New government a continuation of Nasheed’s: President Waheed

“My government is a continuation of the previous one under President Nasheed and there should be no doubt on this score,” President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan said during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reports The Times of India.

Finer details of this meeting are thin on the ground and have led to allegations of  media misinterpretation, prompting correction by State Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon today.

President Waheed’s comments appear at odds with a speech he gave in Kulhudhufushi a week ago, in which he described Nasheed as “a liar lacking in any sincerity”.

Waheed accused Nasheed of becoming a corrupt and authoritarian leader during his presidency who hijacked the Majlis and attempted to destroy the judiciary.

Since assuming the presidency following Nasheed’s resignation, Waheed has appointed an entirely new cabinet after the previous post-holders were asked to resign as well as creating two new ministries.

Just before leaving for India, President Waheed also vetoed three bills submitted to parliament by Nasheed’s government concerning corporate tax reform, including the Business Registration Bill, passed on 23 April 2012, the Corporate Profit Tax Bill passed on 24 April 2012, and the Sole Trader Bill passed on 25 April 2012.

According to the President’s Office, the bills were returned on the legal advice of Attorney General Azima Shukoor, previously the lawyer of former President Maumoon Gayoom.

The new government has also repealed or reviewed many of the initiatives and policies started under Nasheed, often citing poor planning or corrupt practices.

The government has sought to dispel what it considers “untrue perceptions” planted during the visit to India by former President Mohamed Nasheed last month.

However The Hindu on Friday argued that “the most important agenda will be the political issues that have been flagged by Mr Nasheed during his visit to New Delhi.”

During his trip, Nasheed spoke widely on the need for early elections as well as the potential for radical Islam to emerge within the Indian Ocean nation.

Media interpretations

With only scant details emerging from Dr Waheed’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, media outlets have provided differing interpretations of what the most substantive issues of these talks were.

India Today chose to focus on the issues raised by Nasheed in its summary of the meeting.

“India has asked Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed to hold early elections. He was also directed to rein in fundamentalist forces gaining ground in the island nation,” said India Today.

“Waheed… was told to pay heed to all ‘shades of opinions’ and hold elections before the scheduled polls in October 2013,” the paper continued.

The Hindu said: “[Waheed] is a political lightweight, who will be unable to categorically assure New Delhi on issues that are high on the agenda.”

“The Waheed government has neither shown the urgency, nor the persistence to engage all shades of opinion to arrive an early election date,” the paper reported, noting that the possibility of an early election “appears remote”.

The paper suggested that the real powerbrokers in the Maldives were people not present with the Maldivian delegation, alleging that former President Maumoon Gayoom was one such figure, who preferred 2013 to be the election year.

Gayoom’s daughter, Dunya Maumoon, is part of the delegation, currently serving as State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Dunya was today anxious to correct any media interpretation that the discussions included agreement on elections before 2013.

“He said that an early election will be held within what is allowed in the constitution, but that the matter is not in his hands given that the constitution stipulates a Presidential election can only be held in 2013,” Dunya told local newspaper Haveeru.

The Gulf Times coverage of the meeting noted that early elections were discussed between the two statesman, before adding that “consensus was elusive” in the Maldives in this respect.

The Indian Express said, “the assessment here is that the parties in the Maldives need to have another round of discussions on the question of early elections,” before the article detailed the constitutional amendment that early polls would require.

The meeting also received coverage in the United States, with the New York’s Daily News reporting that Waheed talked with Singh about the possibility of constitutional amendment that would facilitate early polls.

The newspaper also highlighted the inclusion in the talks of investment opportunities as Waheed told Singh of the Maldives’ desire for further Indian investment as well as assuring him of the “continued adherence” to all agreements between the two countries.

The most high profile deal involving Indian investment in the Maldives is the GMR deal, details of which the government has challenged.

The Indian infrastructure giant signed a 25 year concession agreement with former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government to upgrade and manage Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA). Under the concession agreement, a US$25 charge was to be levied on all outgoing passengers to part-fund the US$400 million upgrade.

However, while in opposition the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) which today forms part of Waheed’s national unity government, led by Dr Hassan Saeed, now President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s special advisor, filed a successful case in the Civil Court in December 2011 to block the payment of the charge, on the grounds that it was effectively a tax not approved by parliament.

In a bid to try and resolve the issue last week, GMR provided several possible solutions to address concerns about the ADC, by offering exempting Maldivian passport holders from paying the charge.

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Gaamaadhoo prison bones not Abdulla Anees ‘Aibalhey’, say police

Police have reported that human bones discovered in the site of the former Gaamaadhoo prison on September 19, 2009 do not belong to Abdulla Anees ‘Aibalhey’.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed alleged that the human bones discovered in Gaamaadhoo prison matched the age and estimated period of death of Anees, who disappeared while he was serving a sentence in the prison.

Speaking to the press, Deputy Head of Specialist Command Mohamed Riyaz said that police had concluded the investigation into the case launched under former president Nasheed’s administration, and decided that Anees had not died while in prison. He had last been seen while he was on an island, sentenced to banishment.

Riyaz said the bones were analysed in Thailand and the US, and were found to be aged between 950-1050 years old.

During the investigation police travelled to different islands where Anees had been and met with his close friends, family members, cell mates and women that he had had relations with to gather information, and had  tracked faxes and letters and other documents, Riyaz said.

According to Riyaz, Anees was in jail in early 1980 and was among the inmates that transferred to Gaamaadhoo prison in 1982. In 1983 he was banished to the island ‘Kondey’ in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

In December 1983 he was brought back to jail, Riyaz said, and there were records that he had escaped prison several times.

In 1984 he was banished to some islands in the north of the Maldives and on several occasions had tried to flee by stealing a ‘Bokkura’ [small traditional boat]. He was last banished in July 1985 to the island of Dhiyadhoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll, according to Riyaz.

In 1983 Anees was banished to Fuvamulah, but stole a boat and tried to flee before he was found near the waters of Fiyoari in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and brought back to hail.

That same year he was arrested again in a bokkura in the Vaadhoo Ocean, as a fugitive on the run who had escaped prison for the second time.

Prison documents show that Anees was in prison in December the same year and had escaped prison that time as well.

In July 1984 Anees was banished to Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll, and in September that year he stole a boat and fled to Molhadhoo in the same atoll.

The last information about Anees that police could obtain was that he was banished to Dhiyadhoo island in 1985, and on the evening of September 25 of the same year he stole a bokkura and left the island.

Police said the night Anees left was stormy, and that after he left there was no sign of the bokkura, his body or his clothes.

According to police, documents at the Dhiyadhoo island office and former prisons division showed that a search was conducted to find him, but it was unsuccessful.

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MNDF marks Children’s Day

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) conducted equipment demonstrations and allowed children to handle firearms during an event on Saturday to mark Children’s Day.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem said the National Library requested the MNDF set up a stall as part of the day’s events, “so we demonstrated our equipment, and people took photos with it.”

Some of those photos – of toddlers handling heavy machine guns and staring down the barrels of pistols – were met with concern by Maldivians on social media channels, who described the images as “just not right”, and “sick and wrong”. One Maldivian twitter user questioned whether the event was part of the new government’s civic education syllabus.

Photo: Jaawid Naseem

In response to concerns, Major Abdul Raheem emphasised that the event was “very safe”.

“When we took the weapons outside we did not take any ammunition,” he explained. “The weapons were technically disabled.”

There was no possibility of even an unloaded weapon falling into the hands of a member of the public, he said.

Mariya Ali, former Deputy Minister of Health and Family with a 20 year background in child welfare in the Maldives, questioned the objective of the exercise.

Photo: Jaawid Naseem

“These children have witnessed violence from the [police and army], and now they are being exposed to the tools of violence. If it is not explained correctly, it can have a longstanding effect on them,” she said. “It is not appropriate for children under the age of eight to be exposed to this.”

Mariya said research into how children perceived authority figures such as the police showed that “Children see them as protectors – in their minds they separate the act of protecting – violence – from the protective side.”

“It would have been better to focus on the protective side, rather than the guns – things like fire safety, and cleaning up after accidents,” she suggested. “Children look up to them, they are important role models.”

UNICEF Resident Representative to the Maldives Zeba Tanvir Bukhari said the organisation was “quite taken aback” and said she hoped the MNDF would consult it when organising future events.

“It’s really very worrying. Children are very fragile at that age – the focus needs to be on care, affection, education and health.  There is a huge risk of influencing children,” she said.

Images courtesy Jaawid Naseem/Jade Photography. Republished with permission.

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First lady discusses Maldives autism challenges in India

First Lady Ilham Hussain yesterday visited India’s National Center for Autism, highlighting the need for greater training opportunities for Maldivians working with local sufferers of the condition.

Hussain’s visit, which coincides with a government visit to India, was made in her capacity as a founder member of the Autism Association of the Maldives.

Whilst at the centre, the first lady spoke with senior staff and discussed work being undertaken in the Maldives on raising awareness about autism, according to the President’s Office website.

Hussain also stressed the importance for more training opportunities at the National Center for Autism in India, particularly for Maldivians working with children suffering from the condition.

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Immigrant workers “slipping through the cracks”: The Sunday Leader

The immigration detention centre on the island of Hulhumale’ is a world away from nearby Ibrahim Nasir Internaitonal Airport, writes Raisa Wickrematunge for the Sri Lanka-based newspaper, The Sunday Leader.

“Hulhumale’ is known as the airport island of the Maldives- it’s where tourists from all over the world fly in. But the other section of Hulhumale’ is a world away from the runway. It houses a detention centre, one which takes in migrant workers who have fallen foul of the law.

This centre is manned by a single immigration officer and two police guards, who have just been appointed. Indeed, they are so new to the job that they do not even check our paperwork when we arrive at the gate.

‘When I got here, it was just thick trees and scrub. No one could live here,’ the immigration officer said, emphatically. He and two officers cleared the area and set up the centre- a long building with an aluminium roof.

There is a separate section for the toilets. The stench is indescribable. There are a couple of shower stalls, simple taps with running water, one of them outdoors.

Around 20 Bangladeshis are currently living here, although the number could swell to around 70, and often does. They say they are here because they have been cheated by unscrupulous agents. Many have no travel documents. The immigration officer says many of them are here because they committed petty crimes.”

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Police request EC take action against MDP after “noise complaints”

Police have requested the Elections Commission (EC) take action against the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after claiming to have received noise complaints following the party’s protest held on Wednesday outside the Supreme Court.

Police said the request was made last Thursday in a bid to “avoid such disturbances in the future”.

According to police statement, MDP protesters gathered in the area on Wednesday at about 2:00pm and were using loudspeakers which disturbed people praying at the mosque, people working at private and government offices in the area, and disrupted the work of the Supreme Court.

Police claimed this was against the political party code of ethics, and requested the Elections Commission take action against the MDP under the Political Parties Act.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP, Reeko ‘Moosa’ Manik, and MDP Spokesperson and MP Imthiyaz Fahmy, were not responding at time of press.

According to the party, the MDP gathered in front of Bandaara Mosque near the Supreme Court calling for an end to the prosecution of MDP supporters detained on charges of disobedience to order and obstruction of police duty, charges the party claimed were being used to throttle its freedom of assembly.

According to the party, the Prosecutor General (PG) has filed charges against 60 MDP members for obstruction of police duty during the party’s three-month series of protests.

The Criminal Court last Tuesday held hearings against 10 people charged with obstruction of police duty during an MDP rally on March 1.

Speaking to MDP members on Tuesday night, Nasheed said he was “concerned about the arrest and prosecution of protesters exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly.”

He also condemned the charges against “peaceful” protesters while police and military officers who carried out the “coup” continued to remain free.

Elections Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq did not respond at time of press.

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“Political lightweight” President to face “complex” deliberations in Delhi: The Hindu

A host of complex issues will come up for deliberations as Maldivian President Waheed Hassan Manik, arrives in New Delhi on Friday, soon after the successful visit of the former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed to India, writes R. K. Radhakrishnan for Indian newspaper The Hindu.

Dr Waheed, the former Vice-President, who stepped in after Mr Nasheed vacated office on February 7, is a political lightweight, who will be unable to categorically assure New Delhi on issues that are high on the agenda. The issues include the problems confronting Indian investments in the Maldives, the open hostility of some sections of the new government towards India, and the fate of projects that have been approved by the Nasheed dispensation.

But the most important agenda will be the political issues that have been flagged by Mr Nasheed during his visit to New Delhi. The Waheed government has neither shown the urgency, nor the persistence to engage all shades of opinion to arrive at an early election date. While the main supporters of the new administration, including India, the United States and the European Union, wanted early elections – by the end of the year – this now appears remote.

Dr Waheed’s main backers in Maldives want elections closer to the date that the elections would normally be conducted – late next year. There have been some discussions on fixing July 2013 as the election month, but this too has not found favour with Dr. Waheed’s backers – including the former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, one source said.

Dr. Waheed will be flown to New Delhi in a special plane on Friday, in his first visit to India after he took over as President. During the five-day visit, he is expected to meet a host officials and leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Officials said that the visit has been accorded the status of an ‘official visit’ as opposed to a ‘State visit.’

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Bangladeshi national killed after being hit by motorcycle

Police are investigating a motorcycle accident that killed a Bangladeshi national in Male’ on Friday.

According to police, Mohamed Taajul Islam was hit by a speeding motorcycle driven by an unlicensed minor near the Fish market in Male’ on Friday afternoon.

He died later that evening while being treated for the injuries at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), police said.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef was unable to disclose if a suspect connected to the case had been charged over the incident when contacted by Minivan News.

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Maldives women’s national football team begins Sri Lanka tour

The Maldives women’s national football team has arrived in Sri Lanka today for the start of a five-day national tour.

The team will play two friendly matches during their visit, starting tomorrow in a game against the Sri Lanka Air Force’s official team at Baddegana Football Complex, according to the Sri Lanka-based Sunday Times newspaper.

The Maldives team will then take part in a game against a female team made up of officers from Sri Lanka’s Army at the City Football League Complex on Tuesday.

Both matches are expected 3:30pm local time, according to local media.

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