Police have stated that they have retrieved USD 10,000 stolen from a guest room in Kanuhura Island Resort.
They stated that, while US$8,500 of the stolen money was found in a transport buggy on Monday evening, the remaining US$1500 was found hidden under a rock in front of guest rooms early today.
While police are continuing investigation of the matter, which was reported to them Tuesday afternoon, no related arrests have been made at the time of press.
(0)Dislikes
(0)Police arrested eight Maldivians with illegal narcotics and more than MVR140,000 (US$9,000) and US$11,000 in cash from a residence in Malé yesterday.
In addition to the drugs and cash seized after searching Maafanu Zillion with a court warrant, police discovered a caged slow loris. The importation and sale of the endangered primate species is illegal in the country.
The house was searched based on information of a “wide drug network” obtained by police drug intelligence.
Yesterday’s raid followed a similar operation earlier in the month, in which a 23-year-old suspected of supplying illegal drugs was arrested – also in Maafanu ward. Official statistics reveal drug-related offences reported to police had risen by 84 percent between 2012 and 2013.
The suspects taken into custody yesterday included three men aged 20, 24 and 53 as well as three women aged 19, 35 and 47.
The Criminal Court today extended the remand detention of the 20-year-old man and 35-year-old woman to 15 days and granted a three-day extension for the remaining four suspects.
Police also found a liquor bottle and a handcuff from the adjoining residence, Maafanu Zefiah, and took two men aged 21 and 28 into custody.
According to the police Drug Enforcement Department (DED), the street value of the drugs seized from Maafanu Zillion was more than MVR200,000 (US$12,970).
The drugs were found in five small film canisters and a large rubber packet.
Among other items confiscated from M. Zillion – located near the Maafanu police station – included four sex toys, empty bottles of alcohol, walkie talkies of the Kenwood brand used at construction sites, 39 cans of beer and equipment used for packing drugs.
The search operation conducted jointly by the DED, drug intelligence department and the Specialist Operations (SO) command concluded at 5:30pm on Monday.
The case is currently investigation by the DED and the Criminal Investigation Department.
Police further revealed that the 47-year-old woman had previously been convicted for drug trafficking and sentenced to 25 years in prison. She was however transferred to house arrest on December 6, 2008 due to poor health.
Local daily Haveeru reported today that the woman was convicted in late 2007 for assisting her son – who was in grade nine at the time – to buy and sell drugs.
The conviction was upheld by the High Court in 2012 following an appeal on the grounds that the woman suffered from a mental illness.
During an interview with Minivan News this month, Home Minister Umar Naseer said that the main target of his ministry for the next five years would be to curb drug-related crimes.
Naseer said that he intended to give high priority to enhancing the customs services in order to stop illegal drugs and other contraband from being smuggled in to the country. He also said that the police intelligence department was being expanded.
Speaking about reducing drug-related crimes, Naseer said that he would focus more on major drug dealers, rather than those further down the criminal hierarchy.
The home minister also pledged to find ways to enforce Maldivian law on drug lords living overseas who were allegedly involved in the drug trafficking in the Maldives.
(0)Dislikes(0)Gaaf Alif Atoll Villingili Constituency’s Atoll Council candidate Masood Ahmed withdrew his name yesterday, despite the Elections Commission (EC) having delayed the election in the constituency to accommodate his contestation following a Supreme Court appeal verdict.
Masood, who applied to contest as an independent candidate, has informed local media that he is a member of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, and that he will assist in the campaign of the party’s candidates after withdrawing his own name.
“In reality, the Elections Commission has no right to reject my candidacy. I filed the case in Supreme Court to prove this point. As I later thought about it, I realized that contesting now will not be the best thing even for the party. I was of this mindset even when the EC decided to delay elections in my constituency,” he is quoted as saying to local media.
While local media reports that the EC rejected Ahmed’s candidacy as his Criminal Records form read that he had been involved in “committing sexual offences against a minor or infringing on a person’s modesty”, the Supreme Court ruled the EC’s decision void.
In the ruling, the apex court claimed that while a person who is charged with pedophilia or rape cannot contest in the elections as per the law, Ahmed did not have such a criminal charge against him.
It stated that the charges against Ahmed had been for engaging in illicit sex with a woman, and that these offences were of a different category. The court also noted that proof of having committed illicit sex is not equivalent to proof of rape.
(0)Dislikes(0)Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor speaks to Minivan News about his mandate, his aspirations for his five year term in the cabinet position, and his political career.
Adeeb served in the same cabinet post during the previous administration of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed. He is also currently the elected Deputy Leader of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Political Career
Mariyath Mohamed: What are the main things you hope to achieve in these five years as Tourism Minister?
Ahmed Adheeb: As you know, I initially became Tourism Minister in the last government, with the endorsement of PPM, with about two years left of the term when I assumed office. At the time, we worked to complete some of the then-existing work, for example completion of the Fourth Tourism Masterplan.
There were also many other legislative issues. As an example there is the case where tourist resorts were being formed under the old law on uninhabited islands. Then there were other resorts which had not been completed as agreed, and many islands from which the government was not receiving due payments. I believe that I was able to sort out a lot of issues like this.
At the time, it was not a PPM agenda that we were following, and the government was a rather large mix. Our aim at the time was to sustain tourism. As you know tourism is a sector which is very much connected to the country’s economy. When I assumed office, the political turbulence had caused the cancellation of many bookings, including charter flights from China. Maldives is a place which usually has bookings made two or three months ahead of the estimated date of arrival, and so booking cancellations mean that the rate of arrivals were dropping.
I came and made a set up to deal with the issue. The civil service team at the Tourism Ministry has a lot of experienced personnel with long term institutional memory. They have a lot of practical experience, for example in how they tackled the 2004 tsunami disaster and the effects of the Gulf War, and many other such incidences.
As I see it, I assumed office in the middle of a crisis too, so I pulled together the crisis management team and we made a cell to deal with the matter. We had the resorts report back to us on a daily basis with records of how many booking they had made and how many bookings had got cancelled every single day. We used this as a barometer at the time, and commenced work. I went to the ITB fair in Germany as well as the WTM in London and held press conferences.
I believe it is crucial to face press and respond to their enquiries. At that time, the opposition was raising its voice, accusing us of having come to power through a coup d’etat and we addressed those allegations. What I mean by that is, I pointed out that a Commission of National Inquiry had been established with Commonwealth intervention on mutual agreement and called on the opposition to not draw conclusions while the investigation was pending. I called on them to give us time until the investigation was completed. And in any case, I don’t believe tourism must come to an end regardless of the political volatility, as it is something closely knit with the livelihood of all Maldivian citizens and the country’s economy. We said that more than a political agenda, our focus is on marketing tourism. It was well accepted and if you check headlines from then you will find our interviews in the Telegraph and other such news agencies.
I believe we were able to sustain the tourism industry within those two years. In 2012, I worked hard to reach a target of 1 million tourist arrivals, but were able to reach 965,000. However, last year we reached the target. I am happy with the 1.2 million arrivals, I believe we were able to reach a good target.
This government has recently come into effect and as PPM’s deputy leader, I too did a lot of work on our manifesto, mainly on the economic sector. Our plan is to create three special economic zones, and to develop even the tourism sector through these. The model in mid-Maldives, of Malé and the atolls connected within the seaplane’s zone, is a very ideal one to be replicated in North and South of the country. This can only be achieved by building certain infrastructure in these zones. A law on economic zones needs to be drafted.
Additionally, we need to explore what needs to be done to implement what is in the Tourism Masterplan. Whether we should increase beds, and how to do that, and so on. As you know, the current bed capacity of the country is 25,000 and I believe this needs a fast-paced increase. During the new year season, there was a fall of about 2000 beds due to overbooking. There’s also the Chinese New Year. So I believe we need to very quickly increase bed capacity, whether it be in resorts, city hotels or other new products.
I especially want to also note that the real estate market in Maldives is also something we can promote through tourism.
MM: After having previously worked in the Maldives Customs Services, and then the Chamber of Commerce, how did you enter the political arena?
AA: I worked in the Air Cargo department of Maldives Customs Services for three years. During my time there, I became familiar with trade and import. All imports into Maldives, including even seafood, is usually brought in by air freight. I became familiarised with trade and at the time decided to go abroad for further studies.
After completion of my degree, I worked in stock exchange in Sri Lanka. I then completed my Masters programme, returned to the Maldives and worked in private consultations. In 2009, on invitation of the existing board of Chamber of Commerce, I contested for a post on its board of directors. I served as a board member then, and as its treasurer. I stayed there since about 2011.
I believe that as people who research the economy, we all have our views and certain set principles on everything, including privatisation, foreign exchange, and how an economy must be moulded. That, I believe, is our ideology. I believe in openness, Maldives is a very open country. Maldives cannot develop at its best unless it is opened up for investments and we need to bring about certain economical reforms.
If we look at the last five years, it is mostly political reforms that have been brought, and that too at a very fast pace. Meaning, for example, we can now say Maldives is one of the countries where press freedom is granted most openly. However, in an economical perspective, reforms have not been brought yet. Being a country with a low population and with low savings, foreign investments are very important.
In that sense, the Chamber of Commerce is a very political organisation internally, in that we fight for businessmen’s rights, and lobby for changes. I was involved in this, and was often invited to TV shows and other media programmes. I often did research for various businesses, and this always includes economic research of the Maldives. With these updates, I was always outspoken about any issues we may have with the policies of the government then in power. I have always given opinions on these matters to media in my own name. For example, when the government implemented the change in dollar rates, I revealed my view in my own name in the media. Our prediction proved more true than the estimates of the government’s policy makers at the time, for example they were unable to solve the foreign currency issue by the introduction of a dollar band. We said even then that it was a wrong step and called on them to reverse the decision.
Although I am junior by age, I have conducted a lot of research and work. For example, back when current President [Abdulla] Yameen was in People’s Alliance, I did a lot of technical work for the party, including budget reviews, analysis, and providing details of these to the party’s parliamentarians. I used to debate a lot on economical matters with Yameen at the time. He is a very academic and technical person in the field.
It then led to Yameen inviting me to take on the responsibilities of a cabinet minister during the change in government in 2012. I responded that I cannot take on responsibilities of a cabinet minister unless it is in my field of expertise, i.e in the business area. That I would not know how to handle something like the health or education sector. That if it was in the business sector, I would know well to take policy decisions. So I accepted the post of tourism minister and took it as a challenge. I was 29 years of age then.
Many friends and family members advised me to not take up the position, owing to the political atmosphere of the time. However, as I see it, it is very easy to stand outside and criticise matters. But when one has to actually implement things within the legal framework, it is a completely different experience.
Every decision we must make in a position like this is a tough one, but needs to be taken firmly. It is impossible to please everyone with any decision we make. We must also be able to digest criticism levied against us by media or other sources.
There are certain things I have observed since I assumed this post. Cabinet ministers are policy makers. The policies we decide on must be implemented by the civil service, but it is the Permanent Secretary that will deal with the day to day management of civil servants. I will not engage in the hiring and firing of civil servants. I distinguish between the two.
The other thing is I believe every tourism minister must maintain good public relations. We cannot solve the existing issues without building rapport with all investors. I work to understand their concerns, and to get win-win results for the government through the understanding of these concerns. And in that way I gained their acceptance.
I also always ask elders and more experienced persons for advice, including policy makers and former presidents. I believe in treating them respectfully.
A lot of people were of the mindset that I would not be up for this challenge as I was appointed at such a young age. I took it up as a challenge and have been careful in my work. This is because I realise that if I fail, it will reflect not just on me alone, but there will be a reluctance to appoint young ministers in the future.
I do get a lot of criticism, but I believe getting criticism from the opposition is a success in its own right. I also strongly believe that criticism that comes for my decisions is not out of a dislike of me personally, but something that comes along with the cabinet position. So I take it all professionally, as it is an indication that I am doing something right. I have always been told that one will have enemies if they stand up for something.
I don’t differentiate between people of different political ideologies. I believe a person’s political affiliation is a very personal thing and we must be willing to work alike with everyone. I have been trained in politics through the democratic system, and so find it easy to handle the criticism and work through it all.
MM: How do you currently manage time between fulfilling the responsibilities of being both a cabinet minister, as well as the Deputy Leader of PPM?
AA: A deputy leader of a party is also a policy maker there. If the party’s president is unable to attend councils or larger committee meetings, I chair them. Council meetings are normally held once a month unless there is an election approaching. But in these we just decide on policies.
I always differentiate between policy making and implementation. Once we decide on policies to observe, and for example ways to obtain funds, it is the office staff and volunteers who will then work to implement these. I never micromanage things. So it is easy to manage time at a policy making level.
The difficulties arise because once you become a high level politician, either in state level or party level, a lot of individual citizens want to contact you directly. It is often difficult to respond to them in a timely manner, but I do attempt to call them back even if later. But I believe that this is something I need to improve on.
MM: Are you able to fulfill both responsibilities at your best capacity?
AA: I believe I do. If you ask other party members, or council members or parliamentarians, they too will tell you that since I adopted this position as deputy leader, I have taken up huge responsibilities within the party. Even if you ask the former president of other cabinet colleagues, they will tell you that I am a man who always stands up and remains firm even during difficult times and through chaotic times. As I see it, you have to be courageous in taking up responsibilities, and should not shy away from the repercussions that come your way.
MM: What are your future plans for your political career?
AA: A lot of people ask me that. I am only turning 32 this year. I am definitely not a presidential candidate. Even in 2013, a lot of people asked me if I was going to be a running mate or candidate of some party or other. I responded even then that I am not that ambitious. I only consider things as they come to me through given opportunity. I don’t proactively look for positions. My political career will be built on the next five years. Implementation of our economic policies is a huge dream of ours, and that is what will give me the most satisfaction. I see the achievement of this dream as far more important to me than attempting to get higher positions than the one I am in now. This is also the party president’s vision.
As I see it, we have only recently gained the opportunity to show our own results. It is through the results that we manage to show in these five years that my political career, too, will be shaped.
The country has a huge youth population. While there was a difference of opinions when I was appointed during the former administration, due to my young age. But Yameen well understands that with the huge youth population in this nation, it will be difficult to develop the country without youth inclusion.
What I have to say to youth is, if you have a dream, show your capacity and exploit your potential. Being a country with a small population, there is a lot of vast opportunity here.
Section Two: Tourism Policies
MM: The current cabinet is split into economic and social councils. What are your responsibilities on the Economic Council and which other colleagues sit on it?
AA: The economic council has five ministers, including the youth minister and is chaired by the President. I am the co-chair.
There is a Social Council and the Economic and Youth Council. Even in previous governments, there were separate committees, but the cabinet also met on a regular basis, which led to these committees meeting less frequently. But as the president wants to reach results at a fast speed, he holds the council meetings every single day. I believe that with about ten years of cabinet experience, this initiative by the president adds to added effectiveness and better time management. Now each cabinet minister can better focus on matters that directly involve them.
However, on major issues that involve the full cabinet, there are full cabinet meetings.
MM: What are the government’s plans for establishing guest islands? Are these to be on uninhabited islands alone? What then is the distinguishing factor between a guest island and a tourist resort?
AA: Yes, it is targeted mostly to uninhabited islands. The thing is, it is a huge infrastructure investment to build a tourist resort. It becomes an expensive place to go to when they invest in water set-ups, sewerage systems and all before building rooms. We at advanced stages of making a model where we are speaking with MWSC to make water set-ups, sewerage systems and electricity set ups in an island, after which we can give plots to individual businessmen. For example, common restaurants can be managed by one party, water sports by another party, twenty rooms by one company, another twenty rooms by another company and so on. In that way, we are creating numerous businesses there. We are planning to introduce this as a test model to see if many mid level businesses can co-exist and run a guest island in this manner. MWSC is already on board to set up the utilities, and the businesses will just need to pay monthly bills to them.
While it will be difficult for a small business to invest in a full resort, there are many small and midlevel businesses that can invest in small sections of an island. We can even replicate this in uninhabited areas of large inhabited islands. First we intend to test this on an uninhabited island. We plan to begin implementation around March this year.
MM: The government has also recently announced that permits to run guesthouses will only be given if the said guesthouse is to be built on an island with existing water and sewerage systems. Will this cause more income to islands which are already somewhat developed, while marginalising less developed islands which may perhaps even be better suited for tourism in other manners?
AA: There is a lot of confusion around this matter. There are four tourism sectors: tourist resorts, tourist hotels, guest houses, and yacht marinas. Under the Tourism Law, tourists are not allowed to spend nights at any place other than places registered under one of these sectors. This is not to say that one cannot invite a friend to stay over at their house, but it cannot be done commercially. This is also for the protection of tourists as well.
We often get proposals to build city hotels. What we are saying is, how can you build a city hotel without an investor also building a sewerage and water system there. How can it be managed otherwise?
What we are encouraging is for people like those councils from large islands that ask for state land to be leased to build a city hotel to also condition investors to build utility systems there. The opposition is, however, often confusing this with the guesthouse licenses which we already do authorise.
Under a law, we have to authorise the opening of guesthouses on any private land as long as it fits in with the set guidelines. Former President Nasheed had released about twenty licenses, and even I have released about a 160 licenses since then. That is going steadily forward and we encourage it.
We even assist in solving any issues that may have. For example, to assist the guesthouse community in Hulhumalé, we authorised some cars to carry tourists from the airport to Hulhumalé over the connecting road. Even in Maafushi, we have addressed many issues.
The thing is, we just don’t talk about guesthouses so much. The thing is, from a marketing perspective, we have positioned the Maldives as a high-end destination. A-category guests will continue coming for as long as we market the country as an A-category destination. Guests for B,C,D and E categories are something we automatically get. Even guesthouses are able to get guests to stay for 80 or 90 dollars because Maldives is marketed as a high end destination and for guests it is a dream come true to be able to stay here for that price. If the government begins to market tourism at guest house level, this will drop down drastically. This is the strategy we employ.
Even locally, culturally, people get disheartened when we talk about guesthouses. So although I don’t much talk about it, guesthouse owners are aware that they have my full cooperation. The circular was meant to let investors know that it is feasible to run a 20 room hotel only if the utility services are also set in place.
MM: What is the implication of the cancellation of charging bed tax, which has been in effect from January 1? What is the government’s plan of action to make up for this loss in revenue?
AA: The bed tax is supposed to be cancelled from January 1 this year, but this is not considered when the budget is expanded. We are asking for an extension until June.
Normally, budget and government revenue earning bills are passed together. But here, the parliament goes into recess after passing the budget, leaving the income bills pending for after that. And even then, they often just fail.
This causes the budget to expand, but there’s no way for the government to earn enough to implement it. The T-GST [Tourist Goods and Services Tax] matters even more to the state income. The state keeps expanding, the allowances and salaries keep increasing, but the income for all of this still depends on the 25,000 tourist beds. Unless we expand this, how can we increase what we earn? We can’t keep expanding the state, and then squeezing the existing tourism sector without expanding it.
MM: As a low lying island state, do you think climate change is a serious threat to the Maldives, and may have large adverse effects on tourism? Does this ministry have any existing plans to deal with these effects?
AA: After the 2004 tsunami, the country now has a good response system to disaster. Each resort has a high rise shelter in case of such an emergency and evacuation plans for all guests to see. The tourism sector, in developing resorts, pays attention to sustainable development and prioritises the environment.
The current government does not believe Maldives needs to be a guinea pig for the climate change cause. I mean, it is not the Maldives that conducts activities which are harmful to the environment.
However, we cannot go around saying Maldives will sink in 20 years and then ask for investments of 50 years in the tourism sector. This causes investors to be reluctant to invest in the Maldives. We do not believe we are at risk of suddenly sinking and think in a perspective of protecting investments.
Although we don’t speak about this at a marketing level, we do want to make Maldives a model in sustainability. We do take action on the matter though we do not speak of it much at a marketing level. We do not want investors to lose confidence, so we cannot do both. Let us first develop to this stage.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Abdulla Yameen has revealed his government’s foreign policy today, stating that the most important objective was to increase economic self-sufficiency, describing this as a requirement of independent foreign policy.
“The foreign policy of my government will be based, just as those firm policies of President Maumoon, on the principle of mutual respect between countries, respect for the sovereignty of countries,” Yameen said.
He said that a well-thought foreign policy is necessary “for a small Maldives to travel safely amidst the turbulent political currents”.
“The foreign policy of Maldives will protect and sustain Maldives’ selfhood and Islam. [It is] a policy that will sustain the independence, security and sovereignty of the the Maldives. A policy that will open opportunities abroad for Maldivians to benefit from,” Yameen said.
The foreign policy revealed today has six main targets: protecting national independence and increasing national security, protecting the Islamic unity of the country and promoting Islamic characteristics internationally, increasing economic self-sufficiency, increasing South Asian regional cooperation, providing quality services for Maldivians living abroad, and the strengthening and development of foreign services.
In terms of protecting national independence and increasing national security, the government plans to increase cooperation with Indian ocean states in combating terrorism, piracy, and other non-traditional security threats, and get more involved in keeping world peace.
In addition to this, the government aims to improve relations with international civil society organisations and think tanks, and to improve the reporting for conventions to which the Maldives is a party.
Speaking at the ceremony held to reveal the policy, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon said the Maldives’ role in achieving regional and international stability will increase in the coming five years and that Maldives will especially speak out on challenges faced by small states and on climate change.
Economic self-sufficiency
On increasing economic self-sufficiency, Dunya said the ministry will work towards finding more markets for Maldivian products and increase the number of tourists and investors that visit the country. She particularly highlighted finding new markets for fish exports within the year.
Such new markets was something the government announced last year when the European Union declined to extend the duty-free status of imported fish from the Maldives for non-compliance with international conventions concerning freedom of religion.
“We should think about who gives [foreign] aid and what their intentions are. We should accept that [they] will not give without expecting something in return” Dunya said.
The foreign policy published today states “finding funding for development projects” and to “invest more in renewable energy” as strategies for increasing economic self-reliance.
Speaking at the ceremony Minister at the President’s Office Mohamed Hussain Shareef also highlighted the importance given to commercial diplomacy in the government’s foreign policy, and the need for creating a name internationally as a safe destination for investors and businesses.
Foreign service restructured
The government revealed that many steps have already been taken to strengthen the foreign service, including the establishment of Foreign Service Institute of Maldives (FOSIM) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week.
This institution is mandated with providing training for foreign service employees and youth who wish to pursue a career in the foreign service. It is also to conduct academic research required for the formulation and implementation of foreign policy.
A Foreign Relations Advisory Council (FRAC) – composed of experienced persons who have previously served in the foreign service – was also created to advise the institute and a policy department.
In addition to this, President Yameen announced that a Foreign Service Bill will be sent to the People’s Majlis within the first hundred days of his government.
In the Foreign Minister’s speech she noted that foreign policy is much more than “getting as much aid from as many countries” and highlighted some achievements of Maldives foreign service.
“In 1965 many countries were against the UN recognizing Maldives as an independent sovereign state, however today those countries have accepted Maldives as a country that can work alongside at the same level,” Dunya said.
Lauding this as a great achievement, she said the Maldives was currently an active partner and a leader in many global issues such challenges faced by small states, protection of human rights, democratisation and climate change.
(0)Dislikes(0)In a series of interviews to lead into the the 2014 parliamentary elections – scheduled for March 22nd – Minivan News will be conducting interviews with incumbent MPs.
All 77 sitting members have been contacted, from across the political spectrum, to be asked a standardised set of questions with additional topicals. The interviews will be published as and when they are received.
Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed represents the Nolhivaram constituency and is currently interim leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).
Daniel Bosley: What made you enter the political arena and how?
Mohamed Nasheed: During the 2004 reform movement, I was actually a columnist in Minivan Daily and that column was very popular among the readers – I was writing a political column called ‘shoot’, [which means] something like new beginning. When there was a vacancy in the the People’s Special Majlis – when Mr Ibra Ismail resigned – to go to the parliament, I was asked to run in the by-election. That was in late 2004, early 2005.
DB: Based on your attendance and work in this ending term, how would you judge your performance as an MP?
MN: I have almost one hundred percent attendance and I’m happy with what we have achieved in this parliament because, despite this is a hung parliament, and politically divided, and even though we are sitting with MPs who are not qualified to do some sort of legislatures we were able to actually involve them and get something out from this. I am quite happy with what we have got and with what we have achieved.
DB: What are the main committees you worked on? What particular bills did you focus on?
MN: I’m actually in a committee where no bills are going – I’m in the Public Accounts Committee, and I’m also the chair of the Petitions Committee.
DB: What would you say are the biggest achievements within your term; in terms of what you have accomplished for your constituency and the country as a whole?
MN: The biggest achievement is the tax regime. We have changed the whole system and now that people are aware about the taxes even though we have not finished all these bills, still we can get good revenue through tax. That’s one good achievement and also one big achievement is the penal code. Even though it’s still in the committee, before the end of this term we will be able to make it as a law. There are a few small things that we need to scrutinise, fine tune.
DB: What would you say is the biggest mistake or worst step you have taken in your political career? Why?
MN: Biggest mistake is the Supreme Court – definitely. I’m not saying that all the justices are not perfect, but the way we did it is not good. There was political will that day and everyone was awake at midnight and we passed a bill, and we amended that bill the same day, and the same day the president [Mohamed Nasheed] again gazetted it and published it. That was selected to the Supreme Court and we could have – if we had more time, if we had more compromise – we could have achieved a better Supreme Court with democratic fundamentals.
Today what I feel is that the Supreme Court as a whole is lacking the democratic fundamentals. They might even charge me with contempt of court for making this statement.
DB: Are you taking the optional committee allowance of an additional MVR20,000? Why or why not?
MN: What I believe is that People’s Majlis salary is fine, but at the same time what I believe is that civil servant salaries are very very low. So, we need to have an efficient civil service in order to minimise the number of people serving in the civil service. I mean we need to have multi-tasked people, we need to have technology and thereby we have fewer staffs and we can give them better salaries.
DB: But the committee allowance for MPs, is that something you’ve been taking?
MN: Yes and no.
DB: What is your view about parliamentarians and other public servants declaring their financial assets publicly for the electorate to be able to refer to?
MN: I think it’s good – then corruption and some misconduct could be minimised. We can’t totally get rid of these things, but we can minimise these things.
DB: Are you re-contesting in the next elections? Why? What do you hope to accomplish should you be elected for a new term?
MN: Yes. I had a second thought that I would not run for the parliament because this is my ninth year in public office, so I thought I would not run. But when I see some of the candidates who are running – some people who are running for party primaries in some parties – I think it’s my moral obligation to be in the parliament.
Otherwise, I feel that our parliament might lack intellectual people and parliament might lack sensible people. When we don’t have sensible and intellectual people in our parliament, we can’t have sensible laws and we will have bias. Now, we can’t see through pink-painted glass or yellow-painted glass, we have see through see-through glass – then only can we see it clearly.
DB: What do you think the DRP’s role will be in the next five years?
MN: DRP is all the time declining because after President [Maumoon Abdul] Gayoom left, we had a rough time, and just after the 2013 presidential election out leader Thasmeen Ali had also left the party. Now I’m working as the interim leader, but what we are trying to do is salvage this thing from the storm, and right now we have achieved a lot of milestones.
What I believe is that we are the third biggest party in the Maldives and we have our organs, our island branches functioning, and we have our grassroots support. The thing is that, in Malé, we are very low – and all the political activity happens in Malé. But if you want to have a rally in an island or an atoll, it will be easy for us. So we have to build everything from scratch.
I can see that the DRP is the only party with an ideology because PPM [Progressive Party of Maldives] is President Gayoom’s party and everybody knows that, and MDP [Maldivian Democratic Party] is MDP’s party and everybody knows that. Definitely, you have to ask the question with JP [Jumhooree Party] – JP means Gasim, Gasim means JP. Sun Travel Shiyam’s party [Maldivian Development Alliance] – we don’t know the name of the party.
In time there will be about six parties and the only party with an ideology is Adhaalath, but because of the scholars and because they are using religion as a political tool, people have lost faith in these scholars. So, DRP is the only party with an ideology.
DB: What improvements do you feel the 18th Majlis will need to make to improve as an institution?
MN: We need to elect educated people. We need to elect people with experience. If we elect a bunch of uneducated people, irrational people, to the parliament, it’s very difficult to work with these kinds of people. Sometimes when we stay overnight and build a lot of hard work on the budget, some might come and mess up the place for all the wrong reasons. We can’t entertain these things – for the last nine years we have been entertaining these things. We need calm, we need to go forward in order to achieve something in the parliament as well.
I believe in the 17th parliament we have done a lot but if we can get more educated people there, they will behave properly and they will achieve something. They will at least have some sense of responsibility – the problem is that they don’t have any sense of responsibility.
DB: What are your thoughts on party switching? Do you think it undermines the party system?
MN: I have switched my party – I feel that because we are a very young democracy, we don’t have parties with political ideologies, this is the main reason that we switch parties. Back in 2004, as a young person, I wanted President Gayoom to go and that a new president should come but still between President Yameen and President Nasheed, I’d choose President Nasheed because I think he is a dynamic and energetic person who can change everything here in the Maldives.
What I feel is that all these systems are hijacked by a few individuals and people like me with ambition and who want to achieve bigger political portfolios, we don’t have the space to move around. In time to come there will be two or three parties – I believe that will be PPM, MDP, and DRP – other parties will vanish.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) is confident of winning “a clear majority” of seats from atoll and island councils in Saturday’s local government elections, Deputy Leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla declared yesterday.
Speaking to press at the party’s office, the MP for Laamu Fonadhoo said former President Mohamed Nasheed’s claim on Saturday night that the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) would win a majority of seats was “worrying” as provisional results have not been announced yet.
Despite the MDP retaining control of the Malé and Addu city councils, preliminary results show that the PPM-led coalition has won 38 atoll council seats to the MDP’s 28 seats, Abdul Raheem noted.
Candidates from the ‘Progressive Coalition’ have also won 337 island council seats, he added.
Abdul Raheem suggested that government-aligned parties lost out in some constituencies with strong support as a result of inadequate campaigning.
“This happened because the local council election came not long after we assumed government after the presidential election. So we weren’t able to put in an adequate effort,” he said.
Voters considered family connections more than party affiliation in choosing candidates, Abdul Raheem said, contending that the results would therefore not be reflected in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for March 22.
The PPM MP went on to condemn former President Nasheed’s threats to impeach President Abdulla Yameen should the MDP win a two-thirds majority of the People’s Majlis.
Speaking to press on Saturday night, Nasheed suggested that the local council elections indicated the MDP would win a majority of parliamentary seats.
“I believe Maldivians want an MDP majority in the country, and an MDP government in the country. The laws state two methods for changing a government. That is through an election or through a no-confidence vote followed by an election. If the Maldivian citizens give us a majority in parliament, then we will be forced to take that no confidence vote,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Nasheed told reporters that the MDP suspected electoral fraud using fake national identity cards in the presidential election.
Abdul Raheem meanwhile condemned Nasheed’s remarks and accused the former president of attempting to incite unrest and turmoil.
The PPM did not believe that the public would give the opposition party enough parliamentary seats to impeach the president, he said.
Despite differences of opinion among coalition parties, Abdul Raheem insisted that the ruling coalition was “strong and united”.
Referring to Nasheed’s remarks conceding the presidential election on November 16, Abdul Raheem said a responsible opposition party would not seek to change the government.
“We have half the country behind us. And therefore I wouldn’t see many challenges for us to face the next local council elections and the parliamentary elections. So we should be doing that,” Nasheed had said in the wake of the MDP’s narrow presidential election defeat.
“One thing we should not contemplate would be to overthrow the government by street action or by direct action. We must adhere to democratic principles.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has pledged Dh22million (US$6 million) in concessionary loans for clean energy projects in the Maldives, Abu Dhabi media has reported.
The announcement came as Abu Dhabi hosted the Fourth Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – attended by a delegation from the Maldives.
“Maldives does not have the luxury of time to sit and wait for the rest of the world to act and that Maldives has started the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” Maldivian Minister for Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim told the assembly.
Local newspaper ‘The National’ has reported that the loans will provide half of the funds for a waste to energy project that will address both environmental and health issues in the Maldives.
The project will benefit 120,000 people, with a reduced need for landfills, the generation of 2MW of clean energy, and the production of 62 million litres of desalinated water per year.
The states selected to receive the ADFD loans were chosen upon the advice of IRENA – an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its 124 state members to promote the adoption of renewable energy.
Amongst the other states receiving a share of the Dh150 million (US$40.8 million) package of loans – selected from 80 applicants – were Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Ecuador ,and Samoa.
“These projects show the real impact of Irena in the world,” ‘The National’ quoted Chairwoman of the IRENA Advisory Committee Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik as saying.
“The selection criteria used in the project review ensured that these six projects selected are representative of geographic spread of the agency membership and cover a variety of renewable-energy technologies,” said Antoniszyn-Klik.
“The criteria also ensured that the projects were technically sound, they had to be innovative, replicable and improve energy access and security.”
The Maldives – a member of the group since 2009 – was represented at the forum by a delegation including Minister Thoriq, Minister of State for Environment and Energy Abdul Matheen Mohamed, Ambassador to the UAE Dr Aishath Shahenaz Adam, and Director General of Ministry of Environment and Energy Ahmed Ali.
Addressing the the high level IRENA plenary session, Thoriq noted that despite being an insignificant contributor to climate change, the Maldives was taking bold steps to move towards renewable energies.
“He assured that Maldives stands and will continue to be at the frontline combating climate change,” reported the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
The delegation will be in attendance throughout Adu Dhabi Sustainablility Week, which features an array of exhibitions and conferences in the wings of the 7th World Future Energy Summit. The week is expected to be attended by over 30,000 people from 150 countries.
Last month, the European Union pledged a further €4million to address climate change in the Maldives, bringing its total contributions to €38million over the past four years.
December also saw the signing of a climate protection agreement between the Maldives and German governments. The agreement consists of a €3million grant to be split between a solar panel project and the development of low-carbon guidelines for local businesses.
In a recent report titled ‘Turn Down The Heat’, the World Bank reasserted the urgent need for concerted efforts to support the Maldives in adapting to climate change, due to a projected sea level rise of 115 centimetres by 2090.
In the document, a 4 degree Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) global temperature increase was predicted by the end of the 21st century unless concerted action is taken immediately.
Based on the report’s findings, the World Bank has highlighted the urgent need for concerted efforts to support the Maldives in adapting to climate change.
(0)Dislikes(0)Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain has refused to comment on Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed’s alleged appearance in a series of sex tapes, claiming the judicial oversight body will investigate offenses committed by judges.
Speaking to the press following the inauguration of a seminar on criminal procedures and sentencing at Nasandhura Palace Hotel, Faiz said: “We are speaking about accusations. The Chief Justice will comment on the matter when relevant authorities decide on the nature of the accusations. How many other’s have also faced accusations?”
However, the judicial oversight body Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has failed to take action against Hameed despite repeated recommendations for suspension by two separate sub committee set up to investigate the matter.
A second subcommittee set up in December requested the JSC suspend Hameed claiming he had refused to cooperate with the investigation.
JSC member and opposition MP Ahmed Hamza said JSC chair and Supreme Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed have refused to schedule the issue on the commission’s agenda.
Hamza has told local media he believes the JSC will delay deliberations on the issue until his membership and the People’s Majlis Speaker Abdulla Shahid’s membership expires with the inauguration of the new parliament in June. Shahid and Hamza both belong to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The 10 member commission includes representatives from the legislature, judiciary, executive, and public.
Local media in December reported that the Maldives Police Services had sent a letter to the JSC claiming the sex-tape probe had been stalled due to the Criminal Court’s failure to provide keys search warrants.
The police had allegedly sought two warrants, one to authorise the police to take a photograph of Hameed’s face for comparative analysis, and a second to search his residence.
Neither the police nor the JSC have confirmed the existence of the letter, but the police have said it was still unable to determine if the man in the three sex tapes is Hameed despite several forensic tests.
At the time, Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz said the police were awaiting key information from abroad for more clues.
Spy cam footage allegedly depicting Hameed indulging in different sexual acts with multiple foreign women surfaced on local media last July.
One such video – time-stamped January 24 2013 – showed the judge fraternising with a topless woman with an eastern European accent. At one point the figure alleged to be the judge – who was only wearing only white underwear – leans into the camera, making his face clearly visible.
Afterwards, the woman repeatedly encourages the man to drink wine from a mini-bar. “If I drink that I will be caught. I don’t want to be caught,” the man insists, refusing.
Images and symbols depicting scenes from the sex-tape formed a prominent part of protests against the court’s repeated interference in the presidential election of 2013.
The videos appeared shortly after a film – also involving Hameed – began circulating on social media in which he appeared to be discussing political influence in the judiciary with a local businessman.
Despite public circulation of the videos and widespread media coverage of the scandal, Hameed continues to sit on the Supreme Court bench.
Following the scandal, Hameed was one of the four judges forming the majority in the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the initial first round of the 2013 presidential election, as well as the ruling that unseated two opposition MPs over a controversial case of decreed debt.
(0)Dislikes(0)