] is Gasim Ibrahim,” he said.

Gasim is also the chairman of the Villa Group, which owns resorts, shipping lines, electronic stores and a cement packing factory in the Maldives. Gasim also owns private broadcaster Villa Television (VTV), and is a member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

The MP for Maamigili claimed a surge in his party membership suggested that people were now thinking about what was best for the country and which party offered the best solution to the nation’s woes.

Gasim maintained that the public ultimately did not wish to elect a leader who would defy them, claiming instead that they wanted an experienced person capable of running the country.

“Even a fishing vessel must be handed over to a good captain,” he stressed.

Gasim claimed that with his wealth he had provided education for a lot of students, as well as covered medical expenses for a number of citizens.

If elected president in September, Gasim pledged to continue providing further help to the people, something he claimed the public were already aware of.

JP Spokesperson Moosa Rameez was not responding to calls at time of press regarding the comments.

The election is set to take place on September 7, and the Elections Commission (EC) has announced that a total of 241,000 people will be able to cast their vote in the second multi-party presidential vote to be held in the country since ratification of the 2008 constitution.

Two major political parties in the country – the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – have so far announced their intentions to field candidates.

Incumbent President Dr Mohamed Waheed has also announced his intention to stand, backed by a coalition including his own Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP), the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP).

The opposition MDP is fielding former President Mohamed Nasheed, who controversially resigned from office following a violent mutiny by sections of the police and military on February 7, 2012.

Both Nasheed and his party continue to allege his government was toppled in a bloodless coup d’etat, accusations that were later rejected by a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI).

The PPM will meanwhile be fielding former President Gayoom’s half-brother, MP Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, as its presidential candidate. Yameen secured the party’s ticket after a fierce presidential primary against former PPM activist Umar Naseer. Naseer was later dismissed from the party after making accusing Yameen vote rigging in the primary.

First round claims

Election rules dictate that a candidate must secure over 50 percent of the popular vote to secure the presidency in the first round. Should no candidate secure a simple majority, a run-off second round election is then required to be held 20 days later between the top two candidates.

Former President Nasheed, who commands the single largest political support base in the country in terms of party membership, has previously predicted that he would win the election within the first round with a 57 percent popular vote. The party claims to have been pledged 125,000 votes already – 52 percent of total eligible voters, or almost 60 percent of the first round assuming an 85 percent voter turnout (as the figure stood in 2008, another ‘high stakes’ election).

Former DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said the party, which is backing President Waheed in the election, did not believe there was a single party in the country capable of securing an outright win in September.

“No party in the country will get more than 35 percent of the vote during the first round, even the MDP which remains the biggest single party,” he said last month.

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Parliament announces five MPs’ change of parties

Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid announced at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis that five MPs have officially informed the secretariat of their recent change of political parties.

The movement of MPs included Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim from the People’s Alliance (PA) to the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), MPs Ahmed Shareef Adam and Ahmed Moosa from PPM to President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP), and MP Ali Azim from the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

DRP MP Ali Saleem meanwhile left the party to become an Independent MP.

Following the changes, the majority party MDP currently has 33 seats, minority party PPM has 20 seats, the DRP has 11 seats, the Jumhooree Party (JP) has three seats, and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has one seat.

There are currently nine independent MPs of the 77 elected to parliament in May 2009. The two MPs who recently joined President Waheed’s GIP along with MP Ibrahim Muttalib of the Adhaalath Party as well as two MPs of the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) are considered independents under the parliamentary rules as no candidate has been elected to parliament on either an Adhaalath, MDA or GIP ticket.

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Parliament overrides presidential veto on sole traders bill

Parliament today passed a bill on sole traders, which was previously vetoed by President Dr Mohamed Waheed, with the unanimous consent of all 53 MPs participating in the vote.

Under article 91(b) of the constitution, a bill returned for reconsideration and passed by a majority of total membership of parliament has to be “assented by the President and published in the government gazette.”

MPs also voted unanimously to pass a bill on arbitration at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis.

Both pieces of legislation were submitted in late 2011 under the economic reform package of the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government. The arbitration bill proposes the introduction of alternative dispute resolution in the Maldives.

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No complaints received of officers withholding identification in Addu City: PIC

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has said no complaints have been received of officers in Addu City refusing to provide a warrant or identification while conducting searches on members of the public or their private property.

Addu City’s Mayor yesterday (June 16) alleged he had received multiple complaints that plain clothes officers who refused to provide either identification or a warrant were searching members of the public in the streets and in their homes.

The allegations were raised following the Maldives Police Service (MPS) warning issued Saturday (June 15) claiming criminals had been posing as officers in the Addu City area for the last two weeks in order to commit robberies.

PIC Director General Fathimath Sareera Ali Shareef told Minivan News today that as the commission had received no reports of officers failing to provide their identification or a warrant during searches,  it would not be investigating allegations against officers in Addu City.

“We would only look into the issue if there were complaints made of police doing wrong,” she said.

Shareef added that while the PIC had been made aware of the reports of criminals posing as officers in Addu, the matter was a criminal investigation and therefore the responsibility of the police.

“We understand that these robberies involve members of the public posing as police. I would hope no officers were involved in this,” she said.

A police media official meanwhile confirmed yesterday that investigations were under way in Addu City into several separate incidents where individuals falsely claiming to be officers searched members of the public in the street or at their homes before robbing them of valuables.

Police were presently working to identify the individuals accused of posing as police in order to commit robberies, though no arrests have been made at the time, the official added.

A statement released by authorities on the weekend said that all genuine officers – even those on duty in plain clothes – are required to carry their police identification. The public was therefore encouraged to ask officers to see such documentation when they were being searched or questioned.

However,  Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig said that after having recently received numerous complaints about Special Operations (SO) officers allegedly forcing their way into homes to conduct searches without uniforms, warrants or identification, it was increasingly difficult for the public to verify real police in the city.

“We never get complaints about thieves breaking into properties disguised in police uniform,” he alleged. “We have received complaints that the SO perform searches of people and property without their ID or uniform. Also, people have been beaten, threatened, abused, abducted and locked up without relatives being informed.”

Sodig argued that on the back of allegations certain officers were conducting their duties without wearing uniforms or providing their ID, local thieves had found themselves able to exploit public uncertainty to perform robberies.

“Some people have issued complaints with us and the PIC. These are not fake police officers, they are genuine officers who are refusing to show their ID and stopping anyone on the street they like,” he claimed yesterday.

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Civil Court dismisses case submitted by High Court chief judge against the JSC

The Civil Court has today dismissed a case submitted by Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef to overturn his indefinite suspension by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The case was dismissed by Civil Court Judge Hathif Hilmy after the claimant did not attend a hearing scheduled for today, while also failing to provide any reasonable grounds for his absence.

The Civil Court said that the hearing was scheduled for 1:00pm.

Judge Ahmed Shareef was suspended on the same day that the High Court cancelled a hearing of a case involving former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The hearing was scheduled to decide on procedural issues raised by the JSC contending that the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case, which involved the legitimacy of a panel of judges appointed by the commission to preside over the former president’s trial at the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

Shortly after the cancellation, the JSC declared that the commission had indefinitely suspended Shareef.

He was the presiding judge in former President Nasheed’s case against the JSC.

JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla insisted at a press conference later that day that the disciplinary action had no relation to the former president’s case.

The JSC then announced it had appointed Judge Abdul Rauoof Ibrahim as acting Chief Judge of High Court until the conclusion of its inquiry into complaints filed against the suspended chief judge.

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MTCC to resume harbour projects after obtaining construction materials

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has announced the purchase of 18,000 tonnes of breakwater rocks required to complete the construction of five island harbours previously stalled due to a lack of the material, according to local media.

Sun Online has reported that the company had acquired the materials from a shipment previously imported to the country by Indian infrastructure group GMR for construction of a new terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA). The airport development deal, signed during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed, was declared void last November by the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

A MTCC spokesperson told local media that the acquisition of breakwater rocks would allow the company to resume construction work on harbour projects for five islands.

These islands include Manadhoo in Noonu Atoll, Ungoofaaru in Raa Atoll, Komandoo in Shaviyani, Feeali in Faafu Atoll, while a harbour is also being constructed in Meemu Atoll

The 18,000 tonnes of special rocks are now being transported to the islands, with authorities estimating that there would be enough building material to begin work on four harbours, with a further acquisition of  breakwater rocks expected soon, according to Sun Online.

MTCC announced last month that it was suspending harbour construction on four of the islands as the remaining work required further supplies of reinforcement rock boulders or conglomerate.

On February 15 this year, the Indian government revoked a special quota afforded to the Maldives for the import of aggregate and river sand. The move led to a shortage in the supply of construction material and subsequent rising costs for construction companies.

The Indian government’s decision followed a diplomatic row with the Maldives following the current administration’s termination of the concession agreement with GMR to upgrade and develop INIA.

The government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor did not however appear on a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission in January.  The list instead included concerns such as discrimination against Indian expatriates and the confiscation of passports by Maldivian employers.

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Retired Bilehdhoo magistrate died of natural causes, say police

A retired magistrate from the island of Bilehdhoo in Faafu atoll, Abdul Gani Ali, 65, was found dead on Sunday night (June 16), according to the Maldives Police Service (MPS).

The doctor who examined the deceased informed police that the retired magistrate died of natural causes and had sustained an inch-deep head wound in a fall.

Abdul Gani Ali was a long-serving magistrate at the Bilehdoo court.

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