Category: News in Brief

Singaporean company sues three government ministries over lagoon lease

A Singaporean company called Prime Capital has sued three government ministries for alleged breach of an agreement signed with the company by Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb and Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad to lease the Fushidhiggaru lagoon in Kaafu atoll.

According to newspaper Haveeru, the lawsuit filed at the Civil Court on September 19 states that the ministers signed an agreement to lease the lagoon to be developed as a special tourist zone by a joint venture company (JVC) with a 25 percent stake for the government. The lagoon was to be leased for a 50-year period with the government to receive 30 percent of profits from the venture.

However, the Economic Development Ministry refused to approve registration for the joint venture company citing lack of authorisation from the president as required by law. The company is suing the Tourism Ministry, Finance Ministry and Economic Development Ministry and asking for a court order to compel the latter ministry to register the JVC.

The lawsuit also stated that the company was facing financial losses due to the government’s failure to hand over the lagoon in accordance with the agreement signed in January 18. A hearing of the Civil Court case has not been held yet.

The company also submitted a letter signed by Tourism Ministry Deputy Director Hassan Zameel sent to the Economic Development Ministry asking for approval of the registration.

Both Adheeb and Jihad had previously denied signing an agreement to lease the Fushidhiggaru lagoon.

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Russia, the Maldives, and short-term thinking: Cyprus Mail

“Short term beats long term most of the time, even when people understand where their long-term self-interest really lies. Take, for example, that well-known pair, Russia and the Maldives,” writes Gwynne Dyer for the Cyprus Mail.

“Knowing how hard climate change will hit Russia, why did Moscow let Gazprom start drilling in the Arctic seabed at all? Because Russia’s relative prosperity in the past decade has depended heavily on exports of oil and gas. Because President Vladimir Putin’s rule depends on the continuation of that fragile prosperity. And because Russia’s onshore reserves of oil and gas are in decline.

Russian scientists are well aware that the frozen seabed of the Arctic Ocean is already thawing and releasing huge plumes of methane gas that will accelerate warming further. President Putin is concerned enough about climate change to spend serious diplomatic capital on getting geo-engineering into the IPCC report. But warming is a long-term (or at least a medium-term) problem, and his political survival is short-term.

Short-term comes first, so drill away, and if people protest against it, charge them with piracy. And if you think this is as stupid as politics can get, consider the Maldives.

The Maldives are several hundred tiny islands in the Indian Ocean where most of the land is only about a metre (three or four feet) above sea level. As the sea level rises, most of the country will simply disappear beneath the waves.

You would think that the prospect of national extinction in two generations would concentrate anybody’s mind, and in the Maldives it did – for a while. In 2008 the long-ruling dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was ousted in the islands’ first free election by Mohamed Nasheed, a young politician who put great emphasis on fighting climate change.

Nasheed knew that his own country’s actions could have little direct effect on the outcome: China emits about 2,000 times as much carbon dioxide as the Maldives. But he also knew that the extreme vulnerability of the Maldives gives its decisions a high publicity value, so he pledged to make it the world’s first carbon-neutral country. He even held a cabinet meeting underwater, with all the ministers in scuba gear, to dramatise the country’s plight.

Then, early last year, Nasheed was overthrown in a coup by senior police officers closely linked to the old regime. International pressure forced fresh elections early last month and Nasheed came in well ahead of the other two candidates.

Various interventions by police and judges linked to the former dictator have complicated the issue, and the election will now be re-run early next month. Nasheed will doubtless recover the presidency in the end, but here’s the thing. In the whole election campaign, he didn’t mention climate change once. Neither did the other candidates.

This is a country full of people whose grandchildren are going to have to live somewhere else because the whole place is going underwater, and they STILL don’t want to hear about climate change. You can’t just blame the politicians for the neglect. It’s just too uncomfortable for people to stay focussed on the issue for long.”

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Parliament sitting scheduled for Saturday

A sitting of the People’s Majlis has been scheduled for Saturday following a request by President Dr Mohamed Waheed for parliament to find a solution to legal issues that will arise if a president is not elected by the end of the current presidential term on November 11.

“In a letter to the Speaker of the People’s Majlis, President Dr Mohamed Waheed has requested the People’s Majlis to take initiative in finding a solution to any legal issues that will arise if a new president is not elected by the end of the current term. In his letter the President noted if the presidential election is to be held on the dates set by the Elections Commission, there was a possibility of such a situation,” reads a statement on the President’s Office website.

Parliament’s Secretary General told newspaper Haveeru today that the only item on the agenda for Saturday’s sitting would be the President’s letter.

Meanwhile, MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor submitted a bill on Wednesday (October 23), which if passed would allow the Speaker of Parliament to assume the office of the presidency in the absence of a president-elect on November 11.

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President Waheed takes week-long holiday

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has taken a one-week holiday, Cabinet Secretary Dr Abdulla Nazeer told parliament’s Government Oversight Committee today.

Nazeer was summoned to the parliamentary committee over delays in the swearing-in of parliament’s newly-elected representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Hamza.

Nazeer told MPs that the ceremony could only take place once Dr Waheed returns on October 31.

Following the cabinet secretary’s remarks, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali tweeted,

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MDP’s Hamed Abdul Ghafoor fails to attend court appearance, cites parliamentary privilege

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamed Abdul Ghafoor reportedly failed to attend a court hearing today where he faces charges of refusing to provide a urine sample following suspicions of alcohol consumption.

Sun Online reported that Ghafoor’s legal representatives told the court he was unable to attend the 2pm hearing due to his presence in the People’s Majlis – therefore excusing his absence under parliamentary privilege.

During his last court appearance, Ghafoor denied he had been asked to provide a urine sample following his arrest on the island of Hondaidhoo last November, asking for the case to be thrown out.

Ghafoor allegedly failed to provide the urine sample after being arrested on the uninhabited island along with a group of MDP politicians and other senior political figures.  A number of those arrested with Ghafoor were charged with alcohol and drug possession.

In a case related to the same incident, the Prosecutor General’s Office had previously told the Criminal Court that it had 11 witnesses prepared to testify against Ghafoor, proving that he was in possession – and under the influence – of alcohol when arrested.

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Poll-Ball Should Go Back To Court For One Last Time: Eurasia Review

“The judges of the Maldivian Supreme Court may not have divined that their ‘Majority verdict’ in the ‘Presidential poll case’ could contribute to avoidable delays, which definitely was not their intention,” writes N Sathiya Moorthy for the Eurasia Review.

“Yet, the court’s 16-point guidelines for re-polls, issued while annulling the 7 September first-round, as scheduled and conducted by the Election Commission (EC), may have caused avoidable interpretations, hence delays, too.

‘Bogus voters’ and ‘fraudulent votes’ were among the major issues on which the court had adjudicated. However, the prescribed cure has proved to be as problematic as the perceived ailment. The court’s guideline for the contesting candidates to attest a fresh voters’ list prepared by the EC, based on other guidelines contained in the Majority judgment, has led to an ‘unfinished task’ of a kind.

Two of the three candidates in the fray, namely, Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party (JP), declined to sign the voters’ list, saying that they needed more time than the 24 hours available to them, for verification.

The third candidate, Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the front-runner in the annulled first-round with a high 45.45 percent vote-share, readily signed the list, just a day ahead of the first-round re-poll, scheduled for 29 October as per the Majority verdict.”

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Why it is important for Male that it sticks to the new poll deadline: Economic Times

“The Maldives, under immense international pressure led by India, has decided to hold a fresh round of presidential elections in November. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” writes Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury for India’s Economic Times newspaper.

“The island nation has a history of state interventions to postpone poll, and one must wait to conclude that the Mohamed Waheed government believes in democracy.”

“A smooth transition of power next month is essential for regional stability — and Indian concerns are relevant. India had even sent five observers to oversee the elections last Saturday. But they returned empty-handed after the police intervened to stop polling.”

“India, with huge stakes in the Maldives, has so far handled the crisis well. Initially it tried to convince the parties to hold elections as scheduled, then Delhi reached out to global powers to put diplomatic pressure on Waheed. Besides UNSC members, India, in a clever strategy, moved countries that are close to the Maldives — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE and Malaysia.

Unlike some Western powers, Delhi was careful not to use intimidation or force to ensure polls in the name of democracy. Such interference would have boomeranged and strengthened the anti-India lobby in the Maldives. The idea is to have a democratic and stable Maldives where ballot, not bullet, is supreme,” concludes Chaudhury.

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Majlis accepts bill to amend disparities in divorce settlements

The people’s Majlis has accepted a bill seeking to amend the distribution of wealth following divorce, local media has reported.

The bill – introduces by Progressive Party of Maldives MP Ahmed Mahlouf – seeks to provide stricter guidelines to judges when deciding on divorce settlements.

Sun Online reported Mahlouf as saying that the bill would improve the terms for women by distributing wealth more evenly, in line with his party’s election manifesto’s promises to improve women’s rights.

On the subject of women’s rights, the manifesto proposes subsidized childcare system, allowing women to work from home through the internet, and connecting them to employers.

Gender quotas in the political arena and leadership skills courses for girls are also included, with the intention of equalising the workplace gender balance.

The bill was admitted after securing a narrow majority of MPs present at today’s session.

In 2012, 4660 people got married, while the same year nearly half that many people got divorced. Its estimated that every second marriage in the Maldives ends in divorce.

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Maldives Monetary Authority introduces new 100 rufiyaa note

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has introduced a new 100 rufiyaa bank note into circulation today (October 22).

The upgraded print on the new note contains four new distinctive features, according to the MMA.  The corner water mark now consists of digital lines and appears at each corner. An additional bright watermark highlighted with the value ‘100’ now appears on the note.

Additionally, a three millimeter wide security thread changes color from red to green according to the viewing angle.  When the note is held up to light, the security thread appears as a continuous line with a decorative pattern reading ‘100 MMA’.

The note also contains the signature of Governor Dr Fazeel Najeeb and the date 20 Safar 1434, 2 January 2013.

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