News in Brief – Page 315 – Minivan News

Hassan Saeed assesses six months of Waheed’s presidency

“Any attempt to review Dr Waheed’s half year in the presidency should bear in mind the challenges he faced and the past behaviours of his predecessor that he avoided adopting himself. Only thereafter will we be able to fully assess any material advances his presidency brought,” writes President Waheed’s Special Advisor and leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), Dr Hassan Saeed for Haveeru.

“Dr Waheed was called in to office in a most unusual manner. The day after he took the oath of office, his predecessor claimed that he had resigned at gunpoint.

To anyone who was not aware of the character of the people involved, this chain of events might not sound like a normal governmental transition.

Perhaps understandably, some international organizations were soon demanding answers to why this change had happened with some people in them questioning the legitimacy of his rule. I’m sure everyone will recall attitudes in the international community shifted back and forth over those early weeks.

As a small country, the Maldives relations with its neighbours and with international institutions are vitally important. Clearly as a result of this a significant percentage of Dr. Waheed’s time was spent on addressing the concerns raised. This work has in recent months stabilized with the establishment of the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI).

CoNI was not just established to respond to international opinion, but also to demonstrate that the Government could be transparent to its own people. Having set this up in the most professional and impartial manner, one would have hoped that the natural reaction from all sides of the argument would have been to wait for its outcome.

However that was not to be the case. Nasheed and his supporters have been out on the streets creating havoc and committing crimes. Security forces have had to spend a lot of time attending to these activities at a time when the public has been demanding the government does more in addressing crime and punishing criminals in response to recent high profile cases of murder.”

Algerian businessman donates MVR3.1million to mosque fund

Islamic Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has today told Sun Online that an Algerian businessman has decided to donate MVR3.1 million ($US200,000) to the mosque fund after visiting Male’ as a tourist.

The Minister explained that this donation would cover the cost of 20 percent of the building currently under construction for the Waqf fund, with the Islamic Bank paying for the remaining 80 percent.

Sun reported that the fund, which was started to provide financial assistance to mosques, has thus far received MVR15 million (US$974,000) in donations. Nearly one third of this is said to have been spent on the renovation of mosques.

Shaheem also said that he believed the fund would receive more donations at the upcoming Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

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ADK says co-payment will be available from next week

ADK hospital has announced that it will take co-payment from next week after the government decided to charge a co-payment from the national health insurance scheme, Aasandha, from private hospitals and clinics.

The company had previously stated that such services would be available from August 1.

The hospital’s Managing Director, Ahmed Afaal, told Haveeru today that, whilst negotiations with the government regarding collection of the payment were ongoing, the price of services at the hospital would not change.

The Aasandha company has said that that agreements for co-payment has been reached with eight other clinics although it has yet to release a price list, reported Haveeru. Over 60 private healthcare providers have applied for Aasandha coverage.

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Immigration Department announces changes to service provision

Immigration services will now be offered solely online, Senior Immigration Officer Ahmed Nadeem has told Haveeru.

Services such as extending visas, renewing work permit cards, and paying deposit money will now have to be done online. He added, however, that people would still be able to visit the office for collection of passports and the payment of visa fees.

Nadeem told Haveeru that this change in policy would reduce waiting times and increase the speed of service provision.

He also stated his belief that the new system would greatly reduce instances of fraud in the immigration process.

It is estimated that the number of immigrants in the Maldives will equal the local population by 2018.

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High Court asked to annul President’s right to commute death sentence

A case has been submitted to the High Court requesting that it annul the legal article which allows the President of the Republic to commute death sentences to 25 years imprisonment, Haveeru has reported.

The case argued that this practice, which has resulted in de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 1953, violates Article 10(b)) of the constitution which states “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

Those submitting the case have argued that Sharia gives the right to pardon a convict lies solely with the victim’s heirs.

The case specifically mentioned the two people convicted of the murder of Ahmed Najeeb, a prominent lawyer, on July 1. This murder, the seventh in the country this year, has sparked a national debate on the application of the death penalty.

Ahmed Murrath and Fathimath Hana, aged 29 and 18, confessed to the murder and were sentenced to death after Najeeb’s heirs unanimously called for qisas (equal retaliation) rather than opting for blood money.

Today’s submission argues that the president’s power to commute these sentences violates the rights of the heirs and renders pointless the taking of their statements in order to determine sentencing.

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Suspect in 2007 Sultan Park bombing arrested after arriving from Pakistan

A man placed on Interpol’s wanted list following the Sultan Park bombing of 2007 was arrested on Sunday after arriving in the Maldives on a flight from Pakistan, local media has reported.

Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, 29, was one of 16 men against whom terrorism charges were laid. Ten of these men fled the country, whilst three were sentenced to an initial fifteen years before having their sentences commuted to three year suspended sentences.

The bomb blast at Sultan Park – a major tourist attraction in the capital located in front of the Islamic Centre – was triggered using a mobile phone and washing machine motor attached to a gas cylinder.

The attack injured 12 tourists, including eight from China, two from Britain and two from Japan.

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Government announces August public holidays in lead up to Eid

The government has declared Wednesday August 22 and Thursday August 23 as public holidays in order to extend the weekend leading up to the Eid holidays.

The President’s Office said that the extended weekend would come in place of public holidays assigned for September 1 and September 15 this year. These two dates will instead be working days for government offices.

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The forgotten coup in the Maldives: Conservativehome

It all came to an end on February 7 when Nasheed was forced to resign, effectively at gunpoint, writes political and digital strategist Samuel Coates for Conservativehome.

“Only one side had the luxury of making advance preparations for handling the aftermath, so inevitably the true nature of his resignation was lost in the fog of war. For the critical first 48hrs, history was written by the victor — almost everyone fell for the initial spin that Nasheed had taken it upon himself to resign due to public pressure and a police revolt.

That anyone had an inkling of what was really going on at that time was in large part down to Nasheed’s British international press adviser, Paul Roberts — who managed to blow the whistle about the coup to a few journalists whilst hiding in a President’s Office toilet cubicle, before fleeing the country. William Hague was the first major figure to condemn the situation and an article for ConHome by MPs John Glen and Karen Lumley was one of the first to tell it how it was. But overall international reaction was muted and mixed — the US and India recognised the new government immediately.

Since then, the world has kept turning and few seem to remember or care what happened in what is a strategically insignificant nation. Shortly afterwards, President Waheed had the pleasure of joining other Commonwealth leaders for dinner with the Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee. As they politely tucked into brie and avocado terrine, wild sea bass and apple crumble soufflé, one wonders if Her Majesty was aware that Waheed’s allies had been publicly trashing her days before.

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National Award Committee receives 108 nominations

A total of 108 nominations have been received by the committee overseeing this year’s National Awards.

The National Awards Committee said the selection procedure to finalise the nominees who will receive accolades had now begun after a two-month nomination period closed on July 31.

The committee, which decides on public figures to honour for their work in societal development in fields such as health, agriculture and the arts, was reformed on April 9, after the previous body completed their allotted three year term.

According to the President’s Office, the awards committee is designed to function independently from the government, which in turn will respect any decision made.

This year’s ceremony is expected to be held to coincide with the 2012 Republic Day celebrations.The national awards were last held in November 2011 and conferred by former President Mohamed Nasheed.

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