Food and drink outlets such as cafes and restaurants will be permitted to remain open until 3:00am during Ramadan this year, local media has reported.
The extended closing time has been approved in order to cater for late dining during the Islamic holy month, Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed has told Sun Online.
Retail stores will still be required to be closed by 11:00PM as normal.
(0)Dislikes
(0)President Mohamed Waheed has condemned the overthrow of Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi by the military, but emphasised that the event that brought him to power in February 2012 was “different”.
Morsi, President Waheed informed local newspaper Haveeru, was “a little stubborn” in his oppression of opposition views and had “failed to allow space for others”.
“There are similarities in what happened in Egypt and Maldives. The difference is that the military didn’t bring the change in Maldives. The change was brought because he [Nasheed] resigned on his own,” Waheed declared.
Former President Nasheed resigned on public television on February 7, 2012, amid a mutiny by elements of the police and military, following the storming of the state broadcaster.
Demonstrators who took to the streets the following day were met with a brutal police crackdown filmed by international media, and condemned by international groups such as Amnesty.
President Waheed’s new ‘unity government’ meanwhile replaced the entirety of Nasheed’s cabinet with key figures in the former 30 year dictatorship of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, ousted in 2008.
“There is a huge difference in Egypt because the military took over before the president resigned. According to our constitution, when the president resigns the vice president has to be sworn in. That was what happened in the Maldives,” Waheed emphasised.
“In the Maldives, the leader resigned because things became unbearable. In Egypt, the military took over because things became unbearable. It’s a totally different scenario,” he added.
“We’re seeing a very clear military coup in Egypt. In order to shield the truth, unrest was incited here [Maldives] under the false pretext of a military coup. That has been proven now,” he said.
Former Maldives’ President Mohamed Nasheed likewise condemned the ousting of Egypt’s first democratically-elected president by the military, and called on the international community not to give the new regime legitimacy.
“The world should not kid itself into believing that this coup hasn’t derailed Egypt’s fledgling democracy,” Nasheed said.
“Having experienced a coup myself, I understand how important it is for fresh presidential elections to be held quickly and for democracy to be restored. There is only one legitimate way to remove a democratically-elected leader and that is through the ballot box, not through the mob or the military,” Nasheed said.
“If leaders are unpopular, the people have an opportunity to remove them peacefully through elections.
Morsi was deposed yesterday at the conclusion of a 48 hour ultimatium issued by the Egyptian military.
The military entered the country’s fractious political fray after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest against Morsi and his Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The military has taken Morsi into custody and issued arrest warrants for 300 members of his party, as well as closing down its television stations and other support bases.
The head of the Supreme Court, Adli Mansour, was sworn in as interim head of state.
The US, which contributes significantly to the Egyptian military, has expressed “deep concern” about Morsi’s ouster, and called for review of its aid to the country.
“We are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove [President Morsi] and suspend the Egyptian constitution. I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government,” said US President Barack Obama in a statement.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague meanwhile said “political realities” required the UK to recognise the new Egyptian adminstration, claiming that the country “recognises states not governments”.
“It’s a popular intervention, there’s no doubt about that. We have to recognise the enormous dissatisfaction in Egypt with what the president had done and the conduct of the government over past year,” Hague said.
At the same time, “We don’t support military intervention as a way to resolve disputes in a democratic system. If one president can be deposed by the military then of course another one can be in the future. That’s a dangerous thing,” he added.
Massive protests in Egypt triggered military ultimatium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZgBSdD0xKM
(0)Dislikes(0)Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim has strongly advised officers of the Maldives National Defence Force as to how they should vote, suggesting they should not elect a candidate who would “run after them with batons”.
Nazim made the remarks while addressing military officers during the ceremony held to mark the 121st anniversary of the Maldivian army on Wednesday.
Nazim – who was a central figure behind the ousting of former President Mohamed Nasheed on February 2012, which the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) maintains to be a coup d’etat – stressed that though the military were not allowed to partake in political activities, the right to cast their ballot in the presidential elections like any other citizen, “must be exercised with due care”.
He also urged the officers to questions their own conscience before casting their ballot that would elect the President – who by virtue is their highest authority as Commander in Chief.
Attempting to draw a line between former President Nasheed and President Mohamed Waheed Hassan – who was present at the ceremony – Nazim said that “it is important to see whether the commander in chief is a person who would run after [you] with a baton or whether he is a person who takes a great deal of patience in resolving complicated matters”.
Nazim who appeared keen to advise the military on what type of a candidate they should vote for in the elections, said the military had a proud history and that the person who assumes the role of their commander in chief should possess certain features.
“That is why we must see who we are voting in the next elections,” the retired colonel said.
Nazim also spoke about his “experience” of February 7, 2012 when former President Nasheed’s government was toppled.
Nazim who was a civilian at the time, took over the command of the military and was seen leading the military side while Nasheed was still legally the commander-in-chief.
Nazim entered military headquarters as a civilian and gave Nasheed an ultimatum to unconditionally resign within one and a half hours time, or face consequences.
Nasheed, who had by then lost control of both the army and police and was surrounded by angry protesters including mutinying security forces, bowed to the demands and submitted his resignation. The protesters, including military and police officers, promptly stormed the state broadcaster, and Nasheed’s resignation was broadcast live on the re-appropriated network.
Nazim, explaining his view of the controversial events, said he went near the MNDF barracks after he lost his patience with the chaos that had built in the area. Another reason, he said, was to lend any sort of assistance he could provide to help the country at the time since he was an ex-serviceman.
“If the events that took place on that day had taken a different turn, instead of being in this position I would have ended up behind bars in jail. I might not even be alive,” he admitted.
Nazim claimed that the events witnessed on February 7 would continue to remain an unforgettable event and said that the country’s political leadership had severely failed.
“I saw the MNDF officers totally confused. They did not know what was happening. I am sure no soldier of this great nation would want such a day to repeat again,” he said.
Nazim also praised President Waheed claiming that it was the president’s immense patience and foresight that helped resolve the political chaos that followed after the change of regime.
The Defence Minister also claimed that President Waheed put a great deal of trust in the senior leadership of the military and has given the military the space and freedom to organise the institution on its own.
He also assured that MNDF officers would not be used by President Waheed to gain any political upper hand.
Nazim trying to politicise MNDF, claims MDP
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) condemned Nazim’s remarks to the military, claiming that the minister was attempting to influence officers’ right to freely cast their vote.
Speaking to Minivan News, MDP Spokesperson MP Imthiyaz Fahmy said the day Nasheed was toppled was the day Nazim gave up his self-respect and dignity, by orchestrating a “coup d’état”.
“After committing the highest treason against this state and being at the forefront of a coup that toppled the country’s first democratically elected president, who is Nazim to talk about pride in the MNDF in the first place?” Fahmy asked.
Fahmy described Nazim’s speech as a “cheap” political gimmick and claimed it showed how desperate the government was given poor public support for President Waheed.
“It is hilarious that Nazim is speaking about running after people with batons. This same person was among those who ran with batons and beat ordinary people of this country. But yet, without even a single hint of shame, he is now telling MNDF officers to look out for those with batons,” Fahmy said.
Fahmy reiterated that despite how much Nazim tries to convince that he is not a “coup leader” the majority of the officers in MNDF knew who Nazim was and that they knew what happened on February 7 was wrong.
“I am certain that despite all of this, the MDP will get the majority votes even from the MNDF,” Fahmy added.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have formally notified the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Prosecutor General and President Mohamed Waheed Hassan regarding its investigation into the leaked sex-tape of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed.
Still images from the sex tape, allegedly showing the judge committing adultery with an unidentified foreign woman, were circulating on social media networks in Male today.
According to Maldivian law, the crime of fornication is subject to 100 lashes and banishment or house arrest for a period of eight months. However in the absences of witnesses or a confession, video footage is only considered supporting evidence.
The courts regularly issue this sentence, overwhelmingly to women found guilty of extramarital sex. Sentences are carried out in front of the justice building.
Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has meanwhile confirmed that it was Justice Ali Hameed’s video that is being investigated.
A police spokesperson told Minivan News individuals believed to be involved in the scandal had been either summoned to the police for questioning or had been arrested with a court warrant.
“We are currently investigating two cases concerning the video. One is the case of those who had been using the video to blackmail the people in it, and the other concerns the content of the video,” said the spokesperson.
Asked if there had been any intervention into the case by the JSC – which has previously asserted it has sole authority to investigate matters involving judges – the official said no such communications had been made. He emphasised that “police will not hesitate to take any action as required by law.”
Spy camera video
Last Sunday, a second spy camera video apparently depicting a Supreme Court Justice and a local businessman discussing political influence in the judiciary surfaced on social media networks.
The local media identified the two individuals seen in the video as Justice Ali Hameed and Mohamed Saeed, the director of local business firm ‘Golden Lane’.
The discussion between the two individual revealed how feuds between politicians were settled through the court even when they did not involve any legal disputes.
In the video, the Supreme Court Justice reveals of devious plots by politicians including one that involved a plot of “killing off” DRP leader Thasmeen Ali and refers to a “second person to be killed,” however due to the unclear audio it is not clear what the parties are referring to, or the context of the “killing”.
In another instance, the alleged Supreme Court Justice further went onto reveal his political ‘hook-up’ with Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom – the current Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) presidential candidate and half-brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – claiming that he was one of Yameen’s “back-ups” and that his stand was “to do things the way Yameen wants”.
President Waheed expresses “sadness” over judge’s sex-tape
The video appeared shortly after the arrest of Ahmed Faiz – a council member of President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and then-Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry – while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex tape of a Supreme Court Justice, believed to be the same tape now subject to police investigation.
However, answering a question posed by local media at a press conference on Wednesday, President Waheed said it was a “very sad” thing for such a video to appear in public.
Taking a deep breath, Waheed said that there were “mistakes from both sides”, suggesting that both Justice Hameed and those who leaked the video were at fault.
“If the video is true, that means serious questions are raised against a Supreme Court Justice. However the video was obtained through planning. Making such videos in order to blackmail senior officials of the state is a huge crime,” Waheed said.
Waheed stressed that it was not within his mandate to take action against judges but appeared optimistic that the authorities would take action against the judge and that the matter would soon be resolved.
JSC irresponsible, says commission member
However, JSC’s member appointed from public, Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan did not share the same optimism.
In an interview with Haveeru, Shuaib contended that the JSC should suspend the judge from the Supreme Court bench while the police investigation was in progress.
Shuaib also alleged that the JSC was irresponsible as it had taken no action on the matter.
Speaking to Minivan News earlier, JSC Spokesperson Hassan Zaheen refused to comment on the case.
“Our legal department will analyse the video and if there happens to be a case which the commission needs to look into, then the department will inform the commission members,” he said at the time.
The JSC subsequently established a five-member committee to look into the matter at today’s meeting, after receiving the letter from police. Local media reported that the committee included commission members Latheefa Gasim, Ahmed Rasheed and Abdulla Didi, and two external lawyers: Hussain Siraj and Mohamed Anil.
Shuaib meanwhile alleged the JSC Chair, Hameed’s fellow Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed, was attempting to cover up the issue.
“Adam, it seems to me is trying to cover up the whole thing,” Shuaib declared.
JSC goes against precedent set by itself
According to Shuaib he had tried to take the matter to the commission meetings, but the chair had initially refused to put it on the agenda.
Instead, Shuaib said the chair of the commission wanted to make the matter a side table business and discuss it off the record.
Highlighting previous precedents in which the JSC had taken action against judges, Shuaib recalled the time former Civil Court Judge Mohamed Hilmee was arrested by police while indulging in sexual behaviour on the beach in front of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court.
Police at the time reported that Judge Hilmy and his wife Aminath Ali – who was his girl friend at the time – were discovered by police while in a state of undress.
The pair refuted the charges but the Criminal Court at the time noted that three police constables who witnessed the act had testified stating that “Aiminath’s underwear and pants were down to her knees” and that Hilmy had his “pants down to his knees” as well.
JSC Chair Adam meanwhile disputed Shuaib’s allegations, declaring that the commission would look into the matter in accordance with set procedures and rules.
Justice Hameed, who according to Supreme Court holds a Bachelor of Shari’ah and Qadhaa (Shari’ah and Law) degree from Ummul-Qura University in Mecca, is yet to face any repercussions over the sex-tape and continues to preside over Supreme Court cases.
His most recent appearance was on Thursday June 27, where he presided over the case involving the Bank of Maldives and DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s company Kanbaali Faru Investment. The bank had sought to reclaim loans that had not been paid by Dr Waheed’s presidential running mate.
(0)Dislikes(0)The US State Department’s continued placing of the Maldives on the ‘Tier Two Watch-List for Human-Trafficking’ could not have come at a worse – or better – time for the country’s authorities, particularly those intent on finding a way out for good.
Coming as it does after specific issues flagged by India over the past months, the US warning that Maldives could automatically slip into the ‘Tier Three’ [watchlist] with consequential sanctions of a non-humanitarian kind should be seen as a wake-up call for Male’ to set right matters, which have been allowed to drift for decades now.
At the bottom of the Maldivian plight should be the surge in development and growth inconsistent with the expectations and consequent preparations of the nation – particularly in the tourism sector – over the past three or four decades.
While successive governments have continued with the original policy of allowing foreign investors in big-time resort tourism to expatriate their earnings in dollars, this has also made wages less attractive for locals, with their relative perception of higher educational qualifications, to take up those jobs that are otherwise on offer.
This has led to an anomaly. While local youth can do with more and better-paying jobs, to match the very high cost of living in the country, the employer class on all fronts are dependent on immigrant labour to meet their needs. Thus, for a nation of 350,000, Maldives has an additional expatriate labour population totalling a conservative 100,000.
The US State Department estimate puts the figure upwards of 150,000. It is also the only major ‘labour recipient’ nation in South Asia, with most of them coming from Bangladesh and India, in that order but roughly in 5:3 ratio or thereabouts, followed by Sri Lanka – which used to be the dominant player, including the skills and white-collar sectors, earlier.
Better emigrant laws, regulations and enforcement in countries such as Sri Lanka and the Philippines, from where again immigrant labour have been working in Maldives, have made the country less attractive for the work-force from those destinations.
Learning from elsewhere
Maldives can learn from the US and the rest of the west, which as ‘labour-receiving nations’ not only have strict laws and enforcement, but have also become stricter with issuance of visas for immigrant employees – most of them of the white-collar, technocrat variety.
The US still however receives a large number of unskilled and semi-skilled labour from across the border with Mexico. Both the more regulated white-collar immigration and at times illegal immigration of Mexican labour have become hot election issue in the country, entailing government intervention.
Even in the Gulf-Arab region, for which south and South-East Asian nations have been providing the labour class in large numbers from the seventies, if not earlier, constant governmental pressure from overseas (alone) seems to have done the trick. There, the trend is getting reversed lately, with the locals too competing with the immigrants for the fewer available jobs.
Some of the Gulf nations have already begun following the west, in restricting employment opportunities for immigrants to facilitate better job opportunities for the locals.
Not just the Maldives as a nation, but Maldivians society as a whole can benefit from the authorities approaching the immigrant labour issue with an open mind, and raising the standard of labour protection to international levels.
At present, the (hospitality) industry (construction) infrastructure and household sectors are major employers of immigrant labour. Other than the high-end segments of the hospitality industry, others in these sectors do not address issues of labour concern – including minimum and sustainable wages, job-protection, legal remedies in case of employer wrong-doing, including with-holding of employee-passport and criminal intimidation, threats and at times attacks.
Ignorant and vulnerable
All these have made the immigrant labour class vulnerable in more ways than one.
With-holding of passports and non-extension of work-permits by the employer automatically renders the employee ‘illegal immigrant’, culpable to punitive punishment under the local laws. Seldom has there been a case of the authorities acting against the culprit-employer – or, working with host-governments to break the ‘job-racketeer network’, which often exploit the illiteracy and/or ignorance of the migrant labour class in particular.
Some of the insensitivity, if it can be called so, may also owe to the large-scale employment of immigrant labour in the household sector, where long hours of work for relatively low wages may have blinded the officialdom and the political class to the impossibility of the existing situation. The politico-administrative insensitivity to addressing the issues on hand may have been a product of the process.
This is seldom acknowledged, even less acted upon. The trend may have to change, with the political class taking the lead. Thus, the government should initiate legislative and legal measures to ensure fixed timings, minimum wages and other benefits and security for the migrant labour also in the household sector. The message would then spread.
If however, linkages are made between better labour/employee conditions and enforcement, the Maldivian Government would be in a position to attract its youthful population to productive sectors of the nation’s economy, thus churning out a possible process of social re-engineering.
In the absence of such pro-active measures, society has been complaining against itself that their youth power has been exhausting itself on unproductive goals and an ‘unfinished’ work culture.
The Maldivian Government has programmes against drug-abuse and rehabilitation addressing its youth, which otherwise constitutes over 40 per cent of the population. The dependence on the migrant labour could also become less, if only over a period.
A fourth major sector employing emigrant workers is the maldivian government, which has been recruiting teachers, doctors and nurses from countries such as India, which may also be the single largest supplier of white-collar workers of the high-skilled variety in the country.
As instances have been reported in the past, even government authorities have been in the habit of retaining the passports of Indians and other foreigners, at times recruited through shady job-agents.
This by itself may ensure the safety and security of the passports for the immigrant worker, as long as it is voluntary. But the unwarranted and avoidable delays in returning the passport when an employee had to rush back home for an emergency has caused issues both to the affected people and the host governments, which come under continual pressure from their constituencies in very many ways.
In the Maldivian context, it also means that an overseas employer returning home on an emergency call might have to spend an indefinite number of days at Male, spending heavily on an otherwise purposeless stay, to collect the passport. It is unfortunate that the recent Indian decision on registration for Indian visas for Maldivians has caused a similar problem for people from the interior islands with no relation or friend to put up with while in Male, which anyway is a crowded place for them to take such conventional courtesies for granted, any more.
In the famous ‘Menaka Gandhi case’ in 1979, otherwise, the Indian Supreme Court, for instance, had held that the passport of an Indian citizen was the property of the Government of India. It also implied that confiscation/retention of the same without proper legal authority and authorisation (even by Indian Government authorities) could tantamount to an act against the Indian sovereign, entailing the government of India to initiate appropriate measures – if some affected citizen were to approach the courts in India for redress.
Today, much is being said about the Government of India regulating the visa procedure for Maldivian nationals who visit India for medical care and education, their number being upwards of 50,000 each year.
Suggestions have also linked the matter to the controversial ‘GMR issue’. Maldivians wanting to travel to India on work or medical care in particular may have suffered, but there have not been any reported case of the visas for ’emergency patients’ and their attendants either being denied or even delayed, since.
If anything, the Indian authorities in Male’ are said to have prioritised such cases for fast-tracking visa issuance, though there is this avoidable tension for the next of kin who want to travel to India with their relation for emergency medical care.
Over the years, there have also been other cases of Maldivian employers, including the government, holding back passports, denying Indian immigrant employees to visit their dying kin, or lit the pyre of a dead parent, which also has great religious and spiritual significance for most Indians in particular.
What is not often known in Maldives – including the local media, which is otherwise sensitive to the perceived plight of Maldivians, likewise — is that many of these cases make waves in the high-literacy Kerala State in particular, where the media is as well networked as families.
Light at the end of the tunnel?
Lately, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. The government of President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik has started addressing some of the international concerns, including those of India’s.
The immigration authorities have notified that it is illegal for employers to hold back the passports of foreign labour – and the Indian High Commission, maybe among others, in Male has given adequate publicity for the same. Between them, the Maldivian Immigration and the IHC have also put in place a system for prior clearance for the High Commission for employer-recruiters sourcing emigrant labour from India.
Indian immigrant labour in Maldives has also been advised to route their work-permit, passport, etc, through the High Commission’s consular authorities – entailing additional workload for its staff. If found successful, it is not unlikely that the Indian government may (have to) consider extending the process to other embassies, especially in such countries with similar problems.
For foreign employees of the Maldivian government, a decision is said to be on the anvil for the passport-holders to retain their original document.
For others, particularly the lower-end labour class, a via media would still have to be found as they may still not be able to have a safe place to secure their passports and work-permits other than the custody of their employers, some of whom tend to abuse the trust and faith in more ways than one.
Indians may be among the most visible of beneficiaries in this case, their homes not being not far away from the Maldivian coasts could save on time, cost and avoidable agony by not having to camp in high-cost Male’ for a couple of days to collect their passport, after the authorities in the islands and their respective departments had cleared their leave applications.
Otherwise, a government proposal before Maldivian Parliament to clear extradition treaty would help in facilitating prisoner-swap between the two countries, for nationals of one country convicted in the other could undergo their prison-terms, if any, in their native land. Given the limited healthcare facility in Maldives, Indian prisoners would benefit from such a course. It could still be open if Maldivian prisoners in India could choose to spent their terms in Indian jails, or otherwise.
Distracted by democratisation?
It is possible that the turn of political events centred on the advent of multi-party democracy over the past several years may have distracted Maldives, and diffused its attention from equally pressing issues like those flagged by the US Report and highlighted by the specified Indian concern. Yet, the world does not wait for Maldives to set its political house in order – as a succession of US/UN reports on human trafficking and human rights have shown over the past years.
It is sad that a succession of political leadership in the country over the past years had not found the time — and more so the inclination — to address the larger issues cited in the annual reports of the US State Department – which for right reasons and wrong, have come to be acknowledged as bench-mark of an international kind, whether or not one likes it or not.
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]
(0)Dislikes(0)Brother-in-law of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Ilyas Ibrahim, has left the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), accusing it of disrupting President Waheed’s coalition government.
“I can’t accept stymieing the government whilst being part of the coalition,” Haveeru reported Ilyas as saying.
Ilyas publicly backed Umar Naseer in the PPM primary vote to determine the party’s presidential candidate, which was marred by allegations of vote rigging.
The primary was won by Gayoom’s half brother, MP Abdulla Yameen. Ilyas and Yameen are believed to have had a longstanding feud following Ilyas’s clash with Gayoom and subsequent banishment in 1998.
Tensions between the government and the PPM were exacerbated recently with the defection and dismissal of several high profile figures, such as former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel – now Yameen’s running mate.
“This is a sad day for PPM. Hon Ilyas has left the party. He was such a big asset to us. I thank him for being with us from the beginning,” Gayoom tweeted, following the recent announcement.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives yesterday (July 3) suffered a straight sets defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening zonal qualifying match for the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) men’s 2014 World Championship.
Sri Lanka made the most of their home advantage at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo to take the first set by 25-20, claiming the second set with an ever stronger margin of 25-12, the Ceylon Daily News has reported.
Despite a strong start to the third set, the Maldives squad failed to hold on to their initial lead over Sri Lanka, eventually conceding the match.
The Maldives will today face India, before playing Pakistan tomorrow (July 5) in a bid to claim a place in a final qualifying tournament ahead of next year’s world championship finals.
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