The government of the Maldives has agreed to strengthen the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) “to make it more impartial, credible and broadly acceptable,” Commonwealth Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon has noted in his concluding statement.
“The Commonwealth wants to support an independent and impartial Inquiry Commission that helps the people of Maldives address the events of 7 February 2012 in a manner that moves the country forward in its democratic journey,” McKinnon said.
“Our efforts today have paved the way for such an effort. I look forward to former President Nasheed confirming a suitable candidate to join this Commission by the time it begins its work on 1 June 2012.”
McKinnon departed Male’ on May 15, after the government agreed to accept a nominee from the ousted President Nasheed’s side on the commission, and a retired Judge from Singapore to serve as co-chair.
Agreement between the government and Nasheed’s party lasted as long as it took for both sides to hold press conferences yesterday evening.
The government has set conditions for Nasheed’s appointee: they must not have served in a political position in the past two years, must not have taken a public stand on the transfer of power, and must “be of good behavior and integrity”.
Following the rejection of nine candidates put forward by Nasheed, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) contended that the conditions were “highly subjective” and “nonsensical”.
If the government required a candidate who had not yet taken a public stand, “then they are saying Dr Waheed will appoint President Nasheed’s representative,” said former Youth and Human Resources Minister, Hassan Latheef. The government has said it will appoint a lawyer to represent Nasheed if agreement is not reached by June 1.
Minivan News is awaiting a response from the Commonwealth as to whether the government’s conditions for the nominee were endorsed during McKinnon’s discussions with the parties.
President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza meanwhile today dismissed speculation that convenor of the stalled roadmap discussions, Ahmed Mujthaba, would be appointed co-chair of the commission, stating instead that the co-chair should be “someone like Mujthaba, respected, experienced, and acceptable to all parties.”
Ismail Shafeeu, former President Gayoom’s Defence Minister currently chairing the commission, would remain, Riza said.
Gayoom’s party, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), has also requested Dr Waheed give them a seat on the commission.
Speaking to press today, PPM Deputy Leader Umar Naseer said: “President Nasheed has made the false allegation that our party’s interim president is behind the coup, and if a seat is reserved for Nasheed’s representative, then we must have representation on the council as well.”
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Umar Naseer agrees that PPM played a major roll behind the coup when he requested his party to be represented on the commission.
Both Nasheed and Maumoon should be given a seat each of their choice in the Commission.
Perhaps Maria or Reeko from MDP and Umar Naseer from PPM would be quite suitable.
Just get on with it!
Stalling tactics AGAIN!!!!! He illegal government and coalition doing everything to spoil this whole process. This is fast becoming a joke.
PPM are responsible for he coup, how can they investigate it?? Wasn't that the whole dam point!
Perhaps former President Qayyoom's Director of Public Prosecutions Mariya Ahmed Didi would be the right choice for Nasheed to make. Don't drop the Qayyoom affiliation just because she later teamed up with MDP.
Or how about long-serving Qayyoom-regime multi-Cabinet-post-holder Ibrahim Hussein Zaki. Just because he later became Nasheed's best friend does not mean that we should deny him that honorific as well.
Nasheed should stop behaving like a baby. Subjectivity is a natural element in determining the criteria for membership in the CNI. We are talking about that factors affecting public perception therefore a lot of it has to do with value judgments and assumptions about a person's character.
this is really sad cos azima should not have the right to choose the side of the President Nasheed. he should be free to choose. we must understant the fact that this coup was not just an incident, it more than that. it should be investigated. the trailers should be brought to justice.
WHO SET THE CONDITIONS WHEN ISMAIL SHAFEEU AND EXISTING TEAM WAS APPOINTED....? Now for adding one member ..so many rules.... for all other members no rules... IT IS REAL MOCKERY, denial of natural Justice ..and disrespect for Common man his aspirations and what he deserves. Please don't make this country "A Banana Republic" of Maumoon's Clique and his attorney girls who act like his reliable house maids and of course Dr.Butler.
After we kicked out Maumoon, we thought Anni will establish true democracy, good governance, rule of law, fight corruption & crime, work for meaningful development of the nation.
Sorry to say, Anni was a disappointment. Now here we have an "Accidential" Prez without a political base or much support. Whatever votes he claims to have received as VP were votes given to Anni by the people.
So, at the most Waheed will last only till 10th Nov next year. All the known Prez hopefuls are not worthy of my vote.
In short, I couldn't care less what the Inquiry Commission says in the end. We are doomed anyway.
@tsk tsk
Which world are you living in? Where have you gone? What has happened to you?
You have stopped thinking about our nation. Your children, our children.
You have forgotten what it was like to live under Gayoom. We had to beg for everything.
We are raising our voice today as we did after Evan Naseem's death because we want to be liberated from the sharks who killed possibility for our nation, our children, took their future by their greed, and their hunger for power and control.
Tsk, Tsk, make a bold stand for the transformation of our country and forget all the slimy deals you have had to do to feed a dream , a need that you may once had. Put that in the past and throw your weight behind those of us who want a different future for our children to what we inherited.
Stand for sanity, integrity, and harmony in our country and walk away from those that seek to buy our souls with the millions they have taken from us and hold us in bondage with their patronage.
This is not about Nasheed. Those who opposed to social and economic reform in our country would like to make this be about Nasheed. This is bigger than him. Can’t you see?
This is about transforming our destiny, our nation, and our lives. With or without Nasheed. This, what we are asking for, what we want, cannot be stopped. You can take Nasheed away, but you cannot lock away our minds. Not any more.
What you write about is quite sad, when you think about it. You have no idea, do you, that things have changed. Only those who still believe they cannot achieve anything in life without the handouts of those who use you can speak the way you do.
But it IS possible for you to do that, did you know. And it’s easier than you think.
So join us, Tsk Tsk. This is just the beginning.. Have a blast. Find your wings. Nasheed woke us up. Made us think, feel, see and hear things we didn’t want to do. With or without Nasheed there is no going back. So get with the times.
Incidentally, Tsk Tsk, there is a constitutional protocol for removing Presidents who we want to remove if we believe they are letting us down, its called IMPEACHMENT. If you really cared about President Nasheed being the loser you say he is then why did you not do the responsible thing, ie get a petition and submit that to parliament, or go to your MP and submit a petition for Nasheed to be impeached? Did you do that? If you had done that, or if the MPs opposed to President Nasheed had done that, we will not be having this National Committeee to Investigate The Events Leading To The Resignation of President Nasheed, will we??
So who is the coward, Tsk Tsk?
Start thinking, we have just this one life. At the end of the day, when we leave, what remains in the memory of others is whether we made a difference in someones life. Nasheed did make that difference, you cannot take that away from him.
We need proceed with this process and to let the whole world what an a** the ex-president was.
President Nasheed would never want a good investigation to be taken. After all he knows what is at stake for him.
Dear Umar Naseer, please don't misunderstand my dear!!! Commonwealth is not going to organize another Police & MNDF Mutiny...so we have to say sorry for your request
@Khadeeja..." You can take Nasheed away, but you cannot lock away our minds. Not any more. "
WOW! Your words are awesome. Hope you get a chance to say this stuff to a crowd one day!
Such theatricality. Such emotion.
We always love quoting constitutional and institutional setups when they appear to serve our ends. However if our infant institutions had worked at all then we would not be at the impasse that we are at today. The Parliament would have gathered before the 2/7 and pressured Nasheed into coming back into line or impeached him (Lord knows there were grounds to do so).
If our people had suddenly sprouted wings courtesy of Nasheed and his pixie-dust then we would not have had to elect buffoons and sell-souls to the Parliament.
If our people had been given time to ingest the changes to their system of governance and cultural norms then they would have stood up to the many injustices apparent after ushering in the Nasheed government.
If the judiciary had been supported rather than repeatedly battered with insults and solicitations then we would not have seen the disgraceful capture and kidnapping of a judge in our lifetime.
What we need is stability. What we need is space to breathe. What we need is a President who does not demand that we riot, pillage, loot and burn for our rights.
The hijaab is brought down!
Enough is enough!
Time for sweet talk is over!
No more conditions, MDP is right!
No more "this that"!
Commonwealth and UN officials will have other work to do!
PPM, papaM wants conditions - Garrot them "on the spot"!
And Umar Naseer! Your are a devilish devil! You need to be garrotted "on the spot" and left for the vulture!
But sadly we have to import, if we are to feed you to them!
Our crows will not dare touch you! Because they will not find you edible for you being you!
Oh tsk tsk don't you think its upto the citizens to decide who should be president. Cause you deem Nasheed to be a dissapointment you think its ok the way his government was brought down.
If like you say Nasheed's government committed many injustices then let the people vote him out, its the way he was deposed that we have a problem with. let the people decide, it should not be upto you or me or another bunch of people to decide the most suitable president for this country. Everyone should have a say in it, and if the president is not fit to run the country he will be voted out in 5 years time, it is as simple as that.
Am beginning to like this this tsk guy. he seems to know what he is talking about...