The Finance Ministry confirmed over half a million rufiyaa has been released for an official Presidential trip to Hong Kong and Malaysia scheduled for November 14 -15. Meanwhile, an internal memo in the finance ministry has instructed all staff members to refuse any transaction not sanctioned by the financial controller.
The Maldivian Democratic Party candidate visited Thohdoo and Mahibadhoo islands, as well as Maamagilli – the home island of Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim, whose support is being courted by both sides going into Saturday’s run-off.
The State Trading Organisation (STO) has raised the credit limit for the government-operated Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and resumed providing medical supplies and medicine.
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan had written a letter of resignation, but changed his mind after the cabinet advised him to stay on despite the end of the presidential term, cabinet ministers have said.
If it wasn’t already painfully clear to even passive observers of Maldivian politics, the battle in the Maldives is between democratic and anti-democratic forces; between one group that seeks a public mandate, and another that seeks to permanently disenfranchise citizens and has publicly called for military rule, writes Yameen Rasheed.
The Maldives returns to the polls today, after weeks of delay and brinkmanship following the Supreme Court’s annulment of the initial first round held on September 7. Today’s vote sees the Maldivian Democratic Party’s former President Mohamed Nasheed facing off against the Progressive Party of Maldives’ Abdulla Yameen, and the Jumhooree Party’s Gasim Ibrahim.
The question in recent weeks, both on Male’s streets and in diplomatic circles, has not been “Who will win the election?”, but instead, “Will there be an election at all?”
The PPM promised their candidate would protect Islam, Maldivian sovereignty, and the economy. Meanwhile, the MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed stressed good governance, social services and an end to authoritarianism. Gasim Ibrahim and his JP did not hold a rally.
The MDP presidential candidate’s remarks follows the release of a book by a group of Islamic scholars calling on the former president to “repent” and “return to the true path” after he allegedly demeaned the Prophet’s Sunnah and Islamic Shariah.