The opposition joint coalition and the government yesterday decided not to disclose any information to the media regarding the second round of peace talks, in an effort to calm tensions “and give the talks the best chance of succeeding”, according to one member.
A Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP said that during yesterday’s meeting all the parties had agreed not to reveal any details of the ongoing discussions.
“We will issue a joint statement. Now the administrative work of the statement is on going,” he said. A third meeting is scheduled for Saturday.
Chairperson of MDP and MP Mariya Didi, who is also representing the government in the peace talks, said it was “in the best interests of the country” to conduct the meetings behind closed doors.
Spokesperson for the MDP Ahmed Haleem said he would not wish to comment on the peace talks.
Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Ahmed Nihan, Deputy leader Umar Naseer and Peoples Alliance leader Abdulla Yamin did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.
Meanwhile, President Nasheed welcomed the ongoing all-party talks, which aim to break the present political deadlock in the country between the executive and legislature.
“I very much welcome the discussions and I am optimistic that the parties will reach a productive outcome,” the President said in a statement.“There are people in all parties who are rational, reasonable and respectable and who would like this country to succeed.”
“I believe it is time for the voices of reason and compromise to step forward and leave behind those who hanker for a return to the authoritarian past,” he added.
The relative ceasefire of angry rhetoric between the parties will likely lead to a focus on the judicial reform process, with crowds gathering today outside the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) demanding action be taken against corrupt judges.
Haleem said the crowd did not only consist of MDP supporters, “but normal people who belong to different political parties”.
“The judges are working against the spirit of the constitution,” he alleged. “They can’t say, ‘We are taking an oath and this is for 70 years’. If that is the case, the president can also take an oath for lifetime.”
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May Peace and blessings of almighty GOD be upon us all.
Peace is better than hatred.
"We hope that "elements of deception" would eventually give in for the sake of this nation. Otherwise it would be just as empty as it was."
May Allah unite our nation and guide us to the right direction.
President Nasheed welcomed the all party talks. Wish he had done this earlier. The country wouldn't be in this state today. Finally the Hitler has started to realise something.
The talks, as currently structured will not succeed. The only way for the talks to succeed is for those parties who have a real stake in the future of the country alone to be engaged in the talks. Yameen has no stake in the future of the country-- he is running scared of the past; DQP has not stake in the future-- they are prostituting themselves, struggling to remain relevant; JP has not stake in politics, Gasim is trying to loot the country. That leaves Thasmeen and Anni. Thasmeen must have the guts to stand up as a leader, before Dunya and Gayoom swallow him up with a primary; and Anni must have enough guts to go directly to the people, by-passing both the vain VP and the wily Speaker of the Majlis. There can only be out of the box solutions. Otherwise,we must surrender to the kleptocratic dictatorship of corrupt MPs. If the talks fail,and if Anni also fails, we would need Moosa Jaleel to show that he has as much guts today as he had the day the Tamil terrorists attacked the country in 1988, and steer the country away from corrupt judges and corrupt parliamentarians and corrupt Ministers. And if Jaleel does not act, the Mullahs will step in; and the only roadmap that would be there would be that leading to Kabul; and to prepare for that Gayoom, Zahir Hussain and Sheikh Rasheed have just left for Saudi Arabia to bring the Wahhabi money to take over the country.
Haleem said the crowd did not only consist of MDP supporters, “but normal people who belong to different political parties”. Haleem how misirable can you be. It was a blooody MDP approved gathering of MDP hardcore street activists. The only person lackign from teh gathering is President Nasheed.
both parties are buying time whilst these so-called "peace talks" continue. in the meantime DRP led opposition is trying to assure the judges that their impunity will only be secured by siding with them. Hence the sudden move to make all the judges permanent. Meanwhile the MDP is moving towards election mode with teams setting off to the atolls to prepare for the local elections and possible referendum.
When you look at the actions of the parties you know who believes in the will of the people and who rely on stratching eachothers backs to reach their objective.
The solution is simple:
1. all parties agree on a amended constitution - either a presidential system with wide powers like the US or a parliamentary system where the Prime Minister has wide powers like in the UK.
2. Anni resigns
3. New presidential and parliamentary elections are held.
We could have a functioning country by the 1st of September 2010.
It seems that Anni and MDP thugs are beginning to come to their senses.
"Peace Talks"- a bloody joke! While the country is in a constitutional crisis Anni's only demand is to rescue his ministers who jumped overboard for some strange and twisted reason. Such weird fools don't deserve to be rescued. Let the Parliament deal with it according to the existing constitution.
Now where does the transparency goes...? there are reasonnable elements in the opposition and also in Government Faction. But the problem is major opposition is only given a slot in Peace talks and MDP has taken 3 slots.. For the discussions to suceed, I call the negotiators to allow, Adhaalath Party and Gaumee Iththihad from government side, as they are elements of current government and holds significant posts in the administration.
Before the talks end, government should pave out ways of bringing a halt to the demonstration which degrades the judicial. Even though judiciary is not involved in talks, there should be a way to make judicial more independant by giving the chance to prosecutor general to go forward with the cases. Today government is with holding several cases at PG office, just for the sake of bargaining.
@hameed on Wed, 28th Jul 2010 10:19 PM
Says:"It seems that Anni and MDP thugs are beginning to come to their senses."
Well, I guess there's no better explanation or logic from a person who is definitely suffering from "Blue forever syndrome" 😉
Jangiyaa and Yaameen are just buying more time. What's going to happen to the court cases against Jangiyaa? Why has he not appeared before the courts?
Does anyone know why Maria Didi is representing the government?
@ hameed
I actually agree with you. And I hope you are right.
Why do I feel these talks will sooner or later be ruined by the spoilt brat-like behaviours of DRP VP lineup. These are not common sense people and in the end common sense people can't let these 4 fools to dictate the country's future and hence the talks are doomed to fail - sooner or later...
@Abdulla A. Raheem,
We are not try to form a Majlis sub-committee here, so there is no need to be haggling over who is to represent. It gives me satisfaction that the talks are in progress and and dialogue has been chosen over other methods of resolving national crisis. I support the decision not to hold the discussions in front of the public.
I welcome these talks and yes it is better to have it at closed doors. There is no better way to resolve disputes than dialogue.
However I call on MDP to stop their dirty games sending their activist on the street, provocations has proved nothing other than violence and distrupt the system.
Any mutual party agreement that keeps Nihan and Umar Naseer from talking to the media is entirely in humanity's best interests.
😀
interesting that some people does not think there is something wrong with people talking national affairs behind the doors.
I do not think that this country belongs to Anni, thasmeenu or any other politician. every citizen of this country have the right to know what they talk about. They can not hold secret meetings and set agendas behind closed doors. that is just wrong in so many ways.
we all know too well, how much money and corruption are involved in this and they do not have the well being of the citizen of this country in mind.
Bismuth - the hameed at whom you directed the blue forever syndrome comment a week ago is a friend of mine and not the hameed whose comment appears above. My friend hameed has "yellow to date syndrome" but is very disappointed in the sudden change in MDP's behavior.
A presidential system with wide powers like in America?
I guess we need to do a little bit of research on the powers of the congress of America as well. Even in the US constitution the framers placed the legislative branch first and this seems to be the case in Maldives as well. I am sure it wasn't just an accident from people like James madison. They knew what they were doing and the federalist papers are proof of this.
The principle powers of the Congress of US are, To levy taxes, To borrow money, To regulate commerce, To decide requirements for citizenship,To make monetary policy, To establish a postal system, To establish federal courts below the supreme court,To declare war,To raise an army and a navy,To call up the state militias,TO MAKE ALL LAWS THAT SHALL BE NECESSARY AND PROPER FOR EXECUTING THE OTHER POWERS OF CONGRESS.
With more than 35 standing committees that oversee almost all the functions of the other 2 powers. And it might be a surprise that from the 6000 - 8000 bills introduced in every 2 year session only 10 to 15% eventually get passed.And this includes policies supported by many presidents and this has really frustrated so many presidents.
Interestingly, Congress to approve the nominees by presidents had taken many months. For Bill Clinton it took 8 and a half months. The congress does this deliberately because they believe that prolonging the confirmation process strengthens congressional control over administrative matters.
But the beauty of their politics is how they compromise and move forward and survived for all these years with their same constitution.
So I feel that although our constitution is different from them we need a spirit like that. Compromise is the only way forward and amending the constitution this early and in this situation is not a good precedent.
There is no FURIHAMA RIYAASEE NIZAAM and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This is a continuous process and we need to learn gradually.
By the way I am not saying that the Maldivian parliament and their actions are perfect, but what I am trying to say is that parliaments are usually very powerful be it presidential or parliamentary system.
Nice to see the president finally in charge. Hope the parties will evolve into responsible entities too. While it is perfectly understandable that people find it hard to trust politicians at this point in time, we have to accept that leaders and representatives are chosen by the various parties so that they can be delegated the task of conducting our national affairs. Inter-party talks are discussions and negotiations between parties who have been at loggerheads over issues, and if every citizen were to be involved in every single discussion, nothing would most likely be achieved. Obviously the parties' representatives will not agree to anything that the majority of their membership would be against. Too often we have seen and heard the radical and immature elements on all sides; it is high time we let rationality prevail. Let corruption be tackled by the investigative authorities. What we as citizens can do is report any credible information we have on corrupt activities to the relevant authorities and enable them to conduct their investigations professionally.
@ Addu: Seems you are somewhat off the topic. But just to respond to some of your comments, many things make the Maldives' case different from the US. In the US more people know how to think for themselves. The US has two houses, which in themselves provide balances. Both houses have generally had a range of members who are more aware and less prone to overt or covert manipulation by individual elements, than our MPs and our citizenry. In the US religion is separate from the state. The Fed Reserve system is different. And so on and so forth. But I fully agree, absolute power can corrupt absolutely. Which is why we need a good balance. Where there is a spirit of honest compromise, and issues of importance for the nation get priority over personal gain.
Well said Deejay Majeed.
Anni is a failure.
Dear SS, fully agree with your comment. I wasn't referring to the article but just expressing my thought on a comment.
Even though what you have said is true US congressman are backed by interest groups and corporations, both financially and in support mobilization. In US if you don't have enough finance you can't even dream of being elected in any election.( And where does all that finance come from?)
So what I mean is every where they play the same politics according to their norms and standards and according to the maturity of their citizens.
In majority of the states they are proposing to impose term limits through the initiative process because of their mistrust on legislatures. However they don't believe that giving the president absolute power is the solution to overcome their frustration.
And thats exactly my point. I am quite curious to know whats in Annis mind when he boasts about the FURIHAMA RIYAASEE NIZAAM.
our president is the greatest joker on earth. maybe he should quit politics and join holly wood for comedy movies or get treatment for DEMENTIA.
Shahid, the president you are talking of is no longer in power.