Nasheed meets South Korean president while attending IDU meeting

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has met with South Korean President Park Geun-hye while visiting the country for the International Democratic Union’s (IDU) Party Leaders Meeting in Seoul.

Geun-hye thanked thanked Nasheed for accepting the IDU’s invitation as well a commending him for his pro-democracy work in the Maldives.

Taking place just once every three years, PLM is the most prestigious event on the IDU Calendar bringing together a number of heads of government and party leaders from around the world.

The IDU is a collection of over 54 centre-right political parties from around the globe who meet to discuss and exchange policy ideas. The group’s leadership includes former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.

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Dancehall star Sean Paul to perform in Malé

Jamaican dancehall star Sean Paul will perform in the Maldives next month, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb has told local media.

Adeeb told Sun Online that the rapper and singer has agreed to perform in Malé in order to help promote tourism in the country.

The concert will be held in the Alimas Carnival area on Wednesday, December 31 at 6pm. Entry to the event will be free of charge and is being funded by sponsors, explained Adeebl.

After launching his first album in 2000, Sean Paul has gone on to sell over 10 million records worldwide.

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The Maldives-Syria Connection – Jihad in Paradise?: Terrorism Monitor

“The Maldives, the Muslim-majority archipelago country in the Indian Ocean, is going through a tumultuous time, facing increasing Islamist activities at home, an exodus of radicalized youth to join the jihad in Syria and a growing domestic clamor for the implementation of Shari’a law,” writes Animesh Roul for the Terrorism Monitor.

“This has been accompanied by the targeted abduction and intimidation of local Maldivians who hold progressive ideals and secular values. Although the country is better known as a romantic honeymoon destination, these developments – which include the establishment of the ‘Islamic State of the Maldives’ (ISM) group – have exposed the deep extremist undercurrents in Maldivian society and are increasingly drawing the attention of local and international security forces.

In October 2013, some of the first cases of radicalized Maldivian youths attempting to travel to Syria were reported when two youths were detained at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in the capital Malé (Haveeru Online, June 1). Since then, about 100 Maldivians are believed to have joined the Syrian conflict and most of these are said to have joined up with al-Qaeda’s official affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (or al-Nusra Front/the Support Front).

Several recent incidents shed further light on the ongoing jihadist exodus. In October, Sri Lankan security officials detained three Maldivians, including an 18-year-old woman, who were suspected of planning to travel to Syria through Turkey. Separately, another Maldivian family – comprising a 23-year-old radicalized man, his mother and his 10-year-old sister – was reported to have travelled to Islamic State-held territory in Syria or Iraq, from where they sent a message home stating that the Maldives is a “land of sin” and an ‘apostate nation.’

These statements were perhaps an early indication that jihadists might someday regard the Maldives itself as a legitimate target.”

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MMA warns of shortfalls in revenue due to ad hoc policy changes

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has advised against making ad hoc changes to policies outlined in the 2015 state budget that could affect projected revenue and expenditure.

“If policies are changed the budget deficit would increase and become difficult to finance,” the central bank cautioned in its professional opinion (Dhivehi) on the budget, which was made public on Thursday (November 20) after media was excluded from parliament’s budget committee’s meeting with the MMA governor last week.

The MMA recommended ensuring that forecast revenue would be realised in full if policy changes become necessary during the year.

While the budget included a ‘green tax’ for tourists of US$10 per day, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb later announced that the government has decided to lower the rate to US$6 and exempt guest houses.

The MMA recommended introducing the tax before November 2015 as planned in order to raise the income anticipated in the budget.

During the budget debate in parliament last week, minority leader Ibrahim Solih questioned whether the MVR21.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) revenue forecast in the budget could be realised.

While MVR340 million (US$22 million) was forecast as income from the green tax in the last quarter of 2015, Solih observed that the decision to lower the rate and delay implementation would lead to a revenue shortfall of about MVR300 million (US$19.4 million).

The MMA also advised against launching infrastructure projects without securing financing.

Following its annual Article IV consultation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised last week that “large capital investments should only be embarked upon when full financing is secured at affordable costs and the growth benefits clearly outweigh the costs.”

The MMA meanwhile recommended targeting subsidies to the needy from January 2015 onward.

Finance minister Abdulla Jihad noted in his budget speech to parliament that targeting the electricity subsidy to low-income families or households would save 40 percent of the government’s expenditure on the subsidy.

In May, MMA Governor Dr Azeema Adam called for “bold decisions” to ensure macroeconomic stability by reducing expenditure – “especially the un-targeted subsidies”.

Deficit financing

The central bank also recommended implementing a population consolidation policy in the medium-term in order to “reduce state expenditure and provide services to the public in a sustainable way”.

Additionally, the MMA suggested that 85 MPs in the People’s Majlis and more than 1,000 councillors were disproportionately high and advised revisions to the framework of governance.

The current model of more than 1,000 elected councillors approved in 2010 by the then-opposition majority parliament was branded “economic sabotage” by the Maldivian Democratic Party government, which had proposed limiting the number of councillors to “no more than 220.”

The new layer of government introduced with the first local council elections in February 2011 cost the state US$12 million a year with a wage bill of US$220,000 a month.

Recurrent expenditure in 2015 is meanwhile expected to be MVR15.8 billion (US$1 billion) or 65 percent of the budget.

Referring to the proposed tax and tariff hikes in the budget, the MMA suggested that businesses were not able to adequately prepare or plan accordingly when new taxes are introduced with each year’s budget.

Taxation on businesses should be planned at least three years in advance and should not be raised in that period, the central bank recommended.

The MMA also recommended changing short-term debt to long-term and to cease depending on the domestic market to finance deficit spending in favour of “selling long-term foreign bonds at low interest rates”.

In his budget speech, finance minister Jihad revealed that public debt is expected to reach MVR31 billion (US$2 billion) or 67 percent of GDP at the end of 2014.

According to the central bank, the total outstanding stock of government securities was MVR13.6 billion (US$881 million) at the end of September while the outstanding stock of treasury bills sold in the domestic market was MVR10 billion (US$648.5 million) as of November 6.

“This year we estimate that MVR1.2 billion worth of T-bills have been used by the state for finances. In 2015, it will be MVR440 million,” Jihad told the budget committee earlier this month.

Rolling over T-bills was proving to be a “nightmare” as the finance ministry has to plead with banks for extension of repayment periods, Jihad said.

While the government proposed raising MVR112.3 million from the domestic market to finance the deficit, the MMA revealed that the figure reached MVR1 billion during the year.

The MMA noted that reliance on commercial banks to finance deficit spending would squeeze lending to the private sector.

In its concluding statement, the MMA stressed that expenditure should not exceed budgeted amounts and income should be collected in full if the government was to achieve it economic policy objectives.


Related to this story

US$6 green tax to be introduced from November 2015, says tourism minister

Parliamentary budget debate concludes

Maldives economy “relatively buoyant” but fiscal imbalances continue to grow: IMF

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GMR lodges US$803million claim, pleads for award of further damages for loss of reputation

Indian infrastructure giant GMR has claimed US$803 million in damages from the government of Maldives for its abrupt and wrongful termination of a concession agreement to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

The claim comes after a Singaporean arbitration court in June found the government of Maldives and state owned Maldives Airports Company Pvt Ltd (MACL) “jointly and severally liable in damages” to GMR for the termination of a “valid and binding” concession agreement.

In a letter to the Bombay Stock Exchange, GMR’s subsidiary GMR Malé International Airport Private Limited (GMIAL) said it had “submitted its claim for damages amounting to US$803 million.”

“In addition, a plea for award of further damages for loss of reputation caused to GMR as a consequence of wrongful repudiation of the concession agreement has also been made to the Arbitral Tribunal, the quantification of which is subject to expert evidence.”

The arbitration has proceeded in two phases, the first phase which ended in June determined liability while the second will determine compensation.

President Abdulla Yameen’s administration called the first phase verdict a success, claiming the arbitration court had capped the compensation amount, and have said the government would not be required to pay GMR’s initial claim of US$1.4 billion – a figure that eclipses the annual budget.

Minivan News understands the concession agreement does allow MACL to terminate the agreement for reasons of public interest and imposes a cap on losses in such circumstances.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb has on several occasions declared that the government is confident it can pay back any losses incurred, while Attorney General Mohamed Anil has said the government will honor the verdict to uphold investor confidence.

Yameen has previously said the compensation claim will amount to a “manageable” US$ 300 million. In a speech in August, he appeared to blame GMR for the company’s eviction, claiming it had failed to undertake a political risk assessment.

“At a time when you had a very heightened political environment in Maldives, at a time when the parliament was polarised, it was a pity that political risk assessment was not undertaken by GMR. Whenever we hear about GMR, the issue that comes right to the limelight is their inability to assess political risk at the time,” he said.

GMR won the 25-year concession agreement to develop and manage Ibrahim Nasir International Airport under former President Mohamed Nasheed. The US$511 million deal was the country’s single largest foreign investment.

The opposition at the time attacked the deal as part of a vitriolic anti- government campaign, which eventually led to Nasheed’s ouster in February 2012.

In December 2012, new President Dr Mohamed Waheed declared the agreement void ab intio – or invalid from the outset – and gave GMR seven days to leave the country.

The agreement’s abrupt termination saw cooling of relations with neighbor India and questions regarding foreign investor confidence in the Maldives.

The World Bank in December said GMR compensation will place severe pressure on the country’s already “critically low” foreign reserves.

The MDP has called on the government to reinstate the contract, while Nasheed has warned of an “imminent sovereign debt crisis” should Maldives be forced to pay the initial US$1.4 billion.

The government has recently revealed that a new agreement with China’s Beijing Urban Group and MACL to develop INIA were proceeding smoothly, with work expected to begin next year.

GMR were reported in the Indian media to have expressed surprise that the government of Maldives had entered into the new agreement, penned during the visit of China’s President Xi Jinpeng in September.


Related to this story

GMR wins arbitration case, tribunal deems airport deal was “valid and binding”

Government will honor arbitration verdict, says attorney general

GMR not worried about airport politicking, will invest US$373 million

Cabinet voids US$511 million GMR contract, gives airport developer seven day ultimatum to leave

GMR surprised with decision to give airport development to Chinese firm

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Yameen pledges to end violent crime at ‘Successful 365 Days’ rally

With additional reporting by Ahmed Naish and Ismail Humaam Hamid

The Progressive Party of Maldives will rebuild a devastated nation through job opportunities for the youth and a crackdown on violent crime, said President Abdulla Yameen while celebrating one year in office.

Yameen urged young people to take advantage of the opportunities that would be created by growing tourism and large scale foreign-funded infrastructure projects, while pledging to bring peace and security to the nation.

“I want to say tonight as well in your presence, this government will have no mercy at all for those who slaughter Maldivian citizens with no mercy,” said Yameen at the ‘Successful 365 Days’ event held in Male’ this evening.

He pledged to implement the death penalty – reintroduced under his government, for the sake of human rights and dignity.

“Saving the Maldives from these big atrocities is the biggest aim of this government,” he said, stating that Maldivians by nature sought peace and stability.

Yameen said that proposed changes to legislation would remove violent crime which has blighted the country in recent months, suggesting the framers of the 2008 constitution wanted to create unrest and anarchy.

An estimated 3000 people attended the event at the carnival ground area to hear cabinet members and party colleagues detail the achievements of President Yameen’s anniversary.

While Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said Yameen had united the nation, Speaker of the People’s Majlis Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed launched a book detailing the administration’s accomplishments.

Speaking earlier in the evening President’s Office Undersecretary Dr Hussain Faiz listed the achievements of the cabinet’s social council, which he said included a doctor for each island, opening 46 pharmacies, and introducing sea ambulance services in six atolls.

Faiz also noted that the government had introduced the unlimited Aasandha healthcare scheme for persons with chronic illnesses, as well as raising the old age pension to MVR5000.

Pledges to provide unlimited healthcare to all citizens as well as a doctor for every family were two of the administration’s aims for an ambitious 100 day programme twelve months ago, while nationwide sea ambulances had been promised within the first year.

Faiz also noted the feasibility studies carried out into an Islamic University in the Maldives, while saying that the role of Islam and Quran had been expanded in the new national curriculum.

Discussing the government’s record on development and the economy, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Mohamed Shainee noted that the country’s dollar shortage had been alleviated, while MVR68 million worth of loans were issued.

Shainee claimed that, in addition to 1,700 new businesses being registered, and new resorts being put up for bidding, 19 foreign investors had registered a commitment of investing over US$600 million.

The government has introduced legislation for special economic zones – with a minimum investment of US$150 million – in an attempt to draw in new developers, though the only significant agreement signed as yet has been the Chinese deal to begin redevelopment of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

The fisheries minister suggested that President Yameen’s background as an economist had contributed to the administration achieving the equivalent of six year’s work in one.



Related to this story

President Yameen’s anniversary – The Year in Review

Analysis: President Yameen’s first year – Towards good governance?

MDP condemns insecurity as PPM celebrates peace and order

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MMA extends deadline for submissions for bank note designs

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has extended the deadline of design and layout submissions for redesigning Maldivian bank notes from November 30 to December 31.

The authority had previously received more than 60 submissions from 55 individuals but decided to restart the process after the designs were deemed unsuitable for bank notes.

An MMA official said today (November 20) that the authority announced the November 30th deadline with new guidelines but decided to extend it after consulting with various artists.

The official also explained the selection process in which six of the best proposals will be presented to the relevant officials who would then select a further three who would subsequently playing a vital role in a committee designing the notes.

The team is to design seven bank notes in total with the six going into current circulation and a further special commemorative design made celebrate the 50th anniversary of Maldivian independence.

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55 Thinadhoo arson suspects detained until end of trial

Fifty-five of the eighty-nine individuals facing terrorism charges in relations to violence in Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo on February 8, 2012, have been detained until the end of the trial.

Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed told the court today that information had been received regarding the intimidation of witnesses, prompting the decision to hold a number of suspects until proceedings are completed.

The island’s atoll council office, its court building, police station, and several police vehicles were set on fire following the contested resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed on February 7, 2012.

Nine policemen were attacked, while police officials at the time declared the area unsafe for local policemen as Maldivian Democratic Party supporters had threatened to attack the residences of policemen.”

MDP lawyer Hisaan Hussain criticised today’s decision, saying: “We condemn this collective punishment which is not in line with our constitution or international law.”

Another lawyers familiar with case described the decision as “most unusual”,noting that the identities of state witnesses are not disclosed and have their voices disguised in order to protect their identity.

Defence lawyers have requested a written copy of the order to begin the appeal process but have yet to be provided with the relevant documents.

Hearings in the case began on October 1, while the trial of juvenile offenders in the same case is also nearing completion this month. Around 80 people are also currently facing terrorism charges in relation to unrest in Addu during the same period.

Acts of arson are considered terrorism under the Terrorism Prevention Act enacted by the administration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The offence carries a jail term of between 10 to 15 years.

The MDP has contended that the trials against dozens of the party’s members and supporters in Addu City and Thinadhoo were acts of intimidation, accusing the government of threatening to prosecute persons who participate in MDP activities.

Hisaan today also criticised the use of a single judge – Abdulla Mohamed – in the 300-400 cases ongoing in relation to the February 8 unrest, calling the entire process “highly politically motivated”.

The detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012 – following repeated obstruction of investigations into his conduct – led to the intensification of anti-government protests, culminating in policemen mutinying on the evening of February 6.



Related to this story

Police officers testify against February 8 arson suspects

Terrorism trials begin for over 80 individuals from Thinadhoo

Special Operations (SO) officers stationed permanently on Thinadhoo

Police arrest 17 people on Thinadhoo in wake of February 8 protests

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Government to lease four islands for resort development

The Ministry of Tourism has made an announcement today inviting expressions of interest (EOI) to develop four uninhabited islands and one lagoon as tourist resorts.

The designated islands were Haa Dhaal Dhipparufushi, Haa Dhaal Kanamana, Haa Dhaal Kudafarufasgandu, Shaviyani Bolissafaru, and a lagoon in Haa Dhaal Atoll with the coordinates 6°42’41”N, 72°54’34”E.

“Dh. Kanamana. H. Dh. Kudafarufasgandu and the lagoon in H. Dh Atoll mentioned above will be developed as a single project,” the announcement noted.

The deadline for submission of EOI is December 4 while an information session would be held on November 27 at the ministry.

President Abdulla Yameen announced plans to develop five tourist resorts in Haa Dhaal atoll during a visit to two northern islands earlier this month.

Haa Dhaal is currently the only atoll in the country without a resort in operation.

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