Day: March 10, 2014

Fishermen to protest EU fish import policy

Vice President of the Maldives National Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) Ismail Asif has today said that Maldivian fishermen are going to stage a protest against the EU.

The protest is to express concern regarding the decision made by the EU not to extend the duty-free status of imported fish from the Maldives, following the country’s failure to comply with international conventions concerning freedom of religion.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday Asif claimed that the EU was attempting to take advantage of the country’s delicate economy and force certain policies on the Maldives.

”The MNCCI had tried to talk with the EU regarding the issue but the EU declined to go for negotiations,” he said, adding that the EU was trying to spread policies that Maldivians do not accept under the guise of human rights.

”But they never directly tell us that their issue is that the Maldives does not have religious freedom,” Asif said.

“They always say under this article of that convention or something like that.”

Asif questioned the capacity in which EU was here in the Maldives and said he will ask the government why the EU was brought here and why the government had given opportunity for such a dangerous group of people.

The EU yesterday revealed details of its first full EU Election Observation Mission to take place in the Maldives, with around 30 observers working to compile a comprehensive report on the entire Majlis elections process.

Asif said the EU delegation might go back and write another report and start taking actions against the country. He suggested that democracy – which he argued was more than observing elections and criticising – could only be strengthened after stabilising the economy of the country.

Businessmen in the Maldives are very concerned that an EU delegation had come to the Maldives after taking measures that would harm the economy of the country, Asif said.

”While they had taken these actions against us they did not consider that the Maldives is the country that does fishing the most environmentally friendly way,” he said.

The EU was doing anything they want to the Maldives because it is a small country, he argued, adding that all they do is provide funds for local NGOs to spread their propaganda.

”Maldivians can decide anything they want to decide when they want to decide it,” he said.

The Maldives exports 40 percent of its US$100 million fishing industry to the EU, its single largest export partner by value.

Until January 2014 those exports were duty-free under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) program, a non-reciprocal trade agreement extended to developing countries.

The Maldives applied for an extension under the ‘GSP+’ program, a unilateral trade concession of the EU given to a limited number of countries on the basis of good implementation of human rights are labor conventions, officials said, however did not qualify due to the country’s reservations to ICCPR on religious freedom and CEDAW concerning women’s rights.

The total fish catch has been declining each year since 2006 reaching 83.1 thousand metric tonnes in 2011, leading to fears about the impact of climate change and overfishing by better equipped fishing fleets on the borders of the Maldives’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

In November last year, the government said that the Maldives will look to alternative fish export markets, including the middle-eastern and the Malaysian market.

Asif was unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News today.

Under the Maldivian constitution all citizens are required to be Sunni Muslim and the practice of other religions is criminalised. Customs authorities forbid the import of religious items and scan the baggage of tourists arriving at the airport, while politicians frequently use allegations of ‘consorting with missionaries’ as a political attack.

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Alleged calls between EC Chair Thowfeek and former President Nasheed leaked

Following the Supreme Court’s verdict removing Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek and his deputy Ahmed Fayaz from their positions, an alleged phone call between Thowfeek and former President Mohamed Nasheed has been leaked on social media.

The approximately 3 minute long recording consists of Thowfeek and Nasheed allegedly speaking on two different instances. The first conversation appears to involve Thowfeek expressing concern that the court was looking into the case against the EC, and the second focuses on the re-registration to various constituencies of people on the municipal register.

In the first call, the voice alleged to be Thowfeek’s states that “the Supreme Court has once against started on one of its games”, opining that it posed challenges in the work that the commission is conducting in preparation for the parliamentary elections.

While half of the response – alleged to be Nasheed’s – is unclear, he can be heard as saying that he has been made aware of the matter and is thinking about it.

The second call – seemingly initiated by Nasheed – consists of Nasheed calling Thowfeek and speaking about those on the municipal register being redistributed to various constituencies.

“Some of our members went to discuss the matter of the municipal register border, didn’t they? It was agreed then that Maafannu will be kept as in the final report, yes? In short, it was agreed that some changes will be brought to Henveiru and the remaining people on the register will be distributed to the four constituencies of Maafannu, yes?” the voice alleged to be Nasheed’s is heard saying.

The respondent in the recording is then heard to say: “Yes yes, the current borders are something that everyone has agreed on.”

The first voice then inquires, “have any additional changes been brought to the list later on the request of Maafannu Hulhan’gu constituency’s MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem?”

Thowfeek responds saying that no such changes had been brought, but that Abdul Raheem had come to the commission and made many comments.

“I deliberated with various politicians about my concerns”: Fuwad Thowfeek

Thowfeek has responded to the leaked audio, speaking to local media Haveeru today (March 10).

He stated that in various instances, he had deliberated about numerous concerns that arose during his work at the Elections Commission, with numerous political actors.

He detailed that he had spoken of his concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s case against the commission with various politicians, including former President Nasheed.

“I also shared this concern with President Abdulla Yameen through a text message. In that same manner, I shared my concerns with Nasheed too,” he is quoted as saying.

Regarding the conversation about the municipal register, Thowfeek stated that various politicians had visited the commission and held a number of different discussions on the matter.

He said that he had addressed any questions that politicians had about how the commission had sorted out the matter of the register, and had clarified any doubts they might have had.

In this manner, he had offered clarifications to Nasheed, as well as to various members of parliament via phone or through their visits to the commission offices.

“This includes members from all political parties. This even consists of members who support the government. I do not see that there is any problem with offering clarifications about a matter to anyone,” he stated.

The full leaked recording can be listened to here.

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