President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed State Minister Ahmed Naseem as Foreign Minister and Solicitor General Abdulla Muizz as Attorney General hours after parliament approved four out of five ministerial appointees.
Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam had been acting Foreign Minister after parliament rejected the reappointment of former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed in November.
The new Ministers were sworn in by High Court Judge Yousuf Hussein. After presenting letters of appointment, Nasheed expressed confidence that the newest additions to the cabinet would receive parliamentary consent.
Earlier in the day, parliament approved four out of five ministerial appointees, rejecting the reappointment of Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad for a second time.
Dr Sawad received 36 votes in favour and 37 against from the 73 MPs in attendance.
Home Minister Hassan Afeef and Transport Minister Adhil Saleem were narrowly approved in spite of the fractured main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) declaring that it would impose a three-line whip to reject the two nominees.
Afeef and Saleem were approved after a few independent MPs along with Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed and Republican Party MP Gasim Ibrahim sided with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – Saleem was approved with 39 votes in favour while Afeef received 37 votes from the 73 MPs present and voting.
Briefing press after yesterday’s DRP parliamentary group meeting, Majority Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali noted that Sawad had already been rejected once while Afeef “acted outside the law” during the transfer of powers to the newly elected local councils.
Thasmeen however announced that the party would give consent to Education Minister Shifa Mohamed and Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa.
Shifa was approved with 66 votes in favour and six against while Dr Zulfa received 71 votes in favour and none against.
“Secret meeting”
Addressing accusations from the opposing DRP faction that Thasmeen secretly met President Nasheed over the weekend at Raa Atoll, the DRP Leader asserted that he was ready to meet the President at any time.
“Even if [the President] calls and asks for a meeting at [Raa Atoll] Alimatha tonight, I will go because he is the President of the Maldives,” Thasmeen told reporters outside parliament yesterday, attributing the allegations of collusion with the ruling party to an internal campaign to discredit his leadership.
“In truth, they are talking about this because they don’t have any other way to responsibly carry out political activities,” he claimed.
However, asked if the alleged meeting took place, Thasmeen replied “thank you very much” and walked away.
In November 2010, parliament rejected seven ministers reappointed by President Nasheed after the entire cabinet resigned in protest of alleged obstruction and vote-buying in the legislature.
President Nasheed appointed then-Political Advisor Hassan Afeef as Home Minister in December, replacing Mohamed Shihab, who was appointed Advisor on Political Affairs.
Shifa Mohamed was meanwhile promoted from Deputy Minister of Education to Minister in place of Dr Musthafa Luthfy, recently appointed Chancellor of the Maldives National University.
Both Afeef and Shifa were appointed on December 11 while AG Sawad was reappointed two days later.
Transport Minister Adil Saleem and Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa took their oaths of office on November 7, 2010.
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For once the MPs are behaving responsibly in the parliament.
Number of votes received in here reflect directly opposite to the strength of the proposed ministers.
The bullish opposition is hell-bent on failing this government. Hence, the more vibrant, with highest caliber got the least. Since this is an issue that parliament has to attend the opposition choosed to inboard the weakest, so that this government will not deliver to its best.
THe question is to whom it effects in the end.
Seriously, Afeef is not qualified for the job. Suprised that he scraped through.
At least Mr. Naseem can maintain some personal presence and authority of Maldives in front of the world as compared to that tiny western puppet Dr. who went on embarrassing the maldives everywhere..
Ahmed Bin Addu Bin Suvadheeb,
Aren't u concerned about the lack of coordination which is the real problem our country is facing. For example, the Police, AG Office, Courts and the Penitentiary works together for the sake of the country, the country would no longer goes towards a BLOODBATH and that we all shall be happy.
Now my question to u is 'Can we get this problem solved by replacing Afeef by either u or your friend or one whom u and the majority supports? I think the problem we have here is merely because of a particular in a particular Ministry but LACK OF COORDINATION among the country's Enforcement Agencies as mentioned above.
I know u are a good guy but i think u sometimes wear a Party glasses n that u have such opinions. So my advise is do always wear a National glasses, especially while making such comments. Hope u wud not mind as my comment is intended to express my worldviews but not to insult u my dear
A government that cannot effectively control its territories, protect its citizens, enter or execute agreements with outsiders, or administer justice is a failing government (lets put aside the semantics of thin baaru vakivin etc.)
The responsibility lies with us, the people, because whatever we say about our MPs, executive, or judiciary. We did not demand anything more than a simple electoral democracy and this is what we have.
Democratic elections is simply a means to an end. We don't understand this concept.
We don't question the motives of our elected representatives.
Despite all the vitriol most of our MPs unite on one thing which is their exorbitant pay and benefits, while the people who elected them languish in poverty. Our anger over this behavior does not extend far enough to demand anything different.
Mr President, the ministers you have appointed are all family members and close friends. Why so in now in a so called democratic government? I guess you are then no different from the previous dictator government. He also had all his family and friends in the cabinet. The ministers should be MPs chosen by the people in a democratic government: that is how it should be in a true full democracy.