Day: August 15, 2013

Supreme Court issues injunction blocking appointment of new CSC head

The Supreme Court has issued an injunction to halt parliament’s appointment of a replacement president for the Civil Service Commission (CSC), after parliament voted to appoint Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar of Maafannu Unimaage to the commission.

Renee had been due to replace CSC Head Fahmy Hassan, after the Majlis’s decision to dismiss the CSC chair last year over allegations of sexual abuse. His termination was likewise blocked by a Supreme Court injunction.

The latest injunction came just as Reenee was due to take the oath in the President’s Office and receive her credentials from President Dr Mohamed Waheed this afternoon. A special ceremony to present credentials and take the oath of office had been scheduled at the President’s Office at 2:30pm, local media reported.

According to newspaper Haveeru, the Supreme Court’s injunction stated that the court’s majority had determined that appointing a new member to the commission when the Supreme Court had already decided that the dismissal was in violation of the constitution, was itself unconstitutional.

Local media reports said Attorney General Azima Shukoor had in her legal advice to the president in the matter stated that the president did not have any responsibility for determining members to the CSC, and that the only responsibility for the president was to appoint or dismiss appointees as determined by parliament.

On 13 August, 51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament voted in favor of appointing Reenee as Fahmy’s replacement, while the remaining three abstained.

In November last year parliament voted 38 – 32 to remove the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment lodged by a female employee of the CSC.

On 14 March 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that parliament’s decision to remove Fahmy from his position was not based on reasonable grounds and invalidated the decision.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the alleged sexual harassment incident occurred on 29 May 2012, and that the victim was a female senior research officer.

On June 17, Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee launched an investigation into the alleged harassment.

Fahmy was alleged to have called a female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

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US “terrorist tracking system” will not replace comprehensive border control: Nexbis

Malaysian IT company Nexbis has released a statement rubbishing the Maldivian government’s reasons for terminating their agreement to build and operate a new border control system.

The company has also suggested that human traffickers, fearful of a more comprehensive system, were behind the decision.

“The US PISCES system that is meant to replace the MIBCS is not a border control system nor is it an immigration solution, rather it is a terrorist tracking system that simply captures information of travellers and Maldivians who transit in and out of the country,” read the press release.

In June the Maldives was placed on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for the fourth consecutive year.

Whilst the United States and the Maldives signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the provision of the free PISCES (Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System) system in March of this year, Department of Immigration Spokesperson Ibrahim Ashraf told Minivan News last week that this system was not yet fully operational.

The PISCES system, designed by US tech firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has already been implemented in numerous other countries around the world, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Thailand.

Booz Allen’s website describes PISCES as “a critical tool in the war on terrorism”, allowing countries to collect, compare and analyse data in order to secure their borders.

At the time of the March agreement Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali told Minivan News it was too early to tell if the new border controls would be a direct replacement for the system provided by Nexbis.

Contradictory reasons for termination

Today’s statement also takes issue with the claims of Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim that the installation of the Nexbis system was causing “major losses” to the state. The quote was given to local media on August 6 as the Malaysian company was informed it had 14 days to vacate the country.

Nexbis contends that the official notice of the termination it received contradicts the statement given by the Defence Minister. The notice – received on August 5 – stated that the agreement was invalid from the outset (void ab initio), alleges Nexbis. This, it argues, would seemingly dispel the need for any further justification for the contract’s termination.

Regardless, the statement strongly refutes the government’s justification for the sudden termination. It argues that the installation and operation of the system was carried out free of charge, with all costs to be levied from foreign visitors and work permit applicants. The fact that these charges – to be added to airline ticket prices – were not obtained was due to the “oversight of certain officials in notifying the relevant international authorities,” says Nexbis.

The company also added that US$2.8million it had billed the government was therefore the amount due for the arrival and departure of foreigners as per its contract, and not for the installation and operation of the system.

Attorney General Azima Shukoor last week told local media that negotiations were being held with Nexbis over reaching an out of court settlement for terminating the contract, a statement also cited by Nexbis as in contradiction to the official notice given.

“The government’s admission and acknowledgement that the Nexbis agreement is till date, a legally valid and binding agreement that is further supported by the statement made by Azima… which suggests nothing less than an assertion that the Nexbis Agreement is legally valid,” said the Malaysian company.

The terms of the agreement are governed under Singapore law, as are those of the GMR airport contract – terminated in November last year. The cancellation of this deal, the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history, has led the GMR to seek US$1.4billion in compensation.

The Nexbis deal has been dogged by allegations of corruption since it was agreed under former President Mohamed Nasheed in 2010. The failure of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to conclusively prove foul play in this respect exonerates Nexbis from such charges, it has claimed.

Following parliament’s termination of the project in December, Nexbis sought a legal injunction to prevent any cancellation of the agreement while court hearings over the contract were still ongoing.

The company had sought to contest whether the ACC has the power to compulsorily request the government to cease all work in relation to the border control system agreement.

However, in April of this year, the High Court overturned a Civil Court ruling declaring the ACC could not terminate the agreement.

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Visa crisis hitting hiring and business, say resorts

Major resort operators in the Maldives have expressed serious concern with the country’s escalating visa crisis, claiming a failure to resolve the ongoing problems is leading to an inability to hire critical foreign personnel and stranding existing workers in the country.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, management for several exclusive resort properties in the Maldives expressed alarm that inefficiencies processing visas were not only preventing the hiring of foreign workers, but also preventing staff from being able to leave the country.

These concerns were aired as the Department of Immigration expressed confidence it would be able to clear a backlog of visa documentation for foreign workers, during an 11 day period in which it would not be accepting new applications.

Immigration authorities said the halt was necessary to improve service by clearing a backlog of documents uploaded online, however multiple resorts accused the department of being “inefficient” and “sporadic”.

A senior representative for one multinational group operating properties across the country said the company’s human resources team had raised issues with immigration not accepting visa applications between August 8 to August 18.

The source said the concerns reflected a wider problem with hiring foreign staff. The company said the delays had forced it to delay hiring vital staff, which was impacting the guest experience.

The general manager of another exclusive resort agreed that a failure to address ongoing problems obtaining visas for foreign nationals remained a “real issue”.

“We have staff members whose visas have now expired who cannot leave the country for various reasons such as annual leave, and sometimes really serious issues,” the manager said.

The source claimed that services provided by the country’s immigration department was “sporadic”, with individual applications taking an unpredictable amount of time to be processed.

“This all needs to be done by one government department instead of three, and the entire system needs less people working more efficiently,” the manager added.

The resort source said the decision of immigration authorities to suspend new applications for work visas for 11 days this month had hampered efforts to recruit needed staff during the busy Eid period.

Public sector

Despite the concerns raised by private employers, Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Geela Ali said state authorities had been consulted by immigration authorities in advance of not accepting visa applications.

Geela said that as a major employer of foreigners, both the health and education ministries had been given a period of two to three days to fast track any urgent requests for expatriate labour in order to minimise impacts to their operations while the visa system was “repaired”.

She added that while there would still be some difficulties for the ministries due to the ongoing work by immigration officials, the work was anticipated to allow for a more efficient visa system after completion.

Immigration Department Spokesperson Ibrahim Ashraf told Minivan News that the expat online system remained functional this week, although users would be unable to submit any visa applications for processing.

“Thousands of documents have been uploaded and there seem to be a number of counterfeit documents among these,” he said. “We are confident this this backlog will be cleared and new staff have also now been trained to oversee work going forward.”

The immigration department has previously announced that it would be hiring 30 staff to help oversee a comprehensive audit of the visa system.

Ashraf claimed that there was particular concern about business and individual applicants looking to obtain a foreign worker quota or visa by uploading documents that were either incorrect, irrelevant or fraudulent .

Immigration officials earlier this year dismissed reports of a “flaw” in the country’s online expatriate registration system, instead expressing concern that the technology was open to abuse by registered companies.

The Immigration Department confirmed at the time that authorities faced challenges in verifying whether construction projects were real, or a front to smuggle foreign labour into the country, but told Minivan News it had expected to resolve the issue by July.

Trapped in the Maldives

Minivan News has in recent months been informed of a growing number expatriates working in both the public and private sector who have been stranded in the Maldives by immigration authorities due to a failure of state and private employers to renew visa documentation.

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Maldives police sign MOU with Turkish counterparts

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Turkish National Police during his official visit to Turkey.

Alongside Director General of the Turkish National Police, Mehmet Kiliclar, Riyaz signed the Security Cooperation Agreement in order to strengthen the institutional relationship between Turkey and the Maldives.

“The Security Cooperation Agreement will provide important training opportunities for officers of the Maldives Police Service in diverse areas including the combating of transnational organised crime, human trafficking and narcotics abuse and trafficking,” read a statement on the Maldives Police Service (MPS) website.

Writing from Ankara on his personal Twitter feed, Riyaz also mentioned a meeting with the Turkish International Academy against Drugs & Organised Crime, stating that the organisation has assured the MPS support and assistance.

The MPS delegation will be in Turkey until Saturday.

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Islamic Ministry calls for reciting of Qunoot-e-Naazila following unrest in Egypt

Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has called on all Imams to recite the Qunoot after Fajr, Maqrib and Isha prayers, in recognition of the situation in Egypt, reported Sun Online.

According to the Shaafi’ee Madhab, if the Muslim community is being affected by calamity or hardship the Qunoot-e-Naazila may be recited in all prayers.

Sheikh Shaheem told Sun Online that according to the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), the Qunoot-e-Naazila was to recited when the Muslim community was facing substantial grievance.

The last time Islamic Ministry decided to call for the reciting of the Qunoot-e-Naazila was in November 2009 during the swine flu outbreak.

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Fire destroys kitchen in expatriate accommodation

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) firefighters have contained a fire that started this morning in a building containing expatriate workers, Mahchangolhi Yellow in Male.

In a statement issued today the MNDF said that the incident was reported at 10:08 am this morning and the fire was controlled in around half an hour.

The MNDF said the incident occurred due to a gas leak while the expats were cooking inside the house.

Although no one was injured in the incident, the MNDF said all equipment inside the kitchen and a room next to the kitchen was damaged beyond repair.

The MNDF said police and the MNDF fire and rescue team were further investigating the case. accommodation

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MDP MP summoned to police for questioning over Supreme Court Judge sex tape blackmail scandal

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Alhan Fahmy has been summoned by police in connection with the alleged blackmailing of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed using footage of the judge having sex with two foreign women said to be prostitutes.

Police confirmed to Minivan News that the Feydhoo MP had been asked to produce himself at police headquarters tonight at 8:30pm for questioning. They declined to provide further information on the matter.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Alhan Fahmy’s sister and lawyer Nooruban Fahmy said Fahmy had no insight at to why police had summoned him.

‘’We do not know any information yet,’’ she said. “We will know more tonight.’’

Fahmy has meanwhile told local media that the police summon chit states he is to be questioned over a matter involving corruption, blackmail and intimidation.

The MP tweeted a screenshot of a text message he claimed had been sent to his mobile phone by Superintendent of Police Mohamed Riyaz. The text read: ‘’Alhan, will make sure you are fully famed (sic) for blackmailing Justice Ali Hameed. You don’t know who we are.’’

On July 4, police formally notified the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Prosecutor General and President Mohamed Waheed Hassan regarding their investigation into the case.

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

Following the arrest, Faiz was dismissed from his government position and the Spokesperson of President’s Office Masood Imad – who is also a GIP council member – denounced any links with the government regarding the video.

Still images from the sex tape, allegedly showing the judge committing adultery with an unidentified foreign woman, are meanwhile circulating on social media networks.

While fornication outside marriage is a crime under Maldivian law and subject to 100 lashes – a punishment disproportionately meted out to women – the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has so far rejected the recommendation of its investigating sub committee to suspend Justice Hameed, citing “lack of evidence”.

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MDP appoints 1000 election observers as campaign spreads across country

With less than 23 days to go ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has claimed it remains confident of a first round victory with four campaign teams supported by thousands of volunteers working across the country.

MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the party’s campaign was going “extremely well”.

“We have four campaign teams working round the clock throughout the country. We have a team that includes the parliamentary group, a team led by the running mate (Dr Musthafa Luthfy), a team led by the Speaker of Parliament (Abdulla Shahid) and a team led by Nasheed himself,” Ghafoor said.

Ghafoor described the MDP’s campaign team as “a government in the awakening” that comprised of members of the former MDP-led government fighting against those who ousted them, in a battle to “win back justice”.

Speaking during a previous campaign rally, former President Mohamed Nasheed asserted that the results of the elections are clear and that the Elections Commission should not worry about the possibility of a run-off election.

“We will not need to go for a second round. Tune onto your radios, subscribe for cable TV and pay your cable bills, for this picture by the will of God, is being witnessed throughout the country,” Nasheed claimed. “Mohamed Nasheed of Galolhu ward Keneryge will win this election with 121,000 votes in the first round.”

Gahfoor said today that the party fully expected to receive 57 percent of the vote, though Nasheed’s rivals in the campaign have all expressed similar confidence ahead of the first round. He claimed that the figure was based on the party’s door to door campaigns and the data collected from the regional campaign coordinators and campaign agents stationed throughout the country.

Thousands of people turned out to hear Nasheed speak earlier this week during a rally held to commemorate the 12th anniversary of Black Friday in 2004, when government security forces attacked anti-Gayoom protesters.

Ghafoor is himself a coordinator for the regions Shaviyani Atoll, Raa Atoll and Laamu Atoll which comprises 13 parliamentary constituencies, contended that out of the 8,000 people who registered themselves to vote outside the region, more than 50 percent had pledged their vote to former President Nasheed.

“When the coup was brought about, our government’s popular support stood around 50 percent. After the coup and the unveiling of all the hypocrisy with the change of government, our support base currently stands beyond 55 percent,” he claimed.

Polling and Policies

Meanwhile, MDP announced that is planning to place more than a thousand election observers throughout the country, an average of four observers per ballot box.

Ghafoor added that work was underway to train the observers ahead of the elections: “We will not tolerate any attempts by this unelected government to influence the vote. We are very cautious and very prepared for that,” he said.

Ahead of the campaign, the former ruling party has launched series of election policies as part of its mini-manifesto. The policies, said the party, were planned to boost the crippled economy and increase the number of jobs available to young people.

Examples of the policies have included more sports facilities, higher enrolments in higher education, the development of a mari-culture industry, and improvements to the country’s internal agriculture trade in order to reduce the country’s huge import bill.

The MDP also proposed a guest house policy which is intended to double the number of tourist arrivals in the country within the next three years, creating more job opportunities while also improving the quality of living across the islands.

With less than a month for the elections, Ghafoor claimed that the party’s strong policies and intense campaigning gave them the edge over the remaining candidates.

“MDP will easily win the elections securing the needed 50 percent plus 1 vote. I still believe PPM will be trailing behind us. I don’t think it will be a close contest. Waheed and Gasim will probably secure the third and fourth positions,” he said.

Asked if the possibility of involvement of large sums of money given to voters could affect the possible outcome of the election results, Ghafoor claimed that vote buying would not have much of an impact.

“I think the people are more aware of the candidates running in the election. But we have to admit it, money plays a significant role in Maldivian voting culture. However, money cannot buy loyalty,” he said.

“PPM I believe will come second because it is lead by the former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. He will obviously have loyal supporters. But it may be a different story when it comes to recruiting their young support base. Apart from Gayoom, both Gasim and even Waheed are using money to get votes,” he claimed.

Ghafoor also described the current election politics as that of a battle between the past and the future. He claimed that the remaining three candidates were proxies of former President Gayoom’s 30 year reign and had nothing new to offer to the people.

“This is a clash between the past and the future and we are the future,” he said.

Aerial view of the MDP’s August 12 rally near the tsunami monument:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKBJiOAnFVw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Former President condemns “appalling violence” of crackdown on demonstrators by Egyptian security forces

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has issued a statement condemning the “appalling violence” of security forces in Wednesday’s crackdown on demonstrators backing the recently deposed Muslim Brotherhood.

“Dozens of protestors – reportedly including women, children and journalists – were killed on Wednesday as security forces opened fire on supporters of former President Morsi, who was ousted in a coup in July,” the statement read.

“Should these reports prove to be accurate, President Nasheed believes that the dispensation currently ruling Egypt should be held fully responsible for the protesters’ deaths.”

Egyptian state media reports suggested 235 civilians had been killed in the crackdown and 2000 injured after the Egyptian army opened fire on demonstators, while media present suggested the death toll could be much higher.

In a statement the International Press Institute suggested journalists were being deliberately targeted by both sides in the conflict. Journalists killed yesterday included a reporter from a state newspaper in the UAE Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, Egyptian journalist Ahmed Abdel Gawad and a UK Sky News cameraman.

Egyptian prime minister Hazem El Beblawi declared a month-long state of emergency and evening curfew as violence began to erupt across the country, following the military’s bulldozing of the protest camps in Cairo.

According to Al Jazeera, Beblawi praised police for using “self-restraint” and accused protesters of “carrying illegal arms, hijacking roads, assaulting private and public property and crippling people’s interest”.
“It is an assault on the citizens and the authority of the state, which should be respected by all,” he said. “Therefore it was necessary to take a firm stance. It was necessary for the state to intervene to restore security and to assure citizens that their rights could not be undermined by the protests.”

His Vice-President Mohamed El-Baradei meanwhile resigned in protest against the violence, stating that there had been peaceful options for resolving the political turmoil.

The crackdown has been condemned by governments around the world, including the UK, EU, US and UN.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged for “inclusive reconciliation” while US Secretary of State John Kerry said the “path toward violence leads only to greater instability, economic disaster and suffering”.

“Today’s events are deplorable and run counter to Egyptian aspirations for democracy. We and others have urged the government to respect the rights of free expression and to resolve this peacefully,” Kerry said. “There will not be a solution from further polarisation.”

The Maldivian government has issued a statement urging “all parties to respect the right to freedom of assembly as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 15/21 on the Rights to Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.”

“As an emerging democracy itself, the Maldives is familiar with the trials of democracy consolidation. A full and resilient democracy and a culture of respect for human rights can only be cultivated through denouncing of violence, and collaboration and consultation between all stakeholders, including the political opposition,” said a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The Maldives also experienced a police and military mutiny on 7 February 2012, which saw police arming opposition demonstrators and launching an assault on the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF)’s main military base and forcefully taking over the state broadcaster. The protesters then issued an ultimatum to President Mohamed Nasheed, who was inside the base, calling for his resignation.

Nasheed complied, stating that remaining in power at that juncture “would require the use force which would harm many citizens.”

A subsequent and controversial report by a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry dismissed claims that the security forces’ mutiny had “any coercive effect upon the President.”

“Indeed, until the time of his resignation, President Nasheed possessed of many powers under the Constitution that he could have utilised including the lawful use of force. He chose not to,” the report stated.

“That decision may be classified as praiseworthy, but he cannot now contend that because he made those choices, that he was ‘forced’ into resigning.”

Hotline

The Maldivian government has meanwhile opened a hotline (+960 779 4601) for the 84 Maldivian students and their families living in Egypt.

Egyptian protesters who were gathered near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in east Cairo last night were dispersed by security forces gathering in Nasru City’s Masjidul Salaam mosque area, approximately 100 meters from where the Maldivian expatriates are living, State Foreign Minister Hassan Saeed told Minivan News.

“Earlier the demonstrations were quite far from the students, however the demonstrators have shifted to near the Masjidul Salaam mosque, which is one bus stop away, or about 100-150 meters, from where the students are located,” said Saeed.

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