Category: News in Brief

President Waheed departs to Egypt for OIC summit

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has departed on an official visit to Egypt for participation in the 12th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the President’s Office website has said today.

The summit, which started last Saturday ( February 2), will continue until February 7 and is expected to see leaders or senior representatives for 57 OIC members states gather to discuss greater political and economic cooperation, according to the StarAfrica news service.

Back in August 2012, President Waheed attended the fourth extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Conference in Saudi Arabia following an invitation from King Abdulla Bin Abdul Azeez.

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UK urges “free, fair and inclusive elections later this year”

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister for South Asia, Alistair Burt, has called on all parties in the Maldives “to work together to strengthen the country’s institutions and economy.”

Burt’s comments follow the Minister’s recent visit to the Maldives, during which he met with President Mohamed Waheed, Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla, and politicial leaders including former President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Many changes have taken place in Maldives since my last visit in 2011 and the UK has been following developments with great interest and concern,” Burt said.

“It is now time for all parties in Maldives to focus on the future, rather than the past, and to work together to strengthen the country’s institutions and economy.

The UK remained keen to support Maldives in its democratic transition, Burt said.

“It is important that the historic gains made in the last few years are consolidated to ensure a truly democratic future. To this end, in my meeting with President Waheed on Saturday, I emphasised the importance of moving swiftly towards free, fair and inclusive elections later this year. I also stressed the importance of all parties being able to participate with the candidate of their choice. I was encouraged to learn that the date for these elections has now been confirmed for 7 September 2013,” he added.

Burt also urged the government and other parties to work towards institutional reform “and to fully investigate all allegations of police brutality, as recommended in the CoNI report.”

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Abbas Adil Riza appointed spokesperson for President’s party

Former President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza has been appointed as spokespersons for the Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP), headed by current President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik.

Sun Online reported that Abbas had joined the party last month.

Abbas courted controversy in his previous position after he made disparaging comments Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay during at a pro-government rally against Indian infrastructure giant GMR, describing him as a “traitor and enemy of the Maldives and the Maldivian people”.

The government later distanced itself Abbas’s comments, and he was made State Minister of Finance.

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Adhaalath Party vows to reach 10,000 members by end of February

Adhaalath Party has said it will reach more than 10,000 members by the end of February.

Sun Online reported Adhaalath Party Spokesperson Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed – also Minister of Islamic Affairs – as saying that although the political party bill was vetoed by the President, the parliament will pass it again.

According to Sun, Shaheem said that there are 900 forms at the Elections Commission to be approved.

Shaheem also said that the party was urging everyone waiting to join Adhaalath later, to join now.

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Local media links proposed foreign expert for CoNI review to MDP-commissioned report

A foreign legal expert sought by parliament’s Government Accountability Committee to help review the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) was also behind a report concluding former President Mohamed Nasheed had resigned under duress, local media has reported.

According to local media, a legal team including Associate Professor of Public International Law and Director of Centre for International Justice at University of Copenhagen Anders Henriksen was selected to help oversee the parliamentary review.

The Sun Online news agency today reported that Henriksen, who had been chosen to oversee parliaments CoNI review – delayed late last month over a reported lack of funds – had previously been commissioned by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to produce a legal report on February’s controversial transfer of power.

The report was published in July 2012.

“To the extent that a ‘coup d’etat’ can be defined as the ‘illegitimate overthrow of a government’, we must therefore also consider the events as a coup d’etat,” read the analysis co-produced by Henriksen, entitled ‘Arrested Democracy’.

The legal team were one of two parties that applied to oversee the review, according to local media.

Sun Online cited sources within the commission as claiming that Henriksen had been chosen after being identified as the most capable party to conduct the review.

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MDP election victory New Delhi’s only hope: Eurasia Review

New Delhi’s policies on the Maldives continue to display elements of infantilism, writes Dr Bibhu Prasad Routray for the Eurasia Review.

“A series of blunders since the past one year pose the real danger of alienating Maldives for good.

Waheed’s ready acceptance by New Delhi vide a swift recognition extended by the Prime Minister’s Office had much to do with the ‘pro-India’ certificate he received from then Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar Mulay.

Mulay wrote to the MEA that Waheed’s pro-India stand “is not in question” since he “has not missed a single function in the India House”. Ironically, the same Mulay, within months, came under attack from the Maldives government for his advocacy role supporting GMR.

If Mulay’s assessment of the nature of the Waheed regime was all wrong, Delhi has not fared any better since his departure. All its actions ever since it refused to protect the interests of a private company, GMR, (although the MEA in its country brief on Maldives continues to flag GMR’s taking over of the Male Airport in 2010), resemble a crying baby syndrome, not that of a nation that wants to deepen its engagements with its neighbourhood.

New Delhi’s reactions in the past couple of months have included: freezing major aid promised to the country in the recent past, toughening visa regulations allowing only limited number of visas to the Maldivians seeking medical treatment in India, refusing the Maldives Foreign Minister to set up a meeting with the Indian Foreign Minister, and doing away with the special privileges accorded to the Maldivian vessels visiting Indian ports.

In the second week of January, the Indian High Commission went a step further to issue an 11-point list of grievances to the Maldives media. The HC accused the Maldives government of withholding the passports and restricting the travel of Indian nationals, refusing to renew visas in a timely fashion, exploiting Indian workers, and failing to investigate threat calls to Indian diplomats. In response, Maldives has tried playing the China card.

Active engagement and not argumentative detachment needs to be India’s policy in Maldives. Former President Nasheed, who has consistently remained pro-India in spite of New Delhi’s indifference, has called for a caretaker government to oversee the Presidential polls due in the next three to six months. An election under the present regime, he justifiably fears, could be unfair and to his disadvantage. New Delhi must ensure that the polls are fair and not rigged.

Electoral victory for the pro-India Maldivian Democratic Party remains New Delhi’s only hope. Any other scenario would further push New Delhi’s already sinking influence in that county to the point of oblivion. And the Chinese would not miss the chance.

Full story

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Judges sought for magistrates courts in 49 islands

Judges are being sought to oversee magistrates courts in 49 islands, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has announced.

The JSC has said it is searching for chief magistrates for 41 courts and magistrates for 8 courts. The deadline for submitting an application is February 14, 2013.

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Inflation rate increases 10.88 percent during 2012

Statistics from the Department of National Planning have indicated that inflation in the Maldives rose by 10.88 percent during 2012, according to local media reports.

Department director General Mariyam Niyaf explained the increase was the result of prices in commodities changing.

Local newspaper Haveeru has reported that the statistics indicated the cost of fish has increased by 50.77 percent nationwide, while food and beverage catering had risen by 10.85 percent over the twelve month period.

“All assessments show that the prices are rising. We believe that the main reason for it could be the rise in price of vegetables to 8.8 percent. Fish prices are also up 2.8 percent, Haveeru quoted Niyaf as saying.

Meanwhile, statistics indicate the inflation rate for furniture, household items, air transportation, as well as tools and equipment have slightly decreased.

In August 2012, an increased inflation rate was attributed to changes in the dollar, currently pegged to the rufiyaa within a 20 percent range of MVR 12.85.

In real terms, the rate has remained fixed at the maximum limit of MVR 15.42 and remains non-exchangeable, forcing importers to rely on inconsistent black market dollar exchanges of up to MVR 17-18.

In April 2011, then-Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz explained that the government decided to change the fixed exchange rate to a “managed float” to shape government policy towards increasing the value of the rufiyaa and ultimately bring the exchange rate down to MVR 10 – an oft-repeated pledge of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The worsening balance of payments deficit could not be plugged without allowing the market to set the exchange rate, Inaz said at the time, adding that through lowering the fiscal deficit and spurring private sector job growth, “a path would open up for us to reach the lower band (MVR 10.28).”

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“Some” cases from Hondaidhoo alcohol arrests sent to Prosecutor General

Police this week have completed an investigation into “some” of the 10 people arrested in November 2012 for alleged possession and consumption of alcohol on Hondaidhoo Island in Haa Dhaal Atoll, according to local media.

Upon completion of the investigation Tuesday (January 29), the cases were forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office, newspaper Haveeru has reported.

The identities of the accused and the nature of the cases sent to the PG have not been disclosed.  However two Parliament members – Kaashidhoo constituency MP Abdulla Jabir as well as Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) spokesperson and Henveiru South constituency MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor – were among those arrested in November 2012.

In addition to Jabir and Hamid, former opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President Ibrahim Hussain Zaki and former Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair, his wife Mariyam Faiz, Zaki’s son Hamdhan Zaki, Seenu Hulhudhoo Reefside Jadhulla Jameel, two Sri Lankans and a Bangladeshi were among the ten people arrested from Hondaidhoo.

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