Category: News in Brief

The Maldives and the Arab Spring: Institute of Development Studies

A number of recent editorials have referred to the recent coup in the Maldives as the undoing of the country’s own ‘Arab Spring,’ which began with the landmark 2008 elections that brought to an end 30 years of autocratic rule, write Gabriele Koehler and Aniruddha Bonnerjee for the Institute of Development Studies.

Indeed, while the status of democratic process in the Maldives more closely resembles other South Asian nations than nations involved in the Arab uprising, economic and social strains in the Maldives are akin to those that preceded the Arab Spring.

Economically and socially, there are three Maldives:

‘Maldives I’ is that of the sparkling tourist resorts isolated from the rest of the country on coral islands. Tourism is the Maldives’ largest industry and resort leasers represent a substantial and powerful economic interest group. The other Maldives are local economies.

‘Maldives II’ is made up of 1,192 islands dispersed across 90,000 square kilometres, where 205,000 Maldivians make a living from coastal fishing and related occupations.

‘Maldives III’ is the capital island of Malé, home to 103 thousand and one of the most densely populated places in the world.

Under the autocratic Gayoom regime, the Maldives made substantial progress on education and health criteria, despite the high costs of delivering services to widely-scattered islands. By 2000, the country had achieved universal primary and lower-secondary education and had almost eliminated communicable diseases.

In 2008, the central challenge for the newly-democratic government under President Nasheed was to maintain good performance on social services despite a high fiscal budget debt. At the same time, the global financial crisis affected the tourism sector as well as domestic prices of food and energy.

In response, Nasheed’s government focused on expanding inter-island transport, universalising health insurance, protecting the social sectors (health, education, child and family welfare) while trimming the public sector bill. It sought investment through a programme of public-private partnerships.

The financial strategy revolved around monetising the deficit, seeking grants and loans from donors, and rescheduling medium and long term debt obligations. Combined with rising food and fuel prices, this strategy fuelled inflation. Political opposition and low capacity restricted other reforms.

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Islamic Ministry bans construction work during Friday prayer time

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs have Ministry has ordered that construction not be carried out during Friday prayer time.

“We will do everything necessary to end such practices,” newly-appointed Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed was reported as saying in local media. “Working during Friday prayer time is not accepted in the Maldives. Even work carried out by non-muslims must be stopped for Friday prayers.”

The Ministry said in a statement: “We would like to remind our brothers and sisters that continuing to work during Friday prayer time is against the Quran and Sunnah.”

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MDP calls for peaceful demonstrations, police restraint, after talks delayed

The Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has issued a statement calling for “all stakeholders in the Maldives to act responsibly and to conduct themselves peacefully during protests planned to coincide with the opening of the first session of the People’s Majlis” on Wednesday morning.

“MDP recalls that freedom of assembly is a Constitutional right in the Maldives and must be fully respected by the authorities. The right also entails responsibilities for all parts of society – both the protester who must conduct him/herself peacefully and within the law, and the police and security services who must show maximum restraint towards peaceful protesters, ensure the safety and well-being of all, and avoid violence,” the party said in a statement.

It was, the party said, “vital for the restoration of calm, for the future of democracy in the country and for the international reputation of the Maldives, for the police to avoid any repetition of the events of 8th February in the capital.”

The party has called for protests after roadmap talks failed to produce an election date ahead of parliament’s opening on March 1.

Roadmap mediator Ahmed Mujthaba told Haveeru the talks had been delayed due to the “sensitivity” of the issues.

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India extends financial support to the Maldives

India has provided a standby loan of US$20 million to the Maldives as the country descends into political turmoil, reports the Economic Times.

Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, D M Mulay, told the paper that the Indian government had expedited the delivery of the loan, which had been given to the Maldives government several days ago.

US$50 million in Maldives’ treasury bonds held by the State Bank of India “has also been rolled over for another year”, Mulay told reporters.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s Political Advisor, Dr Hassan Saeed, in a recent leaked audio clip, expressed concern about the involvement of “a lot of foreign partners” and “huge bilateral pressures”, in particular a US$50 million owed by the Maldives to an unspecified lender: “Fifty million dollars has to be raised before the end of this month or there will be a sovereign default,” he said, in the recording earlier this week.

The same paper recently reported that SBI had issued a moratorium on loans in the Maldives until June.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai visited the Maldives on Monday to push ahead peace talks between parties in the Maldives.

Mathai was a key proponent of  a ‘roadmap’ document proposing early presidential elections, with necessary amendments to the constitution and  laws to be completed within a month’s time.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been pushing for an early election date, maintaining that Dr Waheed’s government is illegitimate, while the new government has insisted that “conditions have to be right”.

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“This was a coup, yet it has been accepted as a legitimate transfer of power”: Huffington Post

Mention the Maldives, and an image of an idyllic holiday paradise, clear blue water, pristine beaches and luxury resorts comes to mind, writes Jared Genser, a human rights lawyer and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Centre, for the Huffington Post.

The Indian Ocean archipelago with a population of little more than 300,000 rarely features on the world’s political agenda. On February 7, however, the tiny nation was gripped by political turmoil as its nascent democracy was strangled in its infancy. Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives’ first democratically-elected president, was forced to resign at gunpoint by a cabal of rebel police, Islamists, and his own deputy, with the former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom pulling the strings.

This was a coup, yet it has been accepted as a legitimate transfer of power. Reactions from around the world have been astonishing in their weakness. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visiting Male’ merely said “some people say it was a coup, some people say it was a peaceful and constitutional transfer of power. That is not for the U.S. to decide, that is for the Maldivians.” Yet, even the new president’s own brother Naushad Waheed Hassan resigned from his position as Acting High Commissioner of the Maldives in the United Kingdom stating, “I cannot serve a regime that brought down the democratically-elected government in a coup d’etat” saying to his brother, “[D]o the right thing — resign and hold fresh elections. Let the people of Maldives decide.”

As president, Nasheed set about cleaning up the country’s corrupt institutions, instituting democracy and fighting climate change. Greeted as a hero by environmentalists for his efforts to secure an agreement on climate change at the Copenhagen summit, he warned that the Maldives would cease to exist due to rising water levels if the issue was not tackled. He became a role model for democratic transition in the Muslim world, and was a precursor to the Arab Spring.

It was his determined effort to take on vested interests in the Maldives, however, that led to his downfall. The judiciary is stacked with Gayoom’s appointees, who have done everything they could to obstruct reform and protect corrupt members of the old regime. A month ago, he ordered the arrest of Abdullah Mohamed, chief judge of the criminal court, on charges of corruption and political bias. The judge had a track record failing to follow the law, and now it was their turn to protect him. Demonstrations began, stirred up by Islamists who see Nasheed as too liberal.

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President Waheed meets Norwegian, Canadian diplomats

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan today met with Norwegian Ambassador accredited to the Maldives, Hilde Haraldstad.

According to the President’s Office, “At the meeting, the President spoke on the challenges faced by the government, and the measures taken to overcome those challenges. He also detailed on the progress being done on the roadmap through the ongoing multi-party.

“President Waheed assured Ambassador Haraldstad that his government was committed to continue important policies and projects initiated by the former administration. Particularly, the President highlighted the government’s plans in carrying out the carbon neutral policy.”

Yesterday Dr Waheed met Canadian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Bruce Levy.

“Discussions at the meeting were focused on strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries and the current political climate of the Maldives,” according to the President’s Office.

“Briefing the High Commissioner on the political situation, President Waheed said he was willing to hold early election, but that it could only be done within the Constitutional provisions.”

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Former President sole candidate in MDP primary

Former President Mohamed Nasheed is the only candidate running in the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary, following the close of submissions yesterday.

The primary, to determine the MDP’s presidential candidate, will still take place according to the party’s rules and regulations, MDP spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy told Haveeru.

MDP has sought to hold the primary to determine its candidate ahead of the early elections it is demanding from President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s government, which it maintains is illegitimate after Nasheed was ousted is a bloodless coup on February 7.

Nasheed will still require 10 percent of the total ballots in the MDP primaries to be declared the party’s presidential candidate.

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EC Secretary General resigns

Secretary General of the Elections Commission, Ahmed Shareef, has resigned reports newspaper Haveeru.

President of the Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq confirmed Shareef’s resignation, the paper said.

Fuad told the paper that Shareef had not mentioned the reason for his resignation in his resignation letter.

Shareef originally joined the EC after leaving his role in the People’s Alliance (PA), the party headed by Gayoom’s half-brother, MP Abdulla Yameen.

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Supreme Court upholds charges, removes MP Ismail Abdul Hameed from parliament

The Supreme Court has upheld criminal charges against Kaashidhoo MP Ismail Abdul Hameed, reports Haveeru.

The Criminal Court had last year sentenced the Independent MP to one and a half years banishment for corruption. The charges were upheld by the High Court in November.

The charges concerned Hameed’s use of his position as then Director of Male Municipality to buy a barge for the waste management unit, claiming that it had been received when it had not, and paying the remaining 50 percent of the bill to the company concerned.

MPs sentenced to more than one year’s prison or banishment are disqualified from their seats.

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