Day: July 18, 2013

DQP, Dr Hassan Saeed quit President Waheed’s coalition: “too much family, expatriate influence”

The government-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has announced that it has left President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s ‘forward with the nation’ coalition, ending its support for his 2013 election bid.

The decision came shortly after the religious conservative Adhaalath Party left the coalition and joined resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party (JP).

Local media is speculating that DQP Leader Dr Hassan Saeed – President Waheed’s Special Advisor since the controversial February 7 transfer of power – is likely to be announced as Gasim’s running mate.

In a statement released by the DQP on Thursday, the party said its council had unanimously agreed to leave the coalition, and accused President Waheed of being incapable of protecting the interests of his coalition partners.

Instead, the party alleged, Waheed was turning to “family influence” in making key decisions.

“The president dissolved the steering committee established with coalition partners to resolve issues within the coalition and resorted to taking decisions within his palace,” read the DQP statement.

Among other concerns, the party claimed that no key roles were given to coalition partners in the presidential campaign, which were instead outsourced to the president’s “family members and expatriates”.

The DQP alleged that some coalition partners had also breached their initial agreement to work together and were secretly attempting to induce members of other coalition partners to join their party.

The DQP, which has a membership of less than 1800 people, also claimed that president Waheed gave more priority to those who financially backed him over those who supported him with “sincerity and genuineness”.

“Therefore, despite repeated efforts, President Waheed’s failure to resolve these issues” forced the party to leave the coalition, DQP said.

Responding to the statement, a source in Waheed’s coalition told Minivan News that the DQP’s decision to leave the ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition was unexpected, when compared to the departure of the Adhaalath Party last week.

The source said DQP Leader Dr Hassan Saeed was himself in attendance during an official signing event held yesterday by Waheed, who was seeking 1,500 signatures needed to apply for candidacy as an independent. Saeed had been booked to attend another campaign visit over the coming days, the source said.

Despite the defection, the source claimed President Waheed’s campaigning would not be impacted by sudden defection of the DQP in any way.

“The [DQP] is a very small party of around 2000 members so we are not expecting much of an impact,” the source said.

With the departure of both the DQP and the Adhaalath party, President Waheed’s coalition now consists of his own Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) and the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was earlier been unveiled as Waheed’s running mate, although whether the pair will contest on the same independent ticket remains uncertain.

“There are people trying to bar me from competing. I will not be the one to get caught in that trap,” Waheed said earlier this week.

“So I intend to take the form and go on the streets. I will visit houses, carrying the form, during the next two days and ask those who wish to see me remain in this post for another term to sign.”

Dr Hassan Saeed has meanwhile resigned from his position as Waheed’s special advisor, shortly after the DQP announced its decision to side with Gasim Ibrahim.

Saeed was promptly replaced by former Attorney General Aishath Bisham.

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Maldives to ban import of goods containing ozone depleting substances

The Maldives will ban the import of goods containing ozone depleting substances, including environmentally harmful hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), reports local media.

Environment Minister Mariyam Shakeela signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maldives Customs Service Commissioner General Mohamed Aswan today (July 18) to facilitate the implementation of the “Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer”.

Shakeela noted that imports of air conditioning, freezers, minibars and water coolers containing HCFC would soon be banned.

“We are now getting ready for that. But such moves aren’t possible without the assistance of institutions such as customs,” she said.

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Former Attorney General Aishath Bisam appointed as Special Advisor to the President

Former Attorney General Aishath Bisam was appointed as Special Advisor to the President by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik  (July 18), reports local media.

Bisam is filling the Special Advisor post formerly held by Dr Hassan Saeed, who announced he would resign from the position after deciding to become running mate of Jumhoree Party (JP) Presidential Candidate and resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.

Waheed’s earlier appointment of Bisam as Attorney General and Azima Shukoor as Gender Minister were recently narrowly rejected by parliament, which is required to give a majority vote of confidence in each minister appointed to the executive.

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JSC votes not to suspend Supreme Court Judge in sex video, due to “lack of evidence”

Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has decided not to suspend Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, who is currently under both police and JSC investigation following the circulation of a sex video apparently depicting the judge fornicating with an unidentified foreign woman.

Four members of the JSC voted in support of a motion on Wednesday to not suspend the Supreme Court Justice, over due to “lack of evidence”.

The decision disregarded the recommendation of the JSC’s own five member committee investigating the judge’s conduct in multiple leaked videos.

The four members who supported the motion to not suspend the judge included parliament representative, resort tycoon and presidential candidate MP Gasim Ibrahim, Attorney General Aishath Azima Shukoor, President Waheed’s representative Latheefa Gasim, and Chair of the Civil Service Commission, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, who was recently dismissed by parliament in no-confidence motion over allegations of sexual harassment, but later reinstated by the Supreme Court.

JSC members Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan, Ahmed Rasheed and Abdulla Hameed did not support the motion.

Following the decision, JSC Deputy Chairman Abdulla Mohamed Didi and Latheefa Gasim resigned from the five-member committee investigating the matter.

The video of the Supreme Court Justice allegedly indulging in adultery came into media limelight following the arrest of Ahmed Faiz – a senior Council Member of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and former Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry.

Snapshots taken from the video began circulating on social media networks Twitter and Facebook, prompting a police investigation. The police formally notified all relevant authorities including the JSC, the Prosecutor General and President Waheed regarding their investigation into the case.

The JSC is also investigating a further two videos involving the Supreme Court Judge, including spy cam videos of Hameed discussing political corruption of the judiciary with a local businessman, and a meeting with former Immigration Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim.

A question of “details”

Gasim Ibrahim had previously defended Justice Hameed during a campaign rally, claiming that the alleged sex-tape was a “fake”. He was criticised by former Attorney General Husnu Suood for breaching the JSC’s code of conduct.

Attorney General Shukoor defended the commission’s decision claiming that the five member sub-committee needed more details on the case in order to suspend the judge, claiming the decision not to suspend Hameed was to give the committee time to come up with these details.

“The motion was passed when called for a vote. Therefore it must be noted that there was no motion calling to take action against the Supreme Court Justice during the meeting,” read the statement by Shukoor, defending the decision.

Discrimination between judges

JSC member Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan told Minivan News the commission’s enforcement of disciplinary action towards higher and lower court judges lacked consistency, despite all judges sharing the same code of conduct.

“Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baari Yoosuf was previously suspended and asked not to report for work [during a JSC investigation into his alleged sexual assault of a female lawyer].

“However, in the case of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, despite there being much stronger evidence, the commission members are reluctant to take action. Last time, even Azima Shukoor and Gasim Ibrahim voted in favour of suspending Baari,” Shuaib said.

He dismissed Shukoor’s statement stating that a motion to suspend the judge would be re-tabled.

“No, there was no decision reached at the meeting to re-agenda the matter,” he said.

Asked about the specific details the commission was seeking from the sub-committee, Shuaib said that these carried no weight and would not change the course of the investigation.

According to local media reports, the decision led to a falling out between members of the JSC including its Vice Chair Abdulla Didi – who chaired the meeting due to the absence of the commission’s chair Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed.

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Former President Nasheed submits candidacy for 2013 Presidential Elections

Former President Nasheed has filed his candidacy papers with the Elections Commission to contest September’s Presidential election.

“As mandated by the Election Commission, President Nasheed sought and received clearance from the country’s judicial courts and other state institutions prior to submitting his candidature as the Maldivian Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate,” said the MDP in a statement.

A large group of MDP supporters and party leaders accompanied the former President to the commission to submit the papers.

Nasheed and the MDP maintain the former president was compelled to resign during a police and military mutiny on February 7, 2012. His successor and former vice-president, Dr Mohamed Waheed, maintain the succession was legitimate.

“Today we submitted the election forms and begin the task of restoring democracy to our country. It has been a slippery slope but we have come a long way. Despite all the barriers and hurdles that were put in our way, we never gave up. Undoubtedly because of the resilience of the people of the Maldives, we are confident of winning this election in the first round with a handsome majority,” Nasheed declared.

Following February 7’s controversial transfer of power, the former President was charged over his detention of Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed, after parliament and the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) failed to taken action over its extensive list of allegation against the judge.

Nasheed and the MDP dismissed the charges as a politically-motivated attempt to convict and obstruct Nasheed from contesting the presidential elections, pointing to the presence of political opponents on the JSC, including a rival presidential candidate, which had created both the court hearing the charges and appointed the panel of judges hearing the case.

The international community reacted with calls for the presidential election to be “free, fair and inclusive”, and concerns over the state of the judiciary were echoed in a special report by UN Special Rapporteur Gabriela Knaul.

The Nasheed trial subsequently stalled at the high court level, after Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef issued an injunction. A day later the JSC suspended Shareef for what it claimed was an unrelated matter. He is currently contesting his suspension in court.

In his statement today, Nasheed stated that he had “received clearance from the courts and other state institutions” prior to submitting his candidature to the Elections Commission.

The Elections Commission has said it will formally announce accepted candidates 48 hours after receiving submissions.

At a press conference in Male, Nasheed thanked his supporters for ensuring he would be allowed to contest the election, and expressed gratitude to both his legal team and international actors. He also thanked reporters for their coverage of the MDP’s activities since the transfer of power in February 2012.

During the press conference Nasheed noted the current rapid political realignments taking place, such as the defection of the Adhaalath Party from President Waheed’s coalition to Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party and Waheed’s decision to run as an independent candidate.

Following Nasheed’s press conference Waheed’s remaining coalition partner, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), followed suit.

Also observing that several senior members of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) had left the party, Nasheed invited the defectors to join the MDP.

Asked by reporters as to whether he was concerned about election rigging, Nasheed did not discount the possibility but said he believed that “the election will be free and fair after the voter list is properly finalised and observers, monitors and agents are able to participate.”

“When the tide has turned it becomes very difficult for anyone to swim against it,” Nasheed said.

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President seeking US$300 million credit facility from Saudi Arabia for “budget support”

The government has confirmed it is in discussion with Saudi Arabia, seeking a long-term, low interest credit facility of US$300 million to help overcome “fiscal problems”.

President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad confirmed President Waheed had held discussions with senior Saudi Arabian dignitaries including Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud over the proposed credit facility, during his recent visit to the country.

“The president has initiated the talks so it is just a matter of working out the details now,” Masood said, explaining that the funds would be used for “budget support” and development projects.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile said the government would still be required to secure parliamentary approval for the funding.

MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said that the heavily partisan parliament now effectively controlled state finances as a result of former opposition politicians – now part of President Waheed’s government – imposing tighter spending restrictions on former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration.

Ghafoor argued that with the MDP failing to recognise the legitimacy of the present government due to the controversial transfer of power last February, he did not believe there would be support for approving the credit agreement with Saudi Arabia due to the government’s existing extravagant borrowing levels.

The party accused the current government of reckless financial management, pointing to a potential US$1.4 billion compensation bill facing the state for deciding last year to abruptly terminate a US$511 million airport development contract agreed with infrastructure group GMR.

The compensation claim amounts to four times that of the Maldives’ current state reserves should it be awarded by a Singapore court overhearing arbitration hearings between GMR and the government.

“Since we do net see this government as legitimate, we do not see why we should support them,” he said. “They have put us into debt with their handling of the airport development and another bill for a border control system.”

Earlier this month, Malaysian security firm Nexbis invoiced the Department of Immigration and Emigration for US$2.8 million (MVR 43 million) for the installation and operation of its border control system technology in the country, in line with a concession agreement signed in 2010.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali confirmed at the time that Nexbis had submitted a bill seeking charges for the period its system has been in use, as work continues on replacing the Malaysian company’s border controls with new technology provided by the US government.

Development delays

In April this year, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad sought authorisation from parliament to divert MVR 650 million (US$42 million) allocated for infrastructure projects in the budget to cover recurrent expenditure.

Jihad warned that government offices and independent institutions might be unable to pay salaries or electricity and phone bills if funds were not transferred from the MVR 1.8 billion (US$117 million) Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

Earlier the same month, Jihad also announced that the government had decided to delay all new development projects that were to be financed out of the state budget due to shortfalls in revenue.

The decision to suspend new projects was revealed after Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz told local media at the time that he had been instructed not to commence any further infrastructure projects included in the 2013 budget, such as harbour construction or land reclamation.

Both Finance Minister Jihad and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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Police summon mother of MDP MP for questioning

Police have summoned the mother of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ali Waheed for questioning as part of a joint investigation with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Zuhra Abdulla of Honey Moon House in Thoddu, Alifu Alifu Atoll was summoned to Thoddu Island Council, police confirmed to Minivan News.

According to a police spokesperson, Zuhra invoked her right to remain silent.

Speaking to Minivan News, Ali Waheed confirmed that his mother was summoned to the island council by police for the investigation of a case concerning him.

He alleged the investigation was political and an attempt to distract from what was “a really happy day for MDP” following former President Mohamed Nasheed’s submission of his candidacy for the 2013 presidential election.

“[Police] are concerned and worried because they have failed to fulfill their promise to their supporters to jail former President Mohamed Nasheed,” Ali Waheed contended.

”We will not be cooperative to any political investigation,” he said. ”These are little sticks thrown at us because today Nasheed had filed his candidacy at the Elections Commission”.

On February 20, 2013, police declared they were investigating a corruption case involving Ali Waheed in which his mother purchased a land in Male’ for MVR 7.938 million (US$514,000) in October 2011.

At the time, President of the ACC Hassan Luthfee confirmed the institution was also investigating a case concerning the Thoddoo MP.

“We have earlier received complaints regarding the MP taking bribes following his defection from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to the MDP. There were also claims that he utilised the money he received as bribes to buy a house. We are investigating the matter,” Luthfee said.

In May 2011, Ali Waheed switched sides from DRP to MDP claiming a lack of internal democracy within his former party.

In August 2011, Ali Waheed won a beachfront house for Rf4.6 million (US$300,000), bidding Rf3020 per square foot. At the same time, Ali Waheed’s wife also won a house from the 36 beachfront residential plots on Hulhumale, bidding Rf 3020 per square foot, for Rf 4,749,651 (US$310,000).

Waheed and his wife were the third highest bidders for the property, under the Hulhulmale Development Corporation (HDC)’s housing programme.

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