Category: Politics

Maldives government terminates Nexbis agreement, gives 14 days to vacate

The Maldives government has terminated its agreement with Malaysian security firm Nexbis to install and operate a border control system, giving it 14 days to vacate.

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim local media that the disputed contract – signed under the previous government of former President Mohamed Nasheed in 2010 – was terminated by the cabinet yesterday over fears it was causing unspecified “major losses” to the state.

The termination was announced as immigration officials today said replacement technology being provided by the US government was not presently functional, with implementation “on hold” pending a legal hearing into the matter.

Department of Immigration Spokesperson Ibrahim Ashraf told Minivan News this morning that he had not personally been made aware of any decision by the government to terminate the agreement.

However, Ashraf confirmed that replacement technology being provided free of charge by the US government was “not 100 percent functional” at present.

“Because of legal issues, the project has been on hold,” he explained.

Immigration officials last month confirmed that “testing” had been underway on the new US-donated system, while Nexbis’ border control technology remained in use to monitor the arrivals and departures of foreign nationals

Ashraf referred further questions on the Nexbis system to Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali, who was not responding to calls at time of press.

Nexbis is the second high profile foreign investment to be suddenly evicted by the administration of President Dr Mohamed Waheed in the past 12 months.

The government last November announced it was terminating a 25-year concession agreement with India-based GMR to construct and operate a new terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in Male, giving the company seven days to vacate the country.

GMR is currently seeking compensation totaling US$1.4 billion from the government as part of arbitration proceedings to be heard in a Singaporean court, damages eclipsing the annual state budget.

Speaking to local media today, Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim was quoted as saying that the government expected to assume control of the country’s borders at the end of the 14 day notice period given to Nexbis.

He claimed that the US system was also “ready to be operational”, although no decision had yet been made to use the technology.

Attorney General (AG) Azima Shukoor added that discussions were presently being held with Nexbis over reaching an out of court settlement for terminating the contract, although she declined to provide any more details to media today.

“We assure you that the burden on the state will be far less with the termination of the agreement rather than continuing with it. We will take this process forward in the best interest of the state,” she was quoted as saying by Haveeru.

Concession agreement

Under the concession agreement signed with the Maldives government, Nexbis levied a fee of US$2 from passengers in exchange for installing, maintaining and upgrading the country’s immigration system.  The company also agreed a fee of US$15 for every work permit card issued under the system.

Both AG Azima and Defence Minister Nazim were not responding to calls at time of press.

Nexbis last month invoiced the Department of Immigration and Emigration for US$2.8 million (MVR 43 million) for the installation and operation of its border control technology in line with a concession agreement signed in 2010 – requesting payment be settled within 30 days.

Nexbis’ lawyers argued that the company had expected the fee to be included in the taxes and surcharges applied to airline tickets in and out of the country, according to local media.  However, lawyers argued these payments had not been made due to the government’s “neglect” in notifying the relevant international authorities.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from Suood, Anwar & Co – the company’s legal representatives in the Maldives – at time of press.

Parliamentary vote

Parliament had voted unanimously to terminate the agreement on 25 December 2012, in line with a recommendation from the Finance Committee alleging foul play in the signing of the agreement with former Immigration Controller Illyas Hussain Ibrahim.

Presenting the Finance Committee report to the floor, Chair MP Ahmed Nazim explained at the time that the “main problem” flagged by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was that the tender had not been made in accordance with the documents by the National Planning Council authorising the project.

The Finance Committee also recommended terminating the agreement over concerns it contained clauses to waive taxes to the company, Nazim said.

He noted that imposing or waiving taxes was a prerogative of parliament under article 97(d) of the constitution.

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 a border control system (BSC) agreement signed by the Department of Immigration with Malaysian mobile security firm Nexbis.

The High Court ruling (Dhivehi) cleared the way for the Civil Court to hear the case filed by the ACC should it be resubmitted.

Nexbis has emphatically denied allegations of corruption, previously speculating that “criminal elements supporting human trafficking” were seeking to sabotage the agreement.

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Elections Commission claims 50,000 voters re-registered as deadline approaches

The Elections Commission (EC) has announced that more than 50,000 people have re-registered to vote at the commission, a day before the deadline.

Re-registration is necessary for those intending to vote at a polling station other than that listed with the Elections Commission, such as a worker based on a resort island or student in Male. Similarly, Maldivians residing abroad are also required to re-register in order to vote in the country of residence.

Registration can be easily checked using a national ID number and the EC’s 1414 SMS system (text 1414 in the format ‘VIS [National ID #]’.

The Elections Commission has previously announced that it intends to place ballot boxes in India’s Trivandrum and New Delhi, Colombo, London, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – areas having significant populations of Maldivian expatriates.

By law, a minimum of 100 voters are required to register in any region for a ballot box to be placed.

The commission last week warned that low registration in London, Singapore and New Delhi could mean it would not be able to place ballot boxes in these locations. However by today, only New Delhi and Singapore still lacked the minimum number of registrations, with just 50 registered at the latter.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told local media today that he expected large number of re-registration forms would be submitted to the commission in the remaining period.

“Many re-registration forms will come in on the last day. That’s something we know from experience,” Thowfeek told Haveeru.

According to Thowfeek, the commission will stop accepting re-registration forms after Wednesday as per the previously set deadline of August 7. The commission has meanwhile ruled out any possibility of extending the deadline.

“The door for re-registration will be closed tomorrow night at 12 o’clock. After that we can’t accept any forms. We are expecting a large number of forms before the deadline expires,” he added.

Elections Commission has previously estimated that around 65,000 people will re-register before the deadline. Thowfeek appeared confident that the numbers would reach the commission’s estimate prior to the deadline.

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

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

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

Check the voter registry and registered place of voting

Download registration form (Dhivehi)

In the Maldives? Check your details via SMS

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

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

Elections Commission hotline: 1414

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EC dismisses possibility of electoral fraud using deceased voter details

The Elections Commission (EC) has rejected any possibility that the identities of deceased citizens could be used to fraudulently vote in the upcoming election, despite opposition allegations that security forces were seeking to influence polling by misusing such data.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has continued to accuse both the government and senior police officials of trying to undermine free and fair elections, alleging the institution was actively seeking deceased lists detailing the country’s deceased in an attempts to try and rig voting.

Rejecting any allegations that figures within the institution were seeking to rig polling, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) today confirmed it has been seeking a list detailing deceased peoples from across the Maldives as part of an investigation into allegations of fraudulent party membership.

The police service last month last month claimed of having experienced “difficulties” investigating 47 cases of fraudulent political party enlistment, with “no way” to hold the respective political parties accountable.

EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz confirmed that the commission had officially asked the police to investigate allegations that certain political parties had previously attempted to register the deceased as party members over fears of registration fraud.

“There were concerns that parties were using details of the deceased to register,” he said. “We therefore asked police to look into the issue as we did have some forms filled in by people who were already deceased.”

Fayaz also rejected any possibility that details of deceased peoples could be used to fraudulently vote in the election, adding that Police Commissioner Riyaz had also openly refuted allegations that the institution was trying to influence September’s vote in local media.

“I don’t think that anyone could affect the election or vote using the identity of a deceased person,” he said of the MDP’s allegations.

Fayaz said that MPS had not officially requested the EC provide any data to it concerning voter lists or details on the deceased, instead seeking the information through local authorities.

“We have heard that police contacted either atoll or island councils to request details of deceased people,” he said. “We have not been in contact with them on the matter.”

Referring to the police investigation into membership fraud, Commissioner Riyaz was quoted in local media yesterday (August 4) as rejecting any allegations that police would seek to tamper with ballots or voter details.

“Police will not rig this election in any way. That is something we will never do. The information we receive from the councils will be forwarded to the elections commission,” he told the Haveeru newspaper.

Reiterating the commissioner’s claimed today, Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef added that as part of investigations into potential fraudulent party membership, requests had been sent to local councils for them to clarify the status of deceased voters on their islands.

Police influence

MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that concerns about police trying to seek the details of deceased nationals reflected the party’s wider suspicions that senior figures in the MPS were trying to use their influence to manipulate the election.

Ghafoor said one key concern had been an announcement back in June that staff at the Department of National Registration were refusing to continue issuing national identity cards 94 days before elections, complaining of a malfunctioning air conditioning unit.

He added that the party has suspected there had been some connection on the matter of ID cards, which would affect all political parties in the country if not resolved.

With an estimated 30,000 ID cards said to have expired ahead of the election, Ghafoor added that the halting of work at the Department of National Registration had been placed on the agenda of the opposition majority Independent Commissions Oversight Committee in parliament.

“We fear that police are trying to force their way in and influence the database for their own ends,” he said.  “We are therefore suspicious that there could be a connection with the issue of ID cards.”

Voter “lenience” calls

The EC meanwhile claimed last week it had rejected calls from the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to make voter registration more “lenient”. Commission President  Fuwad Thowfeek said efforts were continuing to step up measures in preventing voter registry fraud.

The EC added that it had already discussed with parties the measures it had taken prevent electoral fraud, while also trying to deal with key errors that had arisen since the country’s first multi-party election in 2008.

“We have worked to rectify these mistakes and in the last council elections there were hardly any complaints raised with us by political parties,” he said at the time. “More than that, we have worked hard this year to get the registry up to date.”

According to Thowfeek, the EC has also run campaigns on state media requesting the public update their details to ensure voters and their families were correctly registered ahead of voting.

“I can assure everyone that we are using the best system available right now,” he said. “Even if someone is to die [in the lead up to voting], their name cannot now be changed from the list of registered voters that has [been published in the government gazette], but it will still be a very accurate voter registration.”

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Police dispute credibility of leaked memo ordering imprisonment of MDP supporters on Thinadhoo

Police have issued a statement denying the authenticity of memo which supposedly a memo sent to senior officers by Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz, informing them of a special operation to arrest Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

The document, circulating on social media, states that the arrests were to be made in compliance with an order from President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik.

Police have disputed the credibility of memo, stating that the letterhead used in the document was one never used by police.

A statement issued by police said the allegedly forged memo was an attempt to intentionally discredit the police service for the sake of political benefit, and condemned the act as “uncivilised”.

”Despite the fact that these types of documents are circulating in the media, police will not hesitate to take any action required to investigate criminal offences according to procedure,” the police statement read.

The statement said police will not discriminate in an investigation and would always rely on evidence, regardless of a person’s field of work.

Police also said they could only hold a person in detention for 24 hours without a warrant from the court.

According to the leaked document, during a political rally on Thinadhoo Dr Waheed was obstructed by MDP members and several members of his delegation assaulted.

According to the letter, attributed to Commissioner Riyaz, Dr Waheed “asked me to arrest and apprehend everyone involved in the protests held on Thinadhoo that day and keep them locked in Gaafu Alifu Villingili Police Station until the end of the presidential elections.”

The last paragraph urges senior officers to keep the objective of the operation hidden from lower ranks.

President Waheed’s maiden campaign trip to Thinadhoo in June was met by hundreds of angry protesters who came out in opposition to the government’s heavy crackdown on the island following Waheed’s controversial ascension to power on February 7, 2012.

Following the scuffle on Thinadhoo – Waheed’s mother’s home island – the President expressed frustration over the incident on social media service Twitter, in which he blamed Nasheed and the MDP and declared that such actions “do not bear well for a free and fair election”.

According to media reports, objects including water bottles were thrown at Waheed.

Thinadhoo saw some of the strongest reactions to the February 8 crackdown on protesters in Male’, with government offices and police stations destroyed across the island. Islanders were also reported to have blockaded the arrival of police reinforcements for days afterwards.

Police eventually arrested 17 people and later sent the names of 108 persons involved in the demonstrations for prosecution.

The ‘bittersweet’ rally

During his visit to Thinadhoo in June, Waheed spoke about how his mother was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment following her mild criticism of Gayoom’s regime, as said his trip to her island was “bittersweet”.

“As you would all know, back [during Gayoom’s regime] the political environment was such that criticising the government was a big crime. My mother while watching the TV said that Gayoom had lied. After that it was a very bitter experience,” he recalled.

“The poor lady was dragged to court, people gathered around her on the streets and pulled her hair, spat on her and committed other derogatory acts at that time in Male’.”

Waheed claimed that his mother never had any involvement in local politics and admitted that none of his family members would forget how Gayoom’s regime treated his mother.

Waheed said that despite this, the circumstances following the controversial resignation of former President Nasheed required him to take over the presidency. For that reason, Waheed said he had invited all political parties in the country to join his government.

“Among these [members of political parties] included those who caused such grief to my family. It is not that I don’t know who these people are, or that I chose to work with them. What was best for the country at that moment was for me to set aside my personal vengeance and to prioritise the country before my personal emotions,” he contended.

“Some of my family members could not take that. The result was that some of them, to this date, do not speak with me. Some of them even live in this island,” he said.

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Criminal Court cancels hearing into Afrasheem murder after prison authorities fail to produce suspect

The Criminal Court yesterday cancelled a high-profile hearing into the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, after the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) failed to produce the suspect to the court on time.

Minivan News contacted Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed to query about the case, however he had not responded at time of press.

Criminal Court Spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Manik also did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Local media reported they had been unable to clarify as to why he was not produced to court on time. Neither Criminal Court or the DPRS have said anything on the matter so far.

Dr Afrasheem Ali was stabbed to death on the night of October 1, on the staircase of his home.

State prosecutors have accused Hussain Humam, along with Ali Shan – who is also facing the same charges – and a minor identified as ‘Nangi’, of going to the residence of Dr Afrasheem and murdering him with a machete and a bayonet knife.

Humam initially confessed to the murder, but later withdrew his statement claiming it had been extracted under police duress.

During the last hearing, held on July 11, a forensic expert told the judge that one of the DNA samples taken from Humam’s jeans matched a DNA sample taken from Dr Afrasheem.

Humam’s lawyer challenged the forensic evidence, contending that while Dr Afrasheem was murdered between 12:00am to 1:00am on October 1, and Humam was arrested at 1:45am the same night, there was a window for police to put Dr Afrasheem’s DNA sample on Humam’s jeans. and asked the expert if he was able to determine at what time Humam’s jeans received the sample.

The expert stated that Humam’s jeans were received for testing the following day, on October 2.

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Leaked recording of Yameen admitting poor election chances a fake: PPM

The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and its presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen have dismissed as fake a leaked audio clip circulating on social media, in which Yameen admits to a “poor chance” of winning the upcoming 2013 presidential election.

The audio clip appears to be part of a telephone conversation uploaded on video sharing website YouTube, and was picked up by local media today. In the audio, a voice supposedly belonging to Yameen refers to an unnamed political party and concedes that his party does not stand a chance in an election against it.

“2013 [Presidential Election] is something which they already have in their bag. They already have won it. Therefore I don’t think we have a chance of  any success in the 2013 presidential elections. I think we should now focus on 2018 [presidential elections],” the voice states, in the 19 second recording.

Speaking to local media outlet Sun Online, Yameen dismissed the audio clip describing as “completely fake”.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for PPM’s Presidential Campaign Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News he believed the clip was most likely to be a “compilation made by mixing several voice clips of Yameen taken from speeches given by him in various press conferences and interviews”.

“The audio clip which has been reported in local media as an audio clip of Yameen is not real,” Muaz said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PleWqNAOCJI

Rise of party’s presidential candidate

Yameen – who is the half brother of Maldives former autocratic ruler for 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – was made the party’s official presidential candidate after he won the party’s presidential primaries by a landslide victory, defeating his rival Umar Naseer.

Umar Naseer during the primary accused Yameen of involvement in drug trafficking, commissioning gangs to destroy political opponents, and corruption.  Following the defeat Naseer alleged that the PPM’s presidential primary was rigged and that his rival Yameen had intimidated his supporters.

Naseer was subsequently dismissed from the party after he refused to apologise to Yameen for the allegations.

He later joined the ‘Jumhoree Coalition’ led by resort tycoon and Leader of Jumhoree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim – himself a presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections. During Naseer’s maiden speech at the JP podium, he claimed that Yameen was the “root of all the problems” faced in the Maldives.

“The 40,000 illegal immigrants who have entered the country are people brought in under [Yameen’s] nose. People say that there is a connection between Yameen and the illicit drugs that are sold on the streets of Maldives,” Naseer alleged at the time. “If Yameen comes to power, nothing but an empty pit will remain where the country’s safe deposit ought to be.”

Economy and youth

Meanwhile Yameen launched his presidential bid primarily on the “economy” and the “youth”. He claimed that a future government led by him would focus on securing foreign investment and the creation of job opportunities for young people.

“Given the current economic situation, local businessmen alone cannot create enough job opportunities. We must welcome foreign investors for the benefit of our nation,” he said at the time.

Yameen also announced that should he be sworn in as president, he would initiate an expedition to find oil within the Maldives.

“It is very possible oil might be found,” he declared.

Money laundering racket

In 2011, Singaporean police reportedly investigated Yameen for alleged involvement in an international money laundering racket thought to be worth up to US$800 million.

The oil trade first came into the limelight following an explosive article in India’s The Week magazine by Sumon K Chakrabarti, Chief National Correspondent of CNN-IBN, which accused Yameen –who was the head of State Trading Organisation (STO) at the time –  of being “the kingpin” of a scheme to buy subsidised oil through the State Trading Organisation’s branch in Singapore and sell it on through an entity called ‘Mocom Trading’ to the Burmese military junta, at a black market premium.

“The Maldives receives subsidised oil from OPEC nations, thanks to its 100 percent Sunni Muslim population. The Gayooms bought oil, saying it was for the Maldives, and sold it to Myanmar on the international black market. As Myanmar is facing international sanctions, the junta secretly sold the Burmese and ‘Maldivian’ oil to certain Asian countries, including a wannabe superpower,” Chakrabarti wrote.

The article drew heavily on the investigation report by Grant Thorton, commissioned by the Maldives government in March 2010, which obtained three hard drives containing financial information detailing transactions from 2002 to 2008. No digital data was available before 2002, and the paper trail “was hazy”.

According to The Week, Grant Thorton’s report identifies Myanmar businessman and head of the Kanbawza Bank and Kanbawza Football Club, Aung Ko Win, as the middleman acting between the Maldivian connection and Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, then the second highest-ranking member of the Burmese junta.

Yameen has previously dismissed the allegations as baseless and unfounded.

Besides Yameen and Gasim, incumbent President Mohamed Waheed and former President Mohamed Nasheed are also contesting the election on September 7.

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JSC lifts suspension of magistrate for Villingili, Gaaf Alif Atoll

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has lifted its indefinite suspension of the magistrate of Villingili Court in Gaaf Alif Atoll, almost four years since his suspension over alleged corruption.

According to local media, Magistrate Hassan Najeeb was indefinitely suspended in November 2009 after he was prosecuted for embezzlement of state funds.

Najeeb had allegedly approved payments for a set of bills submitted by three people for ferry trips between Villingili Island and Dhevvadhoo Island, which later turned out to be fake.

The JSC claimed on Sunday that the suspension was lifted after the High Court upheld the not-guilty verdict issued by the Criminal Court. It also claimed that the Prosecutor General had decided not to appeal the High Court decision in the Supreme Court.

Suspended judges

Currently, Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef and Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baari Yusuf are serving indefinite suspensions issued by the state’s judicial watchdog.

Chief Judge Shareef was indefinitely suspended over a complaint filed against him a year ago. The suspension coincided with the Chief Judge’s decision to temporarily suspend the appeal case of former President Mohamed Nasheed – who is currently campaigning for re-election as the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s presidential candidate.

JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed in a press conference held to announce that decision claimed the suspension was a “precautionary” measure while investigation of the complaint was proceeding.

“There are no legal grounds to stop looking into a complaint submitted [to the commission] or halt proceedings,” he said at the time.

The Chief Judge’s legal team subsequently challenged the JSC’s decision in the Civil Court, claiming that the decision contrasted with existing laws and had undermined the independence that a judge required in executing his legal duties.

Chief Judge Shareef’s lawyer Husnu Al Suood – who is currently the President of Maldives Bar Association and a former Attorney General – also pleaded the court to issue an injunction halting his suspension.

The Civil Court gave the injunction on July 11, ordering the JSC not to take any action against the suspended Chief Judge until it decided on the legality of his suspension.

Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baari Yusuf was meanwhile suspended by the JSC in February following a case filed by a female lawyer from the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office, who alleged Baari Yoosuf had sexually assaulted her.

More recently, the JSC decided not to suspend Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, who is currently under both police and JSC investigation following the circulation of sex videos apparently depicting the judge fornicating with unidentified foreign women.

Four members of the JSC voted in support of a motion to not suspend the Supreme Court Justice, due to “lack of evidence”.

Then JSC members including Gasim Ibrahim – the presidential candidate of the Jumhoree Party (JP) – and Attorney General Azima Shukoor raised doubts over the accuracy of the claims, in which Gasim contended that the sex-tape was “fake” while Shukoor maintained the case “needed more details”.

Following the inconsistencies within the JSC, commission member Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan alleged the JSC was discriminating between lower court judges and higher court judges and blasted the commission’s lack of consistency.

The country’s judiciary is currently being subjected to questions over its lack of impartiality and failure to deliver justice. A substantial amount of criticism is being levied against the JSC, which is mandated to oversee the functioning of the judiciary.

Several international experts and organisations including the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have expressed concern over the state of the judiciary and the JSC.

In February 2011, the ICJ claimed that the Maldives legal system is failing to serve its citizens despite many “positive developments” that have been made in an effort to de-politicise the courts, with many judges found to be lacking qualifications and independence.

Former director of the ICJ’s Asia Pacific operation’s Roger Normand at the time said he did not believe that the Maldives had an “independent judiciary capable of resolving problems”.

A similar report by Professor Paul H Robinson observed that “persons with little or no legal training can hardly be expected to know how to conduct a fair and effective trial.”

“Serious efforts must be made to provide substantial training to current judges in order to insure that all have the background they need in both law and Sharia. Perhaps more importantly, no judge should be hired who does not already have the needed training,” he wrote.

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No extension of August 7 voter re-registration deadline: Elections Commission

The Elections Commission has ruled out any extension of the August 7 deadline for voters to re-register at a polling station other than their permanent residence.

Re-registration is necessary for those intending to vote at a polling station other than that listed with the Elections Commission (EC), such as a worker based on a resort island or student in Male.
Registration can be easily checked using a national ID number and the EC’s 1414 SMS system (text 1414 in the format ‘VIS [National ID #]’.

Registration details can also be determined online for Maldivian nationals overseas.

According to the commission, 40,000 of the 65,000 voters expected to re-register have done so with just two days left for the remaining 25,000.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told local media the commission had received many requests to extend the deadline, but said the EC needed time to prepare the lists.

“Many re-registration forms will come in on the last day. That’s something we know from experience,” Thowfeek told Haveeru.

Minivan News reported last week reported low rates of re-registration among Maldivians overseas, with several polling stations such as the UK and Delhi in danger of not reaching the minimum 100 registrations needed for votes to be valid.

The EC has declared that 240,302 voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 31,008 more than the number of eligible voters in the 2008 presidential elections (209,294). Voter turnout in the 2008 elections was 85 percent in the first round, and 86 percent in the second round.

Check the voter registry and registered place of voting

Download registration form (Dhivehi)

In the Maldives? Check your details via SMS

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

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

Elections Commission hotline: 1414

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Police investigating attempted assault of MV Youth editor over PPM fan page on Facebook

Police have confirmed they are investigating the alleged attempted assault of the editor of Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)-aligned news website, MV Youth.

Musharraf Hassan alleged he had received “death threats” from PPM Council Member Zahid Rameez for refusing to make him an administrator of a PPM fan page on Facebook.

Musharraf told Minivan News that Rameez and another individual came into the studio of Channel 13 – a local broadcaster also affiliated with the PPM – and demanded he give them control of the Facebook page that promoted PPM’s campaign and its presidential candidate, Abdulla Yameen.

Musharraf alleged the second individual was a person the police had previously identified as a “dangerous person” and a well known local gang member.

Minivan News understands that the Facebook page being contested is the ‘Progressive Party of Maldives’ page founded in September 2011, which at time of press had 6,113 people following it.

“It is a page that we formed as supporters of PPM. It was formed even before Mv Youth came into existence. The page has no official connection to PPM, but Rameez wanted the control of it. Even before the incident, they threatened me to give up the control before 8:00pm last night or I would be sliced into pieces,” he alleged.

Musharraf said he had conceded to the threats and given up control of the page. However, the case was shortly after reported to police. Rameez and the other individual had left the scene by the time the police arrived.

“Following the incident, there have been attempts made to defame Mv Youth in public. Rameez is spreading the word that we were demanding money for the page. But I can assure you, we demanded nothing from them, although they owe us money regarding other work we had done,” Musharraf told Minivan News.

Mv Youth meanwhile issued a statement calling on the authorities and the PPM to take action against the PPM council member.

“Mv Youth will not ground its operation based on threats it receives from a politician or any political party. We will remain determined in bringing truth to the public,” read the statement.

The alleged PPM Council Member Zahid Rameez was appointed to the party’s council as part of three appointees of Party President and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, after he  unsuccessfully contested the position of the party’s Youth League President, losing to current Deputy Minister of Transport Ibrahim Nazim.

A police media official confirmed to Minivan News that they were currently investigating a case of “attempted assault” concerning the Editor of Mv Youth.

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