Politics – Page 389 – Minivan News

Former President Nasheed expresses concern over “intimidation, sacking” of senior security officers

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has expressed concern over the “intimidation and sacking of officers of senior rank” in the security forces ahead of the Commission of National Inquiry’s (CNI) report on the transfer of power expected on August 30.

In a statement yesterday, Nasheed referred to the dismissals last week of Chief Superintendent Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed and Superintendent Adhnan Anees, the demotion of Superintendent ‘Lady’ Ibrahim Manik and removal of Captain Dr Fathmath Thahsyna Ibrahim from the post of Deputy Commander of Medical Services at the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

The statement also noted the resignations of former Chief of Defence Forces Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel, Vice Chief of Defence Forces Farhath Shaheer and Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi.

“A course of action following the transfer of power can only be determined based on the work of the Commission of National Inquiry,” Nasheed insisted, appealing to the security services against sacking, intimidating, demoting or promoting “any officer” before the commission completed its inquiry.

“I also urge those employed in the security forces to wait and not resign before the commission completes its task,” Nasheed said.

Senior officers assaulted

Superintendents Hameed and Anees were relieved of duty by the Police Disciplinary Board last week, reportedly after investigating allegations that the senior officers “worked for the political benefit of a certain party” in violation of police ethics, which prohibits engagement in partisan political activity.

Hameed, former head of police intelligence, was arrested on June 14 following his alleged contribution to the MDP’s report into the transfer of power on February 7.

Following reports that police who cooperated with the Ameen-Aslam report were being rounded up and detained, police initially denied allegations of a “witch hunt” and issued a statement accusing the media of “circulating baseless and false reports”. Court warrants for the arrest of Hameed and Staff Sergeant Ahmed Naseer were however subsequently leaked.

Meanwhile in June, Superintendent Adhnan Anees sued the Maldives Police Service seeking compensation for medical treatment of injuries sustained after mutinying police officers allegedly attacked him in Republic Square and inside police headquarters on February 7.

Anees, Ibrahim Manik and Chief Superintendent Mohamed Jinah were among senior officers allegedly assaulted on February 7.

According to the political violence watch of local NGO Maldivian Democracy Network, ‘Lady’ Ibrahim Manik – who was demoted by the Disciplinary Board last week – was “captured and beaten” outside police headquarters.

Moreover, video footage emerged of Chief Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, head of the Drug Enforcement Department (DED), handcuffed and taken to detention island Dhoonidhoo on the morning of February 7.

According to the MDP’s report, the attacks were carried out by police officers outside police headquarters on the instructions of Police Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz and Sub-Inspector Azeem Waheed.

The report stated that Corporal Ahmed Vikram ‘Viki’ hit Superintendent Anees with a wooden chair in the back, and struck Anees in the genitals with his legs.

Anees was then taken upstairs to the third floor of police headquarters and locked inside the DED’s storage room, along with Deputy Commissioner Ismail Atheef and Superintendent Ibrahim Manik, the report claimed.

According to the report, mutinying police officers subsequently broke open the door of the storage room and again attacked the three senior officers, before taking them downstairs.

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Criminal Court extends detention of two men arrested for threatening Home Minister

The Criminal Court has extended the detention period of two men who allegedly confronted and threatened to kill Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel during his official visit to their island.

In a statement the Criminal Court confirmed that the court extended their pretrial detention period to 15 days.

The Court identified the pair as Abdulla Rasheed, 32, Banafsaage and Mohamed Nazly, 30, Sheereen Villa from the island of Maaenbudhoo in Dhaa Atoll.

According to local newspapers, Dr Jameel went to Maaenbudhoo to meet with the Island Council and the pair confronted Jameel on his arrival as he stepped onto the island.

The two men threatened to kill Dr Jameel, attack his family and called Dr Jameel a “thief”, reported local media.

If the case is sent to the court and the court finds the pair guilty, they will face a sentence of 6-18 months in prison.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Police have started considering threats against officers as a serious issue after an officer was stabbed to death on the island of Kaashidhoo in Kaafu Atoll last month.

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Finance Ministry proposes drastic austerity measures to Parliament

Parliament’s Finance Committee last week received a proposal from the Finance Ministry which, if accepted, would save MVR2.2billion (US$143million).

The austerity measures include raising Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) to 15 percent, terminating electricity subsidies in Male’, increasing import duties on alcohol and imposing a 3 percent duty on oil, “reforming” the Aasandha health insurance scheme, and reducing the budget of every Ministry and independent institution by 15 percent – among other measures.

If successfully carried out the Ministry’s proposals would halve this year’s budget deficit, currently projected to reach MVR9.1billion (US$590million).

The original budget for 2012 envisioned that revenue would rise to MVR11.4billion (US$740million) with expenditure anticipated to be MVR14.5 billion (US$941million). This would have resulted in a budget deficit of around MVR3billion (US$194million), representing 10 percent of GDP.

However, the revised figures provided by the Finance Ministry have shown that revenue will only be MVR8.4billion (US$545million) for this year with actual expenditure rising to around MVR18 billion. The ensuing deficit would represent around 28 percent of the nominal GDP for 2012, which was predicted to be MVR31.7billion (US$2billion).

This ballooning deficit has alerted the IMF which has expressed concerns that without raising revenue and cutting expenditures the country risked exhausting its international reserves and sparking an economic crisis.

The Maldives Monetary Authority’s (MMA) most recent statistics show that the country’s gross international reserves had decreased by 2 percent in the 11 months up to May before dropping by a further 6 percent between May and June this year.

The MMA’s data shows this figure to represents around ten weeks worth of imports in the Maldives, a country which relies heavily on imports, spending around two thirds of its real GDP on foreign goods each year.

The current government has pointed the finger at the previous administration for the current budgetary issues whilst simultaneously implementing a series of policies which have added to its financial obligations.

These deficit expanding policies have included promoting 1000 police officers, doubling of the budget of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) to MVR69.3million (US$4.5 million), hiring of 110 new police officers, and a reinterpretation of the legal provision for the payment of resort island lease extensions which had cost the government MVR92.4million (US$6million) already in comparison with the same point last year.

The government also chose to reintroduce a MVR100 million (US$6.5 million) fishing subsidies and to reimburse MVR443.7 million (US$28.8 million) in civil servant salaries, reversing measures implemented during the previous government’s own austerity drive.

The raft of measures currently being considered by the Finance Committee represent the most comprehensive effort thus far to reign in the deficit.

Austerity Measures

The proposed measures for reducing state expenditure were published in local newspaper Haveeru. They include discontinuing electricity subsidies in Male’ City which, where around one third of the nation’s population live, saving MVR135million (US$8.7million).

Reducing the state’s offices budget by up to 15 percent is expected to save MVR1.5billion (US$97million) and was first suggested by Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad in May. Jihad mentioned at the time that a pay review board would be convened in order to “harmonise” the pay of government appointees.

The document received by Haveeru revealed details that this pay review body will seek to restructure pay schemes in order to save MVR100million (US$6.5 million). It also emerged that MVR300million (US$19.5million) could be saved by introducing a recruitment freeze in the civil service.

The austerity plan also includes a reform of the Aasandha national health care scheme, the cost of which promised surged ahead of its MVR720million (US$46.7million) budgeted allowance shortly after its introduction in January. After discussions with the government, the Aasandha company has decided to share the costs of private treatments with patients.

The Finance Ministry predicts that reform of the Aasandha scheme can save the government MVR200million (US$12.9million).

Revenue raising

Proposed revenue raising measures include raising the import duty on oil, upon which the country relies heavily for fuel, to three percent. MMA figures show that the price of crude oil has decreased 15 percent in the 12 months leading up to June whilst the domestic price had remained the same with the exception of diesel which increased in price by 2 percent.

Import duties are also to be raised on items whose value exceeds MVR6.4million (US$41million) as well as on liquor imports. The duty on both of these items had been raised as part of the amended Export Import Act in December of last year which saw duties on pork and alcohol products, used exclusively by the resorts, go up by 42 percent.

The tourist industry will be similarly hard-hit by the proposals to raise Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) to 15 percent. The IMF had previously urged the government to double the 6 percent tax levied on all goods and services sold in resorts with Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb announcing his intention in May to consult the tourism industry.

Minivan News discussed the potential increase with several resort managers at the time, and was told that an increase would have “serious ramifications” for certain sections of the market. One manager said that the fixed term contracts many resorts have with operators meant that increases to T-GST would have to be absorbed from revenue, resulting in potential cutbacks to staff or services.

Visitors to the Maldives could also be affected by the proposed increase in the Airport Service Charge from US$18 (MVR277) to US$30 (MVR462).

Further rises to the tax levied on luxury items would be accompanied by the introduction of taxes to the sale of flats and on telecoms service in the Finance Ministry’s plan.

The visa fee paid by foreigners working in the Maldives is also slated to see be increased by MVR150 (US$10). Estimates of expatriate workers are be as high as 110,000 although the same estimates suppose that around half to be undocumented.

Despite the recent suspension of sittings of the full Majlis, the Finance Committee continues to hold meetings as normal.

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MNDF training island of Thanburudhoo to be developed as resort

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has confirmed plans to develop a tourist resort on the island of Thanburudhoo, currently being used by the military for training and recreational purposes.

The confirmation comes just a week following the registration of the MNDF Welfare Company, created in a bid to generate income to fund welfare services for the armed forces by investing in various businesses, including the tourism sector.

Speaking to Minivan News on Sunday, Lieutenant Abdullah Ali explained that the MNDF is not going to play any direct role in the development of the resort, and that the island would be leased to a third party.

He claimed that the concept of developing the training island as a tourist resort was approved by the former government in 2010, but that work had stalled “for various reasons”.

“However, we have started that process again, and the discussions are continuing,” Lieutenant Ali said.

He also added that the MNDF Welfare Company is “going to be involved” in the project.

“MNDF Welfare Company is going to do tourism, real estate and other potentially lucrative businesses in the future. Our aim is to help reduce state expenditure by self-generating revenue to fund welfare services of the defense force.” Ali observed.

Former Tourism Minister Dr. Mariyam Zulfa confirmed to Minivan News that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government endorsed the Thanburudhoo project back in 2010, but said the President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration had never decided to involve the Defense Ministry or MNDF’ in the project.

“MDP believes in a center right system where the government has little or no control over the economy and promote privatisation. Defense Ministry or MNDF – whichever name u call it – it is still the government. So we would of course never support them to be involved in the project.” Zulfa observed.

She added: “As you know during Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom several uninhabited islands were given to various ministries. So the only reason Defense Ministry’s name appeared in the documents was because the island was registered under the ministry.”

Dr. Zulfa stated that the proposal was initially submitted by individual named Dr Gunnar Lee-Miller, who proposed to develop Thanburudhoo as a surfing resort. The nearby waters host beautiful dive sites and a popular surf-break, which attract many local and foreign surfers.

“We though it was a good proposal and supported it at the time, but the lease transfer was not signed,” Former Tourism Minister contended. “However, I don’t have any details of what happened with the project, following the MDP’s ousting from power on February 7.”

Minivan News contacted Gunnar Lee-Miller seeking to verify whether he was still negotiating with the authorities to secure the island, however Lee-Miller said that it was “not a good time” and hung up the phone. Further attempts to seek comment were met with no response.

Lee-Miller is identified as the President of Telos Investment, a private investment holding firm based in Singapore. The firm is leading the Five Islands project, which involves the development of three integrated resorts over five islands and nine square kilometres of lagoon in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll. The project was contracted to the company under former government’s Corporate Social Responsibility(CRS) scheme, in return for establishing high-end sporting facilities in the country.

A speaker profile for Lee-Miller on the website of the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) states that the developer “was recently appointed Senior Advisor to the Maldives National Sports Council assisting in all national sport and sport tourism development projects.”

Surfer controversy

Several local surfers have meanwhile raised concerns on social networks, claiming that the Thamburudhoo project involved dredging and reclaiming the surrounding area of the island reef, which would destroy the popular surfing spot.

Banzai Bongo, a well-known local surfer, wrote on Facebook: “This is going to affect the natural current flow of the surrounding waves such as Jailbreaks, Honkies, Sultans and Pasta. Moreover, it will destroy dive spots around this area. So the government’s best interest is to annihilate our natural resources which includes world class surf sites and dive sites.”

Bongo called for surfers to “save these waves like we all stood against the state and saved the Trestles. Save it for or children, save it for the future.”

The Maldivian Surfing Association (MSA) said it would be issuing an official statement.

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Government presses terrorism charges against 21 MDP protesters over February 8 unrest

The Prosecutor General has pressed Terrorism charges against 21 Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protesters for damage to state property on February 8, for allegedly setting fire to the court and police station in Addu City.

Nationwide protests erupted on February 8 following the controversial transfer of power the previous day. Former President Mohamed Nasheed resigned amid a police and military mutiny, and later alleged this was under duress.

The protests were sparked after a brutal police crackdown on large numbers of demonstrators who attempted to enter Republic Square that afternoon, including the former President, MDP MPs and supporters.

Dramatic footage of the crackdown was filmed by international media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, while other footage shared on social media showed police kicking and beating protesters on the ground. Many of the injured were women.

A Minivan News reporter who was injured in a baton charge, at the time described the involvement of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s ‘Starforce’ officers: “They were beating old women with batons,” he said. “It was just like the old days.”

The protests spread across the country, with demonstrators targeting police and court buildings. Police officers were in some instances evicted from islands. The worst of the destruction occurred in Addu City, the country’s second most populated area after Male’, and an MDP stronghold.

A police crackdown followed in Addu, and was the subject of a report by international human rights organisation Amnesty International.

In one instance, security personnel “reportedly entered the MDP office in Hitadhoo, where more than a dozen women protesters had run for shelter. They chased the women into the storage room of the building and began to beat them,” Amnesty reported.

“Amnesty International learned that one woman had her arm twisted and sprained when MNDF soldiers grabbed her. They then took her glasses off, forced her to open her eye and sprayed it with pepper spray. She said they pressed her against the wall and kicked her with their boots.

“Another woman said that they began to beat her on her breast, repeatedly shouting they would see to it that she does not breast feed again. A third woman showed her badly bruised arm where she said that soldiers had severely and repeatedly beaten her.”

Amnesty noted that both sides had blamed each other for promoting violence, and that human rights in the Maldives “have become heavily politicised.”

In a statement today, the Criminal Court said the 21 protesters were accused of vandalising the Police Station at Addu, vandalising the Police School, the Addu City Court, and the Prosecutor General’s Office at Addu City on February 8.

The Criminal Court said that they were charged according to Anti-Terrorism Act article 2[f][g] and article 6[b].

On February 8, the [olice station on Milandhoo in Shaviyani Atoll and the station on Velidhoo in Noonu Atoll were reportedly taken over by MDP supporters.

In March, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed the arrest of 17 people on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, who were involved in vandalising property and creating unrest in the island on February 8.

‘’Those people are people whom we have pictures and video footage of their involvement in the incidents that day,’’ Shiyam said at the time.

In April, the President of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) Shahindha Ismail told the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Oversight Committee that police actions on February 8 were unlawful, and that police officers had used undue force to disperse the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) demonstration.

In May police said they have concluded investigation into arson attacks against government offices and the police station on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll on February 8, and sent the names of 108 persons to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

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Vice president’s party talks solely focused on resuming Majlis: President’s Office

Talks scheduled this week between senior parliamentary representatives and Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen will be focused solely on trying to find a resolution to the ongoing suspension of the Majlis, the President’s Office has said.

However, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) today accused government representatives of giving “conflicting” messages after contending that an agreement had been made for discussions to also focus on facilitating early elections to resolve the deadlock surrounding the controversial transfer of power on February 7.

Government Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News today that talks at the President’s Office scheduled for 11am on Tuesday August 14, were being held at the request of Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid following the suspension of the People’s Majlis late last month.

Abbas maintained that Tuesday’s talks would be focused solely on addressing parliament’s suspension rather than topics already agreed under the agenda of the all-party talks, which include issues such as early elections.

“This meeting is being held at request of the speaker as the various parties felt they needed to speak with the executive,” he claimed.

In a statement released today, the opposition MDP said the vice president had agreed to an offer to engage in dialogue to try and find what it called a way forward in the “current political crisis.”

“[President] Waheed’s government has assigned their Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Deen to participate in the talks agreed among leaders of political parties represented in parliament,” the statement read.

Speaker Shahid opted to suspend parliament “indefinitely” on July 31 after claiming that “an atmosphere of calm necessary to conduct sittings could not be assured” following confrontations between MPs in the Majlis chamber. Several sittings had been cancelled owing to disorder in the lead-up to the suspension amidst reports of MDP MPs confronting the speaker.

On Thursday (August 9), the now opposition Maldivian Democratic Party said that a date to resume parliamentary sessions was “yet to emerge”, though claimed it was confident discussions were on the right track.

MDP spokesperson and MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor today claimed that the severity of the speaker’s decision to suspend parliament last month had effectively seen the country come to a political standstill.

“The party made it very clear at the time in a statement that we would not be cooperating with the Majlis unless we were able to address our grievances,” he said.

Ghafoor added that Tuesday’s talks between key parliamentary figures and the vice president would be aimed at addressing the issue of hosting early elections before those presently scheduled by the Waheed administration for July 2013.

Responding to President’s Office claims that only the issue of parliament’s suspension would be focused on in the talks, Ghafoor alleged that the party was continuing to receive inconsistent responses from the government.

“Right from the start of this process we have seen the government giving us conflicting messages,” he said. “We have chosen to ignore these contradictions for practical purposes.”

As such, the MDP claimed that its representative at the talks – MP Ali Waheed – would look to discuss issues including facilitating early elections.

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MDP denies involvement in Hulhumale’ demonstration against VP, pledges commitment to talks

The Maldvian Democratic Party (MDP) said it remains committed to ceasing street demonstrations in order to facilitate talks with government-aligned parties, playing down fears that protests by a number of “individuals” against the vice-president on Thursday could derail negotiations.

MDP spokesperson and MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed today that the party had not been behind demonstrations held Thursday (August 9) on the island of Hulhumale’ during a visit by Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen. Ghafoor added that there had been no official communication from the government so far following these demonstrations with regard to stopping talks between the country’s political leaders.

Since the controversial transfer of power that brought President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan into office on February 7, former President Mohamed Nasheed has alleged he was removed from office in a “coup d’etat”. The allegations have lead to months of political uncertainty across the nation, resulting last month in the indefinite suspension of parliament.

Less then 24 hours after welcoming the MDP’s decision to suspend ongoing street protests against the government to “facilitate meaningful political dialogue” with the coalition government, the President’s Office yesterday told local media it might reconsider participation in talks following demonstrations held Thursday (August 9) in Hulhumale’.

President’s Office spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza was quoted by the Sun Online news service as saying that the government’s decision to participate in fresh talks had “to be reconsidered”, alleging the MDP had been directly involved in the protests that reportedly saw offensive language used against the vice president.

Both Abbas and President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad were not responding at time of press.

Thursday’s demonstrations were directly targeted at a visit by Vice President Deen, who was in Hulhumale’ to attend the opening ceremony of the State Trading Organisation (STO)’s new futsal field.

Police spokesman Hassan Haneef told Minivan News today that eight people had been arrested in relation to the incident, with seven having been released at the time of press. Haneef said that the suspect’s had been arrested over charges including blocking the vice-president’s car, and “disobeying and disturbing” police as they performed their legal duties.

However, MDP MP Ghafoor claimed that the party had not been involved in organising demonstrations against the vice president, contending that the reaction of Abbas in local media had been a “knee-jerk response to a minor incident”.

“I have read comments about this in the media, but we have not heard anything official from the government on [stopping talks],” he said. “It appears that a sporadic incident has been used as an excuse by some to criticise us because of a couple of angry activists. We have stopped our street demonstrations as we promised, but individuals will still get upset in the current political environment.”

Ghafoor added that he believed it was unlikely that the actions of independent demonstrators would set back wider-efforts to attempt to find a resolution the present impasse between the MDP and government-aligned parties.

“This is not a culture we have had before 2008, but people are now free to come out and speak their mind about concerns they have,” he said. “This just appears to be people being over-sensitive regarding minor incidents.”

Demonstration concerns

The unity government’s insistence on an end to the MDP’s continued demonstrations before discussions could resume had been outlined in the agenda of the all-party roadmap talks. Of a six point agenda agreed upon by participants, public order and stability were one of the first points to be addressed.

However, during the most recent round of all-party talks in June, the list of demands presented to the MDP by government-aligned groups were claimed to be lacking in seriousness. The 30-point list presented to the opposition party included demands to desist from using “black magic” and “erotic tools” as well as walking in groups of more than ten.

Since that time, the MDP has continued regular demonstrations, particularly in the capital Male’, where consecutive nights of protests in July resulted in violent clashes between protesters, security forces and journalists.

The immediate aim of inter-party discussions, however, would be to agree upon an arrangement which might allow the reopening of the People’s Majlis, which was suspended last month after angry confrontations between opposing MPs and the Speaker of the House.

The Speaker Abdulla Shahid invoked his authority to suspend sessions indefinitely if he felt dialogue between party leaders was necessary to restore calm to proceedings. Government-aligned parties have been critical of the role they allege MDP MPs played in stymieing the work of the People’s Majlis.

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Police cannot order MDP to vacate Usfasgandu, Civil Court rules

The Maldives Police Service does not have legal authority to order the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to vacate its ‘Usfasgandu’ protest camp on May 29, the Civil Court ruled today.

On May 29, police raided Usfasgandu with a search warrant from the Criminal Court and ordered the MDP to vacate the area before 10pm, after which the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) began dismantling the protest camp.

The Civil Court however issued an injunction ordering the security forces to halt the dismantling after the MDP challenged the legality of the operation. The injunction was to stand until the court reached a verdict and was later upheld by the High Court.

Police had obtained a warrant to search Usfasgandu on the grounds that the MDP was using the area as a hub for criminal activity and black magic.

Police alleged that people in the Usfasgandu area verbally abused police officers and damaged a police vehicle on April 20, obstructed a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercise on May 9, and that, on May 25 “MDP protesters threw a cursed rooster at MNDF officers.”

MDP lawyers however argued at court that the warrant did not provide a legal basis to dismantle the demonstration area.

Following the dismantling of the MDP’s protest camp at the tsunami memorial area on March 19, the Male’ City Council (MCC) leased the Usfasgandu area to the former ruling party for three months, prompting repeated attempts by the government to reclaim the area.

The MCC – which has nine MDP councillors and two government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) councillors – however refused to hand over the area to the Housing Ministry despite a cabinet decision authorising the Housing Ministry to reclaim the plot.

In its verdict today, the Civil Court noted that legal dispute between the MCC and Housing over guardianship of the Usfasgandu area could only be settled once the Civil Court reached a verdict on a separate case filed by the ministry requesting the MCC be ordered to hand over the plot.

As the MDP had a legally binding agreement with the MCC for use of the area, Judge Hathif Hilmy ruled that police could not infringe on the rights of the MDP as it was not party to the dispute between the MCC and the Housing Ministry.

Police therefore could not enforce the position of one party in a civil dispute without a court order as such an action would violate the constitutional rights of administrative fairness and equality (articles 17 and 20) of the other party.

Moreover, police could not infringe on the MDP’s right to use the leased land during its investigation of alleged criminal activity, Judge Hathif Hilmy ruled.

The Civil Court ruling today invalidated the police letter on May 29 ordering the MDP to vacate Usfasgandu or face confiscation of property.

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“Why doesn’t Rasheed petition FIFA to sack me?”: Dr Shaheed rubbishes Riyaz’s calls for his resignation

Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and MP for Vilifushi constituency Riyaz Rasheed yesterday submitted a resolution to the People’s Majlis calling on former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed to resign from his post as UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights to Iran.

Sun Online reported that the resolution was linked to the recently published 2010 audit report of the Foreign Office, dating from the time Dr Shaheed headed the department during the Presidency of Mohamed Nasheed.

The media outlet reported that Rasheed’s resolution called for action to be taken against Shaheed for his part in what the MP believes to have been corrupt practices.

“We call for the investigation of these accusations of corruption, and also to take action against Dr Shaheed,” the resolution is said to have read.

Shaheed responded to the corruption allegations shortly after the report’s release, calling them “politically motivated, misleading, ill-informed, and anachronistic”.

He noted that the report highlighted “systemic deficits” but said he felt they were in no way indicative of a lack of integrity of civil servants in the office.

Rasheed was today unwilling to speak with Minivan News, so it remains unclear what action he proposes the Majlis take against Shaheed who works in an independent capacity, without salary, on behalf of the United Nations.

Comments on Shaheed’s Twitter page yesterday suggested that he failed to see how Rasheed’s wishes were pertinent to the Majlis’s remit.

“Why doesn’t [Riyaz Rasheed] petition FIFA to sack me?” he asked in one post.

“If someone told him that a resolution in the parliament is not going to strip of him his FIFA referee accreditation, he might understand,” said Dr Shaheed, when speaking with Minivan News today.

Shaheed also suggested that the move by Rasheed was an angry response to the recent disclosure of details concerning money owed by the government to forensic accounting firm Grant Thornton.

The firm recently invoiced the government for over Rf107million (US$7 million) as a cancellation fee, after the current government requested the firm halt its investigation into illegal oil trading involving prominent politicians.

Special Rapporteurs are appointed after being recommended to, and ratified by the Human Rights Council (HRC) – a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly.

The HRC’s handbook on its special procedures states that “individual mandate-holders are selected on the basis of their expertise, experience, independence, impartiality, integrity and objectivity.”

Rasheed’s resolution says that Shaheed owed his position to an opportunity provided to him by the Maldivian state which may allude to his nomination having come from the Foreign Ministry. This is allowed for in the HRC’s procedures.

The position, however, is by its very nature not affiliated with the government, as the HRC handbook makes clear.

“The requisite independence and impartiality are not compatible with the appointment of individuals currently holding decision-making positions within the executive or legislative branches of their Governments or in any other organization or entity which may give rise to a conflict of interest with the responsibilities inherent to the mandate,” reads the document.

Shaheed yesterday was keen to make clear via Twitter that he served as special rapporteur in an individual capacity: “I am NOT in a post allotted to Maldives!” he tweeted.

Riyaz, who is the DQP’s sole parliamentary representative in the national unity government, also claimed that he felt Shaheed’s continuance in the position would damage the reputation of the Maldives.

Riyaz made headlines earlier in the year after calling for the Maldives to withdraw from the Commonwealth following the organisation’s criticism of the government’s attempt at political reconciliation.

This proposal came after Rasheed had criticised the current head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, labelling her “physically challenged” on national television.

Riyaz also criticised the democratic credentials of Britain owing to the Queen’s position as head of state despite the fact that she is a constitutional monarch whose powers are largely ceremonial.

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