Waheed says he would resign and reinstate Nasheed if inquiry establishes coup

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan told local television station Villa TV (VTV) he would resign and reinstate ousted President Mohamed Nasheed if an independent inquiry established the February 7 transfer of power was illegitimate.

Nasheed has claimed he resigned under duress and was deposed in a coup d’état. Since then, thousands of people have demonstrated throughout the Maldives questioning Dr Waheed’s legitimacy and have called for early elections.

Speaking on Dhivehi Sakhshiyyath’s (Maldivian Personality) debut program, Dr Waheed said, “If it wasn’t a legitimate transfer of power, if it was unlawful, what should happen is the former president should be reinstated. If that is established, I will resign. If not, then this is a legitimate transfer of power.”

Although Dr Waheed’s government seemed amenable to early polls upon taking office, it now appears to be increasingly resistant to the call. The government now claims constitutional amendments are necessary for an early general election.

“I have already said I am ready to hold an election within the law, within the constitution, only in the country’s interest, since a major political party is creating unrest in the city,” Dr Waheed said.

Dr Waheed has instituted a three member Committee of National Inquiry (CNI) to look into the legality and legitimacy of the transfer of presidential power. However, Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has questioned the committee’s independence as the committee is chaired by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s defence minister Ismail Shafeeu.

The MDP, international bodies and NGOs have urged the inclusion of international experts in the CNI. Presidential Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said the government would seek UN assistance rather than that of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth’s Ministerial Action Group had supported MDP’s call for early elections.

Like furniture

In his interview, Dr Waheed also aired grievances against Nasheed dating from the MDP’s founding.

“I left MDP because Nasheed’s influence in MDP was such that he refused to give responsibility to anyone who is elected within the party. It was like that from first day, and I think continues to be that way,” he said.

Dr Waheed had campaigned to be the MDP’s first president. He alleges Nasheed ran MDP as “his property” and said Nasheed’s approach “has always been to settle problems through street action, rather than political dialogue.”

As Nasheed’s vice-president, Waheed claimed he was “sidelined and isolated”.

“Nasheed decided the vice-presidency was a symbolic position,” he said.

When asked if Nasheed ever pressured for his resignation, Waheed said, “I do not think Nasheed thought it too important for me to resign. As long as I stood aside, quietly, like the furniture at President’s Office, he did not think it to be an issue.”

He called on all political parties to work together to resolve the current political crisis: “The current unrest is because we haven’t been able to work together,” he said.

Waheed also said he believed only a candidate fronted by a coalition of parties would win the next presidential election.

“I do not believe now that any one party can win a presidential election. I am almost certain that only a coalition of two or more parties will win the next election again,” he said.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

IMF will work with us to reduce expenditure, says President’s Office

Government spokesman Abbas Adil Riza said today that the IMF is willing to work closely with the government, after a delegation from the organisation arrived in Male’.

Abbas said that as the government’s current policy is to reduce expenditure, it will require assistance from the IMF.

“The IMF wants to re-engage with the Maldives. The main reason the Maldives was suspended from receiving the funds that were destined for the country was because the former administration could not meet the requirements of the IMF,” Abbas was reported as saying in local media.

“The result of the discussions held with the IMF and this government would be an acquirement of extra $20 million from the IMF. It will be settled in a month or so,” he said.

Abbas denied that the meeting was initiated by the government: “Given that the Maldives is a member of the IMF meetings may be held at any time, so they’re not here due to an initiative taken by the government.”

The previous government’s discussions with the IMF became deadlocked after the government was unable to comply with the group’s borrowing requirements conditions concerning deficit reduction.

During his recent inaugural address to the People’s Majlis, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan commented on the current state of the economy.

“Estimates for 2012 indicate that the debt component of the current account in our Balance of Payments will increase by 11 per cent as compared to 2011,” stated the president. “With respect to GDP, debt of our current account will go up to 28 per cent. This figure in 2011 was 26 per cent. The main reason for this rise is the expectation that imports will increase, resulting in an increase in expenditure for these imports.”

Government expenditure outstripped revenue  by 20 percent between January and September last year, claimed the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

The budget deficit, which stood at just 1.9 percent of the economy in 2004, expanded to 7.3 percent in 2006 and ballooned to 23.9 percent in 2007, according to the IMF.

The fiscal deficit exploded on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill between 2004 and 2009, with tremendous growth between 2007 and 2009.

On paper, the government increased average salaries from Rf3000 to Rf11,000 and boosted the size of the civil service from 24,000 to 32,000 people – 11 percent of the total population of the country – doubling government spending from 35 percent of GDP to 60 percent from 2004 to 2006.

In a 2010 World Bank report headed ‘How did the Maldives get into this situation?’, it was noted that “the origin of the crisis is very clear… the wage bill for public sector employees grew dramatically in a very short time.”

According to the World Bank, a 66 percent increase in salaries and allowances for government employees between 2006 and 2008 was “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”

After declaring “significant policy slippages”, in particular the government’s failure to curtail spending,the IMF felt it necessary to delay some the Maldives’ funding in 2010.

After the Nasheed government struggled to reduce expenditure due to political constraints, in particular the Civil Service Commission, it introduced a tourism goods and services tax (TGST) in order for the local economy to benefit from the lucrative but often removed tourism economy.

The World Bank’s annual ‘Doing Business’ report for 2010 saw the Maldives’ ‘ease of doing business’ ranking fall from 71 to 87, and identified no ‘business-friendly’ reforms.

The Ministry of Education has recently announced a freeze on all Public Private Partnership (PPP), which were originally intended to remove financial burdens from the government, after raising questions over the legality of the tender processes.

Following the recent inaugural speech of President Waheed, his spokesman Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News that the current government would not be looking to increase the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) but pledged that the government would seek to “live within in its own means.”

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

New York Times reviews the Island President

The Island President is “unabashedly pro-Nasheed”, writes Vikas Bajaj for the New York Times.

“It depicts the short, slim 44-year-old with an infectious smile as a champion of democracy and human rights. In spite of the odds against him, he tries to browbeat, beg and shame world powers like the United States, China and India into committing to reductions in greenhouse gases so his people and hundreds of millions like them do not become “climate refugees.”

Much of the movie was shot between Mr Nasheed’s 2008 election and a global climate change summit meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. The filmmakers had unusually free access to Mr Nasheed and his team, filming him in internal strategy meetings, with his family and in discussions with leaders from other countries and global organizations.

“When people see the film, hopefully the transparency of it will be so apparent,” Director Mr Jon Shenk said. “You can’t help but see Nasheed for what he is.”

Mr. Shenk said that in addition to raising awareness about climate change, he now wants his film to convince the world that Mr. Nasheed was deposed in a coup that was orchestrated by loyalists to the former dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

“That might be the single most important thing that the movie can do,” Mr. Shenk, who co-directed the critically acclaimed documentary “Lost Boys of Sudan” (2003), said in a telephone interview from his office in San Francisco. “It’s now clear that this new government is not democratic, that the people who run the ministries are the same people who were there under the dictator.”

One scene, in which Mr. Nasheed is in his waiting room speaking to a citizen, appears to foreshadow the more recent turmoil in the country. It’s July 2009, three months before Mr. Nasheed would make an important speech in Copenhagen. A tired Mr. Nasheed confesses to the man that he is increasingly powerless to do what he wants because domestic opposition is hardening against him.

In a sense “Island President” is the biggest media event Mr. Nasheed could have hoped for, though the attention he now needs has more to do with his country’s domestic political turmoil then climate change.

The film comes as rival factions are presenting to the rest of the world vastly different narratives of what happened on Feb. 7, when Mr. Nasheed stepped down, and what should happen next.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Former Home Minister summoned for questioning by police and HRCM over detention of Chief Judge

The former Home Minister Hassan Afeef was yesterday summoned to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) to the police for questioning over the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Speaking to the press outside the police headquarters, Afeef said he had no role in the arrest of Abdulla and that he had only requested the military to arrest him after police had asked him to make the request.

Afeef said it was the police that informed the Home Ministry that there were issues concerning the national security of the Maldives if Abdulla was to remain at large.

He said that in a letter he sent to the Defence Ministry on behalf of the Home Ministry, issues concerning the national security of the country were outlined very clearly.

He declined to provide details on the arrest of Abdulla because they concerned the national security of the country, he said.

When Minivan News contacted Afeef for a comment he said what he told last night outside the police headquarters was all he could say regarding the issue.

A police spokesperson today told Minivan News that police asked Hassan Afeef to come to the police headquarters at 9:30pm last night.

‘’He came on time and we questioned him about the arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed,’’ he said. ‘’He answered all the questions very well.’’

Yesterday afternoon Afeef was summoned to HRCM for questioning over the arrest of Judge Abdulla.

Afeef met the press outside the HRCM and said the commission faced him a lot of questions and that he answered all the questions fully and declined to provide details of the questions.

Recently Former government’s Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim and former President Mohamed Nasheed were summoned to the HRCM.

Tholhath was also summoned to the police headquarters, however, he used the right to remain silent.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested by the Defence Force in compliance with a police request.

However, the protests sparked in Male’ following the arrest and lasted until the resignation of the former president.

The opposition-led protests in the run up to Nasheed’s resignation initial called for the release of the Criminal Court Judge.

The first complaints against Abdulla Mohamed were filed in July 2005 by then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, and included allegations of misogyny, sexual deviancy, and throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused.

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the judicial watchdog, eventually formed a complaints committee to investigate the cases against Judge Abdulla in December 2009, which met 44 times but had failed to present a single report as of March 2011.

The JSC eventually concluded an investigation into politically-contentious comments made by Judge Abdulla Mohamed on DhiTV, but the report was never released after the judge sought a Civil Court injunction against his further investigation in September 2011.

Then-Home Minister Hassan Afeef subsequently accused the judge of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, listing 14 cases of obstruction of police duty including withholding warrants for up to four days, ordering police to conduct unlawful investigations and disregarding decisions by higher courts.

Afeef accused the judge of “deliberately” holding up cases involving opposition figures, barring media from corruption trials, ordering the release of suspects detained for serious crimes “without a single hearing”, and maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes.

The judge also released a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable”, who went on to kill another victim.

Then Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan opposed the judge’s detention, stating on his blog that “I am ashamed and totally devastated by the fact that this is happening in a government in which I am the elected Vice President.”

Nasheed’s government requested assistance from the international community to reform the judiciary. Observing that judicial reform “really should come from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)”, then Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said the commission’s shortcoming are “now an issue of national security.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MDP MP Abdulla Abdulraheem rejoins DRP

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Abdulraheem has rejoined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), a year after leaving his original party while it was in opposition.

Raheem joined the MDP in the footsteps of former DRP Deputy Leader, now MDP MP Ali Waheed, former DRP Sports Wing head Hassan Shujau, and deputy head Assad ‘Adubarey’ Ali.

On Tuesday late afternoon at the DRP Office there was a small ceremony to mark his signing and a meeting afterwards with the press.

Speaking at the meeting, Raheem said he came back to DRP because his views did not match those of the MDP leadership, and because he felt that in the future the number of MDP supporters would deteriorate.

When a journalist asked him whether he believed that the current government was legitimate, he replied that he was obliged to stay behind the stand of DRP after signing with the party.

Raheem also said that he believed that the current government was constitutional and was formed according to the law.

MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa today told Minivan News that Raheem’s resignation from MDP was “regrettable”.

‘’We are in a very difficult situation and he worked with us very well,’’ Musthafa said. ‘’I don’t think that any of the MDP members saw this coming.’’

Musthafa said he think that Raheem left MDP because he wanted to stay with the government at the time.

‘’But his action will make his constituents lose confidence with him, and if he is to run for the parliament election next time I do not think he can win the seat,’’ he said. ‘’More than 70 percent of Male’ citizens are MDP supporters.’’

Musthafa described the move as a “big challenge” to Raheem’s political career.

MDP Spokesperson and MP Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy said he would not like to comment on the matter.

‘’We did not have a clue that this was about to happen,’’ he said. ‘’But there are people like that who come and go.’’

MDP current Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy is also from DRP, along with figures such as Ali Waheed and Shujau.

Alhan joined MDP in February 2010, after DRP Disciplinary Committee decided to take action against him for voting against a no-confidence motion passed to the parliament by the then-opposition to oust the then-Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Pension Office reveals details of benefits

CEO of the Pension Office Mohamed Hussain Manik has told the media that the Retirement Pension Scheme holds more than Rf1 billion, with Rf50 million received each month from 7,100 contributors.

He discussed the nature of the funds investments, saying that the Pension Act’s stipulations allow only for investment in companies listed on the Capital Market Development Authority (CMDA).

“We can’t invest in anything risky; we have to make safe investments. So we can’t invest in just anything,” said Manik. The fund has invested Rf100 million in Dhiraagu shares.

Foreign nationals are now also eligible to take part in the pension scheme if they register before April 2014 and will be able to draw on their pension after reaching 65 years old, even if they reside abroad.

From January the amount received for those over 65 is Rf 2,300. 15,176 people currently receive this sum each month.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Aircraft makes emergency landing at INIA

A Thomson Airways Boeing 767 aircraft made an emergency landing at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) on Wednesday morning, shortly after taking off at 10:41am.

INIA issued a statement that the
“The aircraft declared a Full Emergency after departure due to a technical fault with the aircraft avionics,” said INIA in a statement.

“Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) implemented its procedures for a Full Emergency in conjunction with Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF), Malé Health Corporation and
other concerned agencies.”

The aircraft landed safely at 11:46am, with no harm to the 230 passengers and crew on board.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MBC broadcast ethics talks set to conclude

Discussions between national media organisations designed to outline new ethical standards for broadcasters based in the country are set to conclude today, Sun Online has reported.

The two day talks, which are being overseen by the Maldives Broadcast Commission (MBC), commenced yesterday at the Islamic Centre in a bid to outline and inform local media and the public about how broadcasters should be acting.

Today’s session is reportedly set to establish revisions to the existing MBC Code of Ethics based upon suggestions from attendees.

“These regulations do not limit broadcasters from having their own editorial policies or other standards that they wish to follow. However they should not act against the basic guidelines,” MBC Director General Mohamed Nasih was quoted as saying by local media.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Teased, touched and assaulted: foreign women facing harassment

Walking down a crowded street two weeks ago in the Maldives capital of Male’, Lisa*, 25, had one of the most horrific experiences of her life.

Teased, touched and assaulted by two young men on the street, the Australian foreign worker was left deeply upset and stunned over the harassment that occurred in broad daylight.

“I was walking near the swim track when these two boys in their 20s came behind me and grabbed my ass. I screamed and they walked away. I kept walking forward and then suddenly saw the two boys approaching me again. I was really scared because I did not know what they were going to do next,” Lisa recalled.

“They came back, surrounded me and started to pass comments at me. They touched me inappropriately, grabbed me and one of them slapped me,” she continued. It lasted for about 20 seconds I think. I took my phone and warned them I was calling the police. Then they grabbed me once more and just ran off.”

She had travelled from Australia to work in the Maldives just a few months before the incident, and had not expected to face harassment or attack, she said.

In the last few weeks foreign women from diverse nationalities working in Maldives have come forward and told Minivan News about various attacks, ranging from verbal abuse to physical and sometimes sexual assaults.

Clarice*, a 23-year-old French woman, was teased and stalked on the street while she was walking home on March 1.

“I was walking past the artificial beach around 12:30pm in the afternoon. A group of four local boys, maybe in their 20s, started following me. They passed comments like ‘you are my angel’ and one of them grabbed my arm and said ‘oh your skin is so beautiful’. I really did not understand what they wanted and I was really scared because they kept following me,” Clarice explained.

“Because they were following me I went back to the office, instead of going home. I live alone so I was did not want them to find out where I live,” she added.

Clarice decided not to inform police because it was mostly verbal abuse, she said.

Unsafe at home

Meanwhile, several other women interviewed exclaimed that the “threats have extended from streets to homes”.

Katie*, a 34-year old American who has worked in Male’ for almost a year, said she thought she had figured out the Maldives, its culture and its people. Respecting the Muslim background, she said she was sensitive to societal rules, dressed modestly and until recently, thought of Maldives as a safe place.

What changed her impression was a horrific incident last month which a local man sexually assaulted her while she she was unlocking the door of her apartment.

“It was early morning around 4:00am. I was unlocking the door to my house when I felt someone grab my neck from behind. At first I thought it was my friends who had left just seconds ago. But the grip was very firm so I turned around and saw a man wearing white shirt and pants. I screamed at the top of my voice,” Katie recalled.

“He grabbed my breasts, ripped the t-shirt I was wearing. I tried to hit him with my hands, screamed and tried to escape. At that time the door was unlocked and he had pushed me inside. I managed to hit his groin with my feet. That’s when he let go of me and ran out. I tried to follow him but he fled on a motorbike too quickly,” she said. “I was so distraught, I could not even call the police.”

Neighbors who heard her screams called the police. Around five to six officers arrived on the scene with a forensic team.

Disappointed with police

However, according to Katie, the police did not take her statement until three weeks later and then got the details of the attack completely wrong.

“The police had stated my necklace was stolen. It broke off during the attack, I still have it. The attacker must have known the necklace I was wearing was not gold because it was made of multi-colored beads,” Katie pointed out.

She added that she had later found out from CCTV camera owners nearby her house that the police had not requested the footage or interviewed neighbors for clues. Frustrated over the lack of police assistance, she called the US embassy. “I don’t think they would have even taken the statement if the American Embassy had not called them,” Katie claimed.

Lucy, a 36 Irish woman, also talked to Minivan New about an attack, and a disappointing experience with the police, following a robbery and sexual assault she encountered last year.

She was attacked while walking up the flat’s staircase with two other female friends around midnight.

“The apartment was on the sixth floor and I was walking upstairs to my friends apartment. They were couple of steps ahead of me and I was walking up when, suddenly, a man came behind me and grabbed my breasts and tried to pull my clothes,” Lucy recollected.

“I go to the gym and I lift weights. But I couldn’t get him off. He was quite a large and it seemed he was under the influence of something. I hit him with my bag several times. He did not attempt to grab it and run. I think his intention was to pull off my clothes. By then my friends had heard the screams and came running downstairs. That’s when he released me and ran off,” she added.

Lucy however noted that the attack had not affected her as much as when she was robbed just weeks before the attack, and found the robbery to be the “worst ordeal”.

“My laptops and phone was stolen from my apartment. That was the worst ordeal because somebody broke into my room while I was sleeping,” she observed.

Thanks to her strong personality, Lucy said she managed to get over both attacks and visit Maldives again this year. However, she echoed others’ grievances over the lack of support from police.

“When police came to the flat the only response I got from them was ‘this never happens’. They did not take my statement or follow up on me. I don’t think the case was investigated,” she claimed.

Lisa, who earlier spoke to Minivan News, also complained over the lack of police professionalism after she reported the harassment on the street and added that it seemed “police did not the case seriously”.

Police Spokesperson Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef responded that police investigate all the complaints and officers who investigate foreigners cases are skilled and capable in communicating in English: “But we do face difficulties in communicating with Bangladeshi expatriates,” he said.

He noted that it was difficult to state whether harassment of foreign women was on the rise, but confirmed that such cases had been reported.

Haneef also urged women to report such attacks, assuring that complete investigations would be conducted.

Lisa, Clarice, Katie and Lucy say they are awaiting justice and for a day they can walk the streets without being teased, touched or assaulted. A day when they don’t have to be extra cautious on streets, scan around for possible stalkers or triple check their locks.

In the meantime all they ask from the local community is “not to assume we provoked the attacks and step in to help a woman being harassed”.

*Names changed

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)