Both the government and opposition have extended felicitations to the people of Sri Lanka on the occasion of the country’s 67th Independence Day.
President Abulla Yameen sent messages to the newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena, and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, extending good wishes from the people of the Maldives.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party released a statement noting that Maldivians have always followed development in Sri Lanka, saying that “progresses in foreign and political affairs [in Maldives] have always reflected developments in Sri Lanka.”
“The Maldivian Democratic Party joins our cousins in Sri Lanka in reflection that this Independence Day holds much significance, as it reflects a history of great sacrifices made by many Sri Lankans in the attainment of its freedom,” said party Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.
President Sirisena inflicted a surprising defeat on the ten-year incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in last month’s presidential polls.
Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule on February 4, 1948. The Maldives will itself celebrate 50 years since it gained total independence from the British Empire on July 26 this year.
The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) has claimed that street demonstrations are damaging local businesses, calling on the government to stop them.
In a statement release today (January 4), the chamber stated that political activity that would destabilise the Maldives is being revived again, after a brief period of normalcy following the 2013 presidential elections.
“Due to recent political rallies and activities held by some parties by blocking roads, local businesses are not only facing difficulties but are damaged,” stated the trade promotion organisation.
The chamber also “regrettably noted that some major business owners are behind these activities”.
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party and Jumhooree Party held a joint rally in Malé at the junction of Chaandanee and Fareedi Magu last night as part of a series of political activities planned to defend the Constitution against what they claim are persistent breaches by the government.
Twenty NGOs have urged President Abdulla Yameen to stop plans for oil exploration in Maldivian waters, or risk the country’s economic and environmental health.
In a joint statement of concern, marine conversation NGO OceanCare’s President Sigrid Lueber warned that the oil explorations could have “severe socio-economic consequences in the fisheries and tourism sector”.
After pledging during his election campaign to begin new efforts to find oil, President Yameen’s government has claimed investor interest in the project, while a German research vessel carried out a seismic survey last August.
Speaking to Minivan News today, founder of local environmental NGO Ecocare, Maeed Zahir, said that the public does not take seriously the concerns put forward by local NGOs.
“Several people have questioned our technical expertise on oil exploration and used it as an excuse to dismiss our concerns,” said Maeed. “However, with several international NGOs speaking out against the exploration we hope it will be taken more seriously.”
The statement of concern was also sent to several members of the cabinet, including fisheries minister Dr Mohamed Shainee, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, economic development minister Mohamed Saeed, and environment minister Ahmed Thoriq.
President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said that only the president could comment on correspondence addressed personally to him, directing Minivan News to the relevant ministers for updates on the exploration project – none of whom were responding to calls at the time of publication.
The Maldives has also been included OceanCare’s silent oceans campaign. The NGO – which was granted Special Consultative Status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council in 2011 – is encouraging people to write to Adeeb urging an end to exploration.
Seismic impact
The NGO coalition’s statement of concern warned that exploration will have adverse effects on the Maldivian economy as a result of negative impacts on fisheries.
Seismic air guns – one of the most commonly used survey methods for offshore oil exploration – produce loud bursts of sound by introducing air into water at high pressure which then penetrates hundreds of kilometers into the earth’s crust.
OceanCare stated that the air guns produce a pulse of noise lasting 20 to 30 milliseconds, which is repeated an average of every 10 to 15 seconds, often for 24 hours a day.
“Three decades of controlled scientific studies leave no doubt that intense sound damages fish and impact fisheries,” said the Swiss NGO. “Ocean noise has a negative effect on at least 55 marine species.”
A recent study commissioned by the Namibian government revealed a sharp decline in catch as a result of increased seismic exploration in the Orange River Basin. The country’s tuna catch shrunk from 4,046 tons in 2011 to a mere 650 tons in 2013 after a shift in migratory routes.
(IMAGE: Championsforcetaceans.com)
Similarly, the Australian tuna industry has said the process may threaten the survival, abundance, or evolutionary development of native species or ecological communities.
Additionally, a recent study into the impacts of air guns on marine life ranked them as the second highest contributor of underwater noise caused by humans – only underwater nuclear detonations have been found to cause more.
The NGO statement also noted the adverse effects on marine biodiversity as a result of such surveys, pointing out that Maldivian tourism is heavily dependent on a healthy and diverse marine eco-system.
Tourism and fishing account for 90 percent of the Maldives’ GDP, while providing three-quarters of all employment and two thirds of foreign exchange earnings.
The government’s development plans include both a reduced reliance on tourism, as well as minimising the country’s dependence on imported fuel through the enhanced use of renewables. Imported fuel consumes around one third of the Maldives’ GDP.
Preliminary Research
Last year, the German research vessel ‘Sonne‘ – which came to the Maldives to conduct research into global warming – conducted preliminary research exploration free-of-charge on the government’s request.
While pointing out the importance of proper Environmental Impact Assessments in oil explorations, the coalition of environmental groups expressed concern that no such EIA or public consultation was undertaken prior to this research.
Speaking at the time, fisheries minister Dr Shainee said that explorations will be carried out in one of three areas which have properties suggesting the presence of oil and gas. The identified locations were located 100 miles east of the area between Laamu and Thaa atoll.
Shainee also said that the information obtained will be shared with the Maldives in the first quarter of 2015. He said that the data would not be shared with any third party, and that further explorations would follow to confirm any positive findings.
Speaking at the 18th Saarc Summit held last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India wishes to assist Maldives in its search for oil reserves, while cabinet members reported that oil exploration was on the agenda of the first China-Maldives joint commission on trade, held in December.
Shanghai Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, has started direct flights from Shanghai to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.
According to a statement released by Maldives Airports Company the B767 aircraft which has capacity for 200 passengers is scheduled to fly three times weekly until the end of the winter season.
With the Chinese tourist market the fastest growing in the world, Chinese travellers now make up 30 percent of all visitors to the Maldives.
MACL reported that the Shangahi Airlines had in previous years flown to the Maldives for this period, but only on a schedule of two flights per week.
While British Airways has decided to suspend summer flights to the Maldives, German national carrier Lufthansa is to start scheduled flights to the country from December 2015.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said the opposition will change the government in the manner which was authenticated by Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) report.
Speaking at a street rally in Malé held last night (January 3) by Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and its new ally the Jumhooree Party (JP), Nasheed said all political parties had agreed that the findings of the report would be accepted even before it had begun.
“This very report stated that the transfer of power on February 7 was made in accordance with the laws – President Yameen, we are also going to change your government in that very path deemed legal,” he said.
After the Commonwealth-backed inquiry ended the MDP’s hopes of overturning the new administration, Nasheed described the final report as a setting a legal precedent for the overthrow of an elected government through police or mob action.
The Maldives was left “in a very awkward, and in many ways, very comical” situation, said the former president at the time of the report’s release in August 2012, “where toppling the government by brute force is taken to be a reasonable course of action. All you have to do find is a narrative for that course of action.”
The report into the circumstances surrounding Nasheed’s controversial resignation found that the change of government was “legal and constitutional”, and the events of February 6-7 “were, in large measure, reactions to the actions of President Nasheed”.
“The resignation of President Nasheed was voluntary and of his own free will. It was not caused by any illegal coercion or intimidation,” the report claimed.
“[I]t is evident that President Nasheed lost the support of the coalition supporting the MDP which had brought him to power and it is an irrefutable fact that MDP never enjoyed a clear majority in the Parliament,” read the document, pointing to factors that led to his departure from office.
Constitutional amendments
Nasheed claimed last night that as stated in the CoNI report, President Abdulla Yameen’s government had also lost legitimacy after JP leader Gasim Ibrahim – who backed Yameen in the 2013 presidential run-off elections – pulled out of the coalition.
“There is no support for President Yameen’s presidency. The support he received even with President Maumoon is 25 percent,” Nasheed stated.
He argued that the spirit of the Maldivian Constitution is aligned with the presidential system of governance, which demands that one individual gains over 50 percent of the voting population’s support.
This support failed to materialise in either the 2013 presidential elections, or in his own 2008 victory, noted Nasheed.
“The result is that the new government in its infancy loses legitimacy after coalition partners pull out”.
Nasheed also stated that the Maldivian people do not wish to create a dictatorial ruler with a super majority, but rather wish “to find a way in which the Maldives is ruled under the principle of dialogue and discussion”.
He subsequently claimed that constitutional changes needed to be brought in order to facilitate a system of democracy in which the government can function without a super majority, through discussions and dialogue between political figures and parties.
The MDP and the JP held a third round of discussions at Maafannu Kunooz on Sunday (January 1) night, agreeing to officially sign a document concerning their joint efforts to defend the Constitution.
The document, scheduled to be signed at a special ceremony on Thursday (January 5), will be followed by a joint rally that evening at the Carnival area in Malé.
Although the Adhaalath Party has decided against joining the alliance, the Maldives Trade Union has joined the opposition, claiming that the government’s persistent violations of the constitution have “eroded crucial checks and balances and accountability mechanisms”.
The Maldives government has started technical discussions with China regarding the feasibility of a free trade agreement between the two nations.
At a meeting held at the Ministry of Economic Development today (February 4), a technical committee consisting of experts from both countries engaged in discussions over what would be the Maldives’ first free trade agreement with a single country.
Haveeru reported economic development minister Mohamed Saeed as saying that the committee is tasked with determining the feasibility of such an agreement and identifying any potential difficulties.
“The truth is we want to set up the free trade agreement as soon as possible,” he told the paper.
He said the two main reasons in pursuing a free trade agreement with China were duty-free exports of fisheries products, and an increase in air travel between the countries which will bring more Chinese tourists to the Maldives.
Fish accounts for 98 percent of the Maldives’ exports, while Chinese tourists make up 30 percent of all visitors to the Indian Ocean nation.
Speaking with Minivan News today, former Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee said that free-trade is most advantageous when taken up by nations at the same level of development, with a demand for goods exported by both countries.
“Maldivian fisheries products are mainly imported by European countries, Japan, and America. The question is whether China imports enough fisheries products from the Maldives,” he said.
Razee also said noted that there was a potential risk of China ‘dumping’ low quality and undesirable goods into the Maldivian economy.
Minister at the President’s Office Mohamed Shareef has previously said that free trade talks were initiated by the Maldives, and that China has taken a flexible approach with regards to the final agreement.
Last year, President Abdulla Yameen declared a foreign policy shift to the East, slamming the European Union after regulations resulted in the non-renewal of the Maldives’ preferential trade partner status.
The government’s decision to engage in free-trade with China was revealed in December 2014 after the cabinet’s economic council visited China to hold discussions on Chinese-assisted projects in the Maldives.
“The biggest advantage of the free trade will go towards fishermen. With free trade, the 12 percent export duty will be gone, thus the 12 percent becomes profit for fishermen,” said fisheries minister Dr Mohamed Shainee at the time.
The cabinet members’ visit to Beijing in December also saw the Maldives officially sign up to the Maritime Silk Road project, which will provide a trade route between China and east coast of Africa and the Mediterranean.
China currently has free trade agreements with eight countries – including Pakistan, Costa Rica, Peru, and New Zealand – as well as a regional agreement with the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
The Maldives is currently a member of the South Asian Free Trade Area, along with its fellow SAARC nations.
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has revealed that the outstanding payments for treasury bills and bonds had risen to MVR17.6 billion at the end of 2014.
According to the Monthly Economic Review of December 2014, published yesterday (February 3), stocks of government securities comprising T- bills and T-bonds increased 22 percent and 55 percent, respectively, comparing monthly and yearly terms.
“As for the outstanding amount of T-bonds, it increased significantly in both monthly and annual terms and reached MVR6.4 billion compared to MVR3.1 billion recorded in November 2014,” the review stated.
The MMA’s economic review revealed that 103,744 tourists arrived in the Maldives in December 2014, which is 1 percent lower than the arrivals of the same period in 2013, due to the “decline in arrivals from Asia and Europe”, but an increase of 16 percent compared to November 2014.
Among Asian countries, China contributed the most tourists, with 363,000 of the 1.2 million visitors in 2014 – a year-on-year rise of 9.6 percent.
It was also noted that the occupancy rate of the Maldivian tourism industry as a whole decreased by two percent, from 76 percent in December 2013 to 74 percent in December 2014 due to the decrease in total bed nights by 3 percent, and the average duration of stay to 6 days.
Comparison of figures from November and December of 2014 suggest that there was a 12 percent increase in international reserves and a 17 percent increase in state revenue, leaving international reserves at US$614.7 million by the end of last year.
Reserves held at the end of November equated to 3.3 months of imports, compared to 2.3 months recorded at the end of November 2013, said the MMA.
“The increase in total revenue during December 2014 was largely due to a 32% growth in tax revenue (mainly contributed by the increase in T-GST receipts),” stated the monthly review.
Trade balance worsened by 42 percent in December 2014 compared to corresponding the same period in 2013, as imports rose by 34 percent while exports only increased by 11 percent.
“The growth in imports was mainly due to the increase in imports of transport equipment, while the growth in exports can be attributed to the rise in re-exports”.
According to a statement from Maldives Customs Services on January 14, imported goods in 2014 amounted to MVR30.7 billion – a 22 percent increase compared to 2013.
Customs figures also showed that the decline in exports saw the total value of goods leaving the Maldives in 2014 valued at MVR2.24 billion, compared with MVR2.56 billion in 2013.
(PICTURE: MMA MONTHLY ECONOMIC REVIEW – JANUARY 2015)
The Supreme Court has published regulations mandating that senior administrative staff of the judiciary be appointed only after direct consultation with the court’s bench.
According to the regulation posted on the court’s website yesterday (January 3), individuals chosen to fill senior administrative positions in the judiciary will be interviewed for the job by a panel appointed by the Supreme Court bench.
Individuals seeking senior administrative jobs must be able to prove their working experience, knowledge of the laws regarding state finances, leadership and managerial skills, fluency in Dhivehi and other foreign languages – including English or Arabic, and their capacity to represent Maldives in international forums and seminars.
The court last year introduced regulations making it mandatory for judges and judicial employees to seek permission to attend overseas events, prompting suggestions that the Supreme Court is centralising judicial administration.
Similar claims made by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives have resulted in an ongoing ‘suo moto’ case in the Supreme Court in which the commission is charged with undermining the Constitution and the country’s sovereignty.
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