Day: August 1, 2013

Low voter registration by Maldivians abroad could mean no voting in London, New Delhi and Singapore

Not sure where you are registered to vote? Check here online

The Elections Commission has warned it may not be able to place ballot boxes in London, Singapore and New Delhi for the upcoming presidential elections September 7, as current figures from the commission suggest that the number of registered voters is trailing below the required minimum 100 registered voters.

Speaking to Minivan News on Thursday, Vice President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Fayaz said that with the deadline for voter registration expiring on August 7, the current rate of registration could mean Maldivians residing in London, New Delhi and Singapore may not be able to cast their vote in the elections.

“However, we can only say that for sure after the deadline expires,” he said.

Fayaz said other regions outside the country where large number of Maldivians currently reside are doing well in terms of registration. So far, the commission confirmed that it will be able to place ballot boxes in Trivandrum, Colombo and Malaysia.

According to Fayaz, 652 Maldivians have registered to vote in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 225 have registered to vote in Trivandrum, India and 302 people have registered to vote in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also said the commission is currently working to get the figures from Singapore, London and Delhi.

Despite fears expatriate Maldivians would be unable to vote, the Chair of Elections Commission Fuwad Thowfeek – who is currently on the island of Fuahmulah conducting voter education programs – appeared confident that the commission could still place ballot boxes in the affected regions as past experience suggested Maldivians tend to register “at the last minute”.

“Even during the last elections, people registered to vote in the last week of registration. This is the last week. So I believe people will register and we will be able to place ballot boxes in all regions,” Thowfeek said.

Fuwad said the Elections Commission had been collaborating with respective Maldivian High Commissions in the regions to register voters for the upcoming elections.

“We have placed a focal point for the Elections Commission in all the High Commissions including Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India and UK. This has been done on the recommendations of the High Commissions as well,” he explained.

Thowfeek said that High Commissions will help register votes during normal working hours of the respective countries, according to a  procedure is similar to that carried out in the Maldives.

“The process is similar to [registration in] Male. A person who is, say for example, living in Ahmedabad in India can register to vote at Trivandrum through a friend. All he would need to do is to send a copy of his national ID card via fax or email. Likewise, a person living abroad can even register to vote in Male, by doing the same process. It is very similar to the procedure going on in Male,” he explained.

As in the Maldives, Thowfeek also said that political parties can assist in the registration of voters abroad.

“They will have to submit the registration forms to our focal points in the respective High Commissions. Registration can then be done from the High Commissions,” he said.

The Elections Commission has meanwhile established an online mechanism through its website for people to check the ballot box where they are registered to vote.

By entering a national ID card number, the website will display the name of the voter, the permanent address of the voter and the ballot box and the location where the voter is eligible to vote.

For Maldivians residing abroad, details can also be checked at focal points established in the High Commissions, Thowfeek added.

The Elections Commission have previously announced that the Presidential Elections are scheduled to take place on September 7. If no candidate attains the required 50 percent plus one vote to secure a first round election victory a run-off election is to take place 20 days after the first election.

The commission has announced that four candidates will be competing in the elections.

The candidates are leader of the Jumhoree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim (running mate Dr Hassan Saeed), Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate former President Mohamed Nasheed (running mate Dr Musthafa Luthfy), incumbent President and independent candidate Dr Mohamed Waheed (running mate DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali) and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Yameen (running mate Dr Mohamed Jameel.

Check the voter registry and registered place of voting

Download registration form (Dhivehi)

In the Maldives? Check your details via SMS

To check where/if you are registered to vote, SMS 1414 ‘VIS(space)(National ID#)’

To check political party registration, SMS 1414 ‘PPR(space)(National ID#)’

Elections Commission hotline: 1414

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Police ordered to investigate Nasheed administration over SAARC Summit, alcohol

President Mohamed Waheed has ordered police to investigate budget overruns on the 2010 SAARC Summit during the previous administration of Mohamed Nasheed.

The President told a rally last night that he had “used my rights as president” to compel police to investigate the matter, according to local media.

The Auditor General released a special audit report last week on the Summit, alleging several financial discrepancies including an overspend of more than MVR 430 million (US$27.9 million) on the event’s allocated budget.

President Waheed is competing against Nasheed in the September election, along with the head of parliament’s finance committee responsible for commissioning the audit report, Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate.Abdulla Yameen.

According to the report (Dhivehi), former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government spent MVR 667,874,870.84 (US$ 43.3 million), on the summit – 188.82 percent more than the MVR 231,240,000 (US$14.99 million) budget passed by parliament.

Others inconsistencies included payment of MVR 61.8 million (US$4 million) more the amount agreed for the construction of the Equatorial Convention Centre built for the summit, financial losses incurred by the government, violations of Public Finance Act and Public Finance Regulation and wasteful spending.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile challenged the intent and credibility of the report, alleging the report “misleadingly” failed to distinguish between the government’s own money and the millions of dollars worth of foreign grant aid the country received to host the event.

Responding to the Auditor General’s claim that the former government had overspent more than MVR 430 million (US$27.9 million), former Housing and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam said the Indian government had provided grant aid of MVR 267 million (US$17.3 million), the South Korean government MVR 3 million (US$194,552.53), while an additional MVR 2 million (US$129,701.69) was given from a trust fund.

According to the former Minister, when the grant aid was accounted for the deficit stood at MVR 167 million (US$10.83 million) – a third of the audit report’s figure – which had been settled by government’s contingency budget.

“The Auditor General is doing the math and arithmetic without taking these key figures into account. You simply can’t count apples and oranges and decide the total sum of both in apples. We see his findings something similar to counting apples in this manner,” Aslam said.

He also claimed that MVR 64 million (US$4.15 million) spent on building roads in both Addu City and Fuvahmulah was directed to improve the capacity of Southern Utilities Company Limited (SUL) because other companies who proposed to construct the road, including the government’s Maldives Transport and Construction Company (MTCC), were too expensive.

“The Auditor General claimed the government incurred financial losses by giving the project to SUL, and that the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) was actively involved in the construction work. And that government had paid SUL for the voluntary work carried out by the military personnel. What we are highlighting here is that if mathematically calculated, the amount spent on the project did not result in financial losses to the government,” Aslam contended.

He also questioned as to how the Auditor General came to the conclusion that the MNDF had contributed to 60 percent of the total work carried out to hold the SAARC Summit, stating that there was no justification given for the figure.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim defended his office, claiming the report was compiled based on information received from current government.

“The [MDP] is alleging that the current government was withholding information from us. We can’t do anything about that. We base our reports based on the information we receive,” he said.

PPM vice presidential candidate Dr Mohamed Jameel meanwhile called for the MDP to account for “economic atrocities”, speaking at a rally on Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

Alcohol investigation

In a separate investigation, police have re-submitted for prosecution a case involving the alleged discovery of alcohol bottles in the presidential residence on February 7 2012, during the police mutiny that led to Nasheed’s resignation the same day.

The case was first filed by police on April 12 2012, but the case was returned by the PG’s office.

Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed the case, which had been returned by the PG in December 2012 for further investigation, had been resubmitted after police “clarified certain issues” originally highlighted by state prosecutors.

“We have checked these matters and resent the case,” Haneef said.
Haneef downplayed any potential concerns that the resubmission of the case just over a month before the presidential election could be seen as politically motivated.

“This case has been going on for a long time. [Maldives police] work on a case-by-case basis and we have re-sent the case after investigations were completed,” he said.

Nasheed has also faced charges for the military detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed prior to the controversial transfer of power. Nasheed’s government had alleged the judge – who had struck down police warrants for his own arrest and obtained a civil court injunction against his investigation by the Judicial Services Commission – had “taken the entire judiciary in his fist”, among other allegations.

Nasheed and the MDP have maintained that the charges are a politically-motivated attempt to bar him from contesting the elections.

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State reserves rise to US344.4 million: MMA

State reserves increased to US$344.4 million in July, according to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), a figure worth approximately 2.7 months of imports.

The data was published in the MMA’s monthly economic review for July.

Total government revenue for the first six months of the year, excluding grants, was MVR 5.4 billion (US$350 million) while total expenditure (excluding net lending) was MVR 6.8 billion (US$440 million).

While the 2013 budget projected a decline in the budget deficit to 4 percent of GDP from 13 percent in 2012, the MMA noted that according to balance of payments estimates for 2013, the current account deficit was estimated to increase to US$690.7 million, equivalent to 28 per cent of GDP.

“Of this deficit, 62 per cent is to be financed through foreign financing while 38 per cent is to be financed through the sale of T-bills and other means,” the MMA noted.

Outstanding T-bills had meanwhile increased from MVR 5.5 billion (US$356.6 million) in November 2012, to MVR 9 billion (US$583.6 million) as of May 2013.

Total tourist arrivals meanwhile increased 18 percent on the first half of 2012, largely driven by Chinese arrivals, while the average duration of stay declined 12 percent.

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Police arrest, charge two men for eating during Ramadan fasting hours

Police have arrested and charged two men who were caught eating during fasting hours.

Police identified the pair as Mohamed Saeed, 42 of Henveiru Happy Villa and Ibrahim Ali, 18 of Violet house in Maafaru, Noonu Atoll. Both names were sent to the Prosecutor General (PG)’s office for prosecution.

In a statement, police said the pair were discovered eating behind the Alimas Carnival Stage at 2:00pm on July 12, 2013. The investigation was concluded by July 24, and sent for prosecution.

Police Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef said eating during fasting hours was a crime under the Maldivian penal code.

‘’I think, although I am not entirely sure, it is a crime punishable by a sentence of up to one year in jail,’’ he explained.

Fasting hours during the month of Ramadan are from dawn to sunset. In the Maldives the dawn prayer is normally called at 4:40am and sunset at 6:23 pm.

During Ramadan in 2010, four men were arrested after they were caught eating in daylight hours. Two of those arrest were also made near the Alimas Carnival stage.

During the same Ramadan, another group of people were arrested while they were eating behind a construction site on the land behind the Dharubaaruge convention centre.

In 2009 a man was arrested for eating in daytime during Ramadan and was sent to the Criminal Court. The Criminal Court fined him MVR 500 (US$32) and ordered him to reinstate that day’s fast.

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