Tag: CNI

Comment: Conflicting interim reports highlight political spat

Two interim reports from the two sides, so to say, and the focus is slowly slipping away from the work on hand for the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) probing then-Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation of February 7. It is back more ore less in the realm of politics and public-spat.

Of the two reports, if they could be called so, one has the relative legitimacy of being produced by the outgoing CNI before it was expanded, and the other from President Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), at whose instance the CNI is being expanded in the first place. Who jumped the gun and why are questions for which neither side may have convincing answers.

It does not stop there. The police have since arrested a senior intelligence officer from the Nasheed era, for providing information for the MDP report. Chief Superintendent of Police Mohamed Hameed and Staff Sergeant Ahmed Naseer were arrested, based on court warrants, for talking to the MDP probe.

The Government side has also questioned the propriety of President Nasheed’s one-time Defence Minister and later National Security Advisor, AmeenFaizal, who co-authored the MDP report and sought to establish the party’s earlier claims of a ’military/police coup’ forcing President Nasheed’s resignation. At the same time, Assistant Police Commissioner Hassan Habeeb has reportedly complained a that a Quran teacher has stopped giving tuition classes for his daughter, citing his name figuring in the MDP report.

President Waheed Hassan has since sort of clarified that the expanded CNI with an MDP nominee and a retired Judge from Singapore as external member on the panel would review the work done by the probe team thus far, before proceeding with the task on hand.

Yet, it is anybody’s guess if and why the Government did not discourage the CNI from publishing the ’time-line’, when it was due for review. The CNI’s claim that the publication was to encourage the public to come up with their views within a given deadline does not wash. The people at large were not privy to the controversies attending on President Nasheed’s resignation, and they could not have been called to act as jury in the case, which could only be described as tendency towards ’mobocracy’ of sorts.

The MDP can be expected to raise the issue of the outgoing CNI publicising its incomplete work as prejudicing the views of the expanded CNI and also that of the public. There is some validity in the party’s position as none of the three members of the incumbent CNI are expected to opt out. Thus, they could still have defended their work even if the two new members were to contest the same. Incidentally, they would still hold numerical majority in the expanded CNI. The party, citing the CNI, has also demanded President Waheed’s resignation, but has been selective about its side of the story flowing from the CNI time-line. Having launched mob violence repeatedly on the streets of Male, the national capital, and other urban centres across the country, the party may have also lost the moral right to question the methods of others ? Not that such a tendency by anyone should be encouraged, now or later.

The publication of the CNI time-line should not absolve the MDP of the charge that they too might have shot themselves in the foot all over again. Having demanded steadfastly for expanding the CNI and having its nominee on board, along with one representing the international community so to say, the party should have waited for the probe report to be out before coming out with its clarifications, if any. Two wrongs do not a right make, and possible MDP’s claims that the existing CNI was the one that started off the game should not wash, either. The party could be charged with seeking to influence the expanded CNI and the people at large, just as it has charged the existing CNI already.

The MDP has also not denied the charge flowing from the arrest of the two police officers, who were believed to have talked to the party’s probe team. Instead, the party’s international spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor has charged the Government with purging ’police whistle-blowers’, as if to defend their right to speak to private probes, particularly when an official one was halfway through its work. Even granting that the police officers concerned had talked to the MDP team in good faith that the Government probe is an eye-wash, it is anybody’s guess why the party decided to proceed with the publication of the report of its two-member team after its demands on the CNI front had been met, through international intervention. Thus, it is not the party whose credibility alone is under a cloud now.

Pressuring the probe at birth

Prima facie, avoidable controversies of the kind will pressure the expanded CNI at birth, and also take precious time off their work-schedule, viewing and reviewing the work already done, more closely than may have been otherwise. This could mean that the expanded, five-member CNI may not be able to meet the July-end deadline for submitting its report. The three-member, original CNI could not meet the May-end deadline earlier, after a decision was taken to expand the same, to include representatives proposed by the MDP and the Commonwealth.

This could push back future political negotiations, particularly on the MDP demand for early poll for the presidency that much more. One can safely conclude at this stage that the MDP’s year-end deadline for the purpose may be dismissed as impractical. Thus far, the Government parties have been arguing that the demand was improper and not provided for in the Constitution as it exists now.

The constitution of the CNI also suffers from another lacuna, among many, which the inexperience of the nation’s polity – particularly that of the more vociferous MDP – has not addressed. Having been constituted by President Waheed, the CNI will have to submit its report to him. Through the past months since the exit of President Nasheed, the MDP in particular has charged President Waheed with being party to the ’conspiracy’. It has always demanded the resignation of President Waheed. Under such circumstances, the propriety of the CNI submitting its report to President Waheed could be under question. One can expect the MDP in particular to raise such issues, post facto, but it may be in the fitness of things to address such minor irritants early on as they could be blown out of proportion on a later day.

Whither Roadmap talks?

Even without what could be described as inevitable delays in the working of the CNI, the Roadmap Talks for political reconciliation remain dead-locked. The agenda for the talks is noteworthy for including in it concerns for consensus over the nation’s economy, going beyond the realm of immediate politics. There are also references to the need for constitutional amendments for protecting national institutions. These are serious issues, which need to be taken up in a spirit of national understanding and cohesion, going beyond the immediate demands of partisan politics of one kind or the other. Many of the issues on board relate to the dynamic nature of democratic politics and Constitution-making for a nation that had remained politically insulated from modern influences and practices. The Indian contribution to the Roadmap talks too should be viewed from the South Asian neighbour’s experience with the dynamic processes of democratic well-being.

It does not flow that the Roadmap Talks should be finding solutions to each of the identified problems facing the nation, here and now. As the processes that it had set in motion for its functioning the all-party grouping had started with prioritising the agenda for discussion, decision-making and implementation. They now need to focus on these greater aspects of democratic being and Constitution-making, which are both dynamic processes. Having set the nation’s priority, the stake-holders can then prioritise between those needing their immediate attention and solution, and those that need to mature further before the nation could apply its collective wisdom to problem-solving.

Ensuring the independence of constitutional institutions and establishing their credibility have to be dovetailed if Maldivian democracy has to mean something more than what governance was all about in the pre-democracy era. It is not only about the MDP picking up individuals with a past but also insisting only on publicising their past, and politicking almost exclusively on the same. Such an approach meant that there was paucity of ideas for the Nasheed Government other than those prescribed on the economic front by an external organisation as the IMF. This created a chasm within the polity and even otherwise, which the Government of the day sought to brush under the democracy carpet.

’Conflict as comfort zone’

Instead, it is all about addressing the larger issues and concerns that related to the past, and the accompanying circumstances. There are few MDP leaders, for instance, who do not have their past linked to what the party often describes as the ’dreaded regime’ of former President Maumoon Gayoom. The second-line leaders in a cadre-based party like the MDP and in a country like MDP with no democratic past to boast of at any point in time, do not have the kind of exposure and experience required to govern a nation as complex as Maldives, however ’tiny’ it might look for the outside world.

Independent of the numbers that have been added to the MDP membership list after the party came to power, the core cadre of the party still seem to live in the past. The have been fed on an ideology and dogma that have no relation to ground realities of politics and public life in any democracy. They have also been slow in on-job learning, in relation to the attitudinal changes required to be the party in power. This trend seems to dominate the decision-making processes in the party, post-resignation, as well, and the MDP seems shy of reviewing its own contributions to the expanding political mess and the repeated constitutional deadlocks.

This does not mean that the MDP alone has the responsibility in the matter. Most, if not all political parties in the Government at present, were partners with the MDP in ushering in democracy ahead of the presidential polls in 2008. All of them, including then President Gayoom, had facilitated the democratic transition. While most others also facilitated the election of MDP’s Nasheed as President in the second, run-off round, as the incumbent, President Gayoom willingly handed over power without protest or plots, which some MDP leaders had otherwise anticipated during the run-up to the presidential polls. They too thus share the responsibility for having democracy take deep-roots, particularly since no one in the nation’s polity seems to be visualising any reversal of democracy. Yet, the responsibility of the MDP in ushering in democracy, and the party’s attendant duty for understanding the processes even better, is a role that the leadership has to take more seriously than at present.

For now, Maldives and Maldivians can take heart that they have only ’telescoped’ the dynamism of democracies into a much shorter span than in nations of the world, including South Asian neighbours like India and Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Yet, Maldives cannot afford to continue with conflict as comfort zone of internal contradictions, to the exclusion of the work on hand and issues of every day governance that can be put off only at peril to the nation and the people, and polity and political leaderships. They need to act, and no time is better than the hour that has already been lost.

The writer is a Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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CMAG expresses hopes that no action be taken to “negatively affect” inquiry commission

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’s (CMAG) has released a statement emphasising its hope that “no action should be taken by any party or authority that would negatively affect the functioning of the Commission of National Inquiry or the ability of individuals to provide testimony to the Commission,” following its teleconference yesterday.

The Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) was established by President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to investigae the events surrounding the controversial  transfer of power in February.

The statement follows a week in which the fallout from alternative reports of these events – two from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and one from the original CNI – saw the arrest of the Chief of Police Intelligence Mohamed Hameed for his alleged involvement in the compilation of the MDP report.

The Criminal Court decided to release Hameed this week after extending his initial detention period by five days.

On Tuesday, MDP MP Mariyam Didi was also brought before police for questioning in relation to events to the unrest that followed the police’s May 29 search of the Usfasgandu protest camp.

The MDP released a statement alleging that Didi’s questioning was related to the release of her own report which had argued President Waheed should face prosecution for his involvement in the events of February 7.

“The MDP strongly believes this is a cowardly act to intimidate people who are willing to come forward and provide reliable information to the newly composed CoNI,” said the MDP statement.

The police told local media that the timing of the questioning had been planned for the Thursday before but had been rescheduled at Didi’s request.

Former President Nasheed had also suggested to local media that the delays to the CNI’s reform was a sign of the government’s reluctance to do so.

The original deadline for the changes had been May 31, although the MDP and the government failed to agree on the final member of the commission until June 4.

President Office spokesman Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News today that he did not believe the CMAG statement was referring to such incidents.

“The police are independent and have not been conducting any unlawful activities,” said Abbas.

Abbas said that the government welcomed CMAG’s words of encouragement regarding the CNI, adding that it was pleased the Commonwealth had “finally accepted the roadmap talks.”

The talks appeared to have been scuttled following a three day retreat at Bandos, at which parties in the ruling coalition presented the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) with a list of 30 demands to “resolve the problem of public disturbances”.

They included demands that the MDP “stop practicing black magic and sorcery”, “stop the use of sexual and erotic tools”, and “not walk in groups of more than 10”.

CMAG’s statement today said that it “welcomed and encouraged efforts underway to establish a Maldivian-led dialogue process among key political leaders, which could promote high-level discussions on issues of national concern, including those identified in the Political Party Talks agenda.”

CMAG also welcomed the reformation of the CNI, instigated at the behest of both the international community, the MDP and civil society groups.

The statement outlined the reasons for the formation of the group before expressing its hope that the CNI was now in a position to fulfil its objectives.

“The Commission of National Inquiry was established to undertake an investigation into the circumstances that led to the transfer of power in Maldives on 7 February 2012. This was to enable an independent and impartial investigation to be conducted that would be credible, rigorous and provide confidence to the Maldivian people.”

“The Group noted that the reformed Commission had been formally established on 17 June 2012 and was now operational. It expressed hope that the Commission would be fully able to carry out its work in its own best judgement, and urged all concerned to extend their full co-operation to the Commission.”

The reformed commission includes the three original members – Ismail Shafeeu, Dr Ibrahim Yasir, and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef – with the addition of retired Singaporean Supreme Court Judge G.P. Selvam and Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed who was nominated by former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The CNI yesterday announced that anyone wishing to give information to the commission can do so up until June 30. It also welcomed evidence from those who had spoken to the commission before the reforms were enacted.

The commission stated that the evidence and identities of witnesses would be protected.

At a press conference this morning, the CNI told local media that the government would allocate the four Maldivian members “some sort of allowance”, having worked without remuneration up to this date.

The expenses of Selvam, it was revealed, will be borne by the Commonwealth.

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CNI’s new co-chair revealed to be retired Singaporean judge G.P. Selvam

The President’s Office has revealed the name of the retired Singaporean judge who will join the reformed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which has today been reconstituted by presidential decree.

The name of the judge who will co-chair the commission with Ismail Shafeeu was revealed to be Govinda Pannir Selvam.

GP Selvam is a former Supreme Court Judge who served in the Singapore Supreme Court between 1994 and 2001.

According to the Singapore Court of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), where Selvam has served as a panel member, the judge graduated from the University of Singapore in 1968 and will celebrate his 76th birthday in July. Selvam arrived in Male’ this morning.

Local media today revealed that the judge had arrived, without mentioning his name, whilst the President’s Office did not reveal the judge’s identity until this afternoon, saying that there was to be an official ceremony this evening.

The name of the judge was finally revealed on the President’s Office website at around 6:30pm.

President’s Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said that the commission was now “definitely” ready to begin work on Thursday and would comprise the previous members of the commission – Ismail Shafeeu, Dr Ibrahim Yasir, and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef – as well as the Nasheed nominee Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed and, finally, G.P. Selvam.

Abbas also stated that there were to be two resource persons added to the commission to support its activities, including a retired Indian judge. Abbas said that anybody who wished could come and observe the commission’s work, just as with the previous manifestation of the CNI.

The President’s Office also stated that representatives from the United Nations and the Commonwealth will advise the CNI’s work.

Former President Nasheed yesterday alleged that the government was intentionally delaying the revision of the CNI and deceiving the international community.

The initial deadline for the reform was mid-May. After agreements were reached with the Commonwealth, a deadline of June 1 was given to approve former President Mohamed Nasheed’s nomination to the commission.

The MDP and the government, however, were unable to agree on  suitable candidate until June 4 after the MDP’s first 11 suggestions.

Abbas was today reported in local media as saying that Nasheed’s comments were merely intended to deflect criticism from the MDP’s internal elections, which Abbas claimed had “no spirit of democracy” after Nasheed won the MDP’s presidential nomination unopposed.

MDP spokesman Imthiyaz Fahmy today also questioned the reasons for the delay in signing the resolution agreed with the Commonwealth.

“The government is deliberately delaying the process of forming the new inquiry commission as much as they can,” he said.

The reforms have been instigated largely at the behest of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which is scheduled to hold a teleconference this Wednesday.

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Reformed CNI ready to begin work from Thursday: President’s Office

The government has said the reformed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) will be in a position to officially begin its work from Thursday (June 21) with the arrival to the country of an as-yet unnamed Singaporean judge chosen to co-chair the body.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) continues to allege the government is working to delay reforms to the CNI that have been backed by the Commonwealth, however the government has claimed the commission would start work upon the judge’s arrival.

President’s Office spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News that the entire panel would be in place to begin its work following the arrival of the judge, adding that there had been “no delays” in revising the CNI in line with Commonwealth and international concerns about its impartiality.

“As it stands right now, President Waheed has met with (Former president Nasheed’s nominee) Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed, who will be taking up his position on the panel from Sunday (June 17). He will then have access to the CNI’s findings other and information,” he said. “On June 21, the Singaporean judge will be arriving and work will then start.”

The CNI was established by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan to investigate the controversial transfer of power that took place on February 7. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) claimed that Nasheed was forced out of office in a coup d’etat.

The composition of the panel has since been revised to include a representative of former President Mohamed Nasheed and a retired Singaporean judge, as well as international monitors from both the Commonwealth and UN.

Riza added that the government had been in touch with the Commonwealth regarding the latest developments and said the intergovernmental organisation was “satisfied” with the work being undertaken.

He added that the commission, including the original three member panel of Chair Ismail Shafeeu, Defence Minister under former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Dr Ibrahim Yasir and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef were all ready to begin work.

However, following a tense, but largely peaceful demonstration by MDP supporters yesterday – led by former President Mohamed Nasheed – the party claimed that the government was working to try and “deceive” the international community over commitments to conduct its work.  The CNI was expected to have been reformed by June 15.

“Cat and mouse game”

MDP Spokesperson and MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor alleged today that the president had been playing a “cat and mouse game” with the composition of a reformed CNI.  He added that uncertainty remained over whether the three previous CNI members would continue on in their position, or if replacements would be needed.

Ghafoor claimed the government had been responsible for several delays to deadlines set by the Commonwealth to enact changes to the CNI.

“One month on from May 16, we have seen the government delay the appointment of a representative for [former] President Nasheed, now it seems another twenty days could be needed to resolve this current mess,” he said. “This whole saga suggests the president wishes to deceive the international community over the CNI in the hope interest will be lost in the idea of backing early elections. I do not think the MDP is in the mood to tolerate this.”

Hamid added that despite the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’s (CMAG) having scheduled its next meeting for September, he expected for the Maldives’ political situation and the CNI to be on the agenda of a teleconference held by the group on Wednesday (June 20). CMAG, which is the Commonwealth’s human rights arm, has taken an active role in calling for revisions to the CNI, as well as backing early elections to be held in the country during 2012.

MDP uncertainty

While the government has today said that Ismail Shafeeu will continue to serve as co-chair on the CNI with Dr Ibrahim Yasir and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef also retaining their positions, the MDP claimed there was uncertainty over what role they may play.

Pointing to the publication this month of a ‘timeline’ of events by the former three-member CNI panel for “finding public opinion” on the transfer of power, Hamid pointed to comments previously made by the panel’s members that their work had now been completed.

The 282-point Dhivehi ‘timeline’ document does not feature any input from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who contested the panel’s impartiality prior to the re-composition. The report begins its findings on the day police attempted to summon Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, to the day the controversial transfer of power took place. The panel conducted interviews with assorted non-MDP participants, however the report does not source its findings.

The MDP have maintained that with the former CNI’s mandate having expired last month, uncertainty remained over whether the panel’s original three members were committed to the revised body or not.

The party has repeatedly called for Shafeeu to be removed, citing his connection to Gayoom, leader of government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). Dr Waheed had previously confirmed he has no intention of changing Shafeeu or two other members during the scheduled reformation.

Nasheed criticisms

Speaking to reporters at Male’ City Hall after voting in the MDP’s internal elections today, former President Mohamed Nasheed said that the government did not wish to reconstitute the CNI despite President Mohamed Waheed’s insistence that the reformed CNI would be able to begin proceedings mid-June.

Responding to questions from the press, Nasheed noted that it was halfway through June and it was still unclear whether former CNI members Dr Ibrahim Yasir, Ali Fawaz and Ismail Shafeeu would remain on the reconstituted commission.

Nasheed accused the government of “deliberately” delaying the reconstitution of the CNI. He added that CMAG was expected to hold a session on the Maldives’ political situation next Wednesday.

“CMAG gave additional time to the Maldivian government to complete the work it asked to be done by May 17,” he explained. “But [the Waheed administration] hasn’t done it. They haven’t constituted the commission.”

Friday demonstration

Nasheed at MDP protestAside from the work of the CNI, MDP supporters yesterday continued calls for President Waheed’s resignation and early elections during a protest around the capital that police say resulted in one protester being taken into custody for throwing a bottle at security forces.

The MDP has been protesting around Male’ every Friday during the last few months – with varying numbers of participants – to voice criticisms over the legitimacy of the current government, which it contends came to power in a “coup d’etat”.  Former President Nasheed took part in yesterday’s demonstration, which the party claimed saw tense stand off with security forces, despite only one participant being taken into custody.

Hamid said yesterday’s protest also made a point of criticising the “arbitrary arrest” of Chief Superintendent Mohamed Hameed on Thursday, owing to his contribution to the MDP’s own report (Dhivehi) into February’s transfer of power.

Asked whether the high-profile publication of potentially sensitive information in the report could be construable as a criminal offence for those involved, Hamid contended that such as assumption was “based on the grounds that the present government is legitimate.”

Following an MDP national council resolution passed on February 8, 2011 the party agreed treat the transfer of power as an illegitimate act masterminded by members of the coalition government and mutinous sections of the police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

“All the democratic changes that have been fought for in recent years we are now seeing slip away” he said.

Present at the protest yesterday, Hamid said the demonstrations were in the large part peaceful, even when members of the security forces marched through the gathered crowd.

“I suspect that this may have been done to try and incite the crowd so people might try and attack them,” he said. “A lot of people present did attempt to claw at the security forces, but they managed to pass through the crowd.”

With the former president in attendance at the time, Hamid added that supporters also wanted to keep Nasheed away from security officers, though he stressed that he did not believe police were coming for him.

Hamid also contended that the country’s security forces appeared to be in “disarray” at present, with protesters claiming that some officers were already not receiving salaries due to “bounced cheques”.

“The security forces had hoses, but no one was able or willing to use them on the crowd,” he added.

MNDF response

MNDF spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem said that the military was tasked yesterday specifically to protect a so-called “green zone” in Male’, that includes important structures and areas like the President’s residence and military headquarters.

“There was nothing special about yesterday’s operations. If there are any concerns about illegal activities police can come to us and ask for assistance,” he said.

Major Raheem also denied that there had been any difficulties in providing salaries to MNDF officers.

“I have received no information that payments have not been made to officers,” he added.

“Peaceful” and “calm”

Speaking to Minivan News today, police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef that the protests had proceeded in a generally “peaceful” and “calm” manner.

“One person involved in the protest was taken into custody for throwing a bottle, but  they were later released,” he said.

Haneef added that although water hoses were present as a potential means to control crowds, the decision had been taken by police not to use such measures.

“Operationally, we will prepare all the equipment we believe will be necessary [during protests],” he said. “However, the decision was taken that action such as hoses were not needed yesterday.”

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Don’t shoot the referee: Dr Hassan Saeed

As people across the Maldives enjoy the European football championship, Special Advisor to the President and leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Hassan Saeed, draws an analogy between opposing reports of the events of February 7 and opposing football supporters after a contentious incident on the pitch.

“I was reminded of football when I saw the very different reactions to the publication of the National Enquiry Commission timeline last week. It was like two sets of supporters who witnessed the same goal but had equally strong and diametrically opposed opinions about whether it was off side or not,” Dr Saeed writes for Haveeru.

“However the football analogies don’t stop there.  We appreciate the skill of the players and also applaud fair play. I think we would all agree football works best when the players follow the rules, have respect for the other side and heed the rulings of the referee.

It would be really wonderful if our political process operated the same way. However this week we have the MDP claiming they are being ‘intimidated’ through the legal system, simply because the Defence Minister speculates that officers of the MNDF might seek a legal remedy for what they perceive as untrue and libelous statements on the part of the MDP. In fact, all people are doing is following judicial rules, no different to the way a referee has to interpret footballing disputes on the pitch.”

Read more

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DRP deputy leader interprets CNI timeline as evidence of “evil and dangerous plan”

Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef yesterday accused former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed of planning to murder members of the December 23 coalition during the unrest that led to Nasheed’s resignation in February.

“President Nasheed’s evil and dangerous plan has now been revealed to the people,” Shareef has been reported as saying.

MDP International Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor called the claims “outrageous” and “irresponsible politics”.

Speaking at a coalition press conference at the Nalahiya hotel, Shareef said it was the presence of the police during the night of February 6 that thwarted the aims of those hired by Nasheed to kill members of the coalition.

The group, named after the December 23 protests, purportedly held to defend Islam against the policies of the Nasheed government, consists of former opposition parties and religious NGOs.

Shareef’s accusations appear to refer to the period during the night of February 6 when December 23 coalition and MDP supporters faced off at the artificial beach area with only a police line to separate them.

Shareef was unavailable for comment at the time of press.

A timeline chronicling the events that led to Nasheed’s eventual resignation on February 7 was released by the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) last week. The timeline was translated by Azra Naseem.

The CNI has recently been reformed following widespread concern over its impartiality and independence.

President Waheed announced that the reforms, which include the introduction of a Singaporean judge to act as co-chair and the inclusion of a Nasheed nominee, Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed, would be completed by June 15.

Despite the impending resumption of the CNI’s work, the commission’s original members decided to release a report based on their investigations so far.

This report claims that both the Home Minister at the time, Hassan Afeef, and then Nasheed himself ordered the Police Commissioner to remove the police from the area (sections 29 and 32 of the report).

The timeline went on to say that officers on the ground told both Afeef, who then told Nasheed that the “atmosphere was not good” (section 30).

Nasheed is then said to have repeated his request to remove police from the artificial beach area on the night of February 6 (points 34 and 40). This request was refused by officers in the area who insisted that they be replaced by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) (point 38).

The replacement MNDF forces were then asked to step down, according to the report, before violence erupted between the opposing protesters (points46 and 48).

Shareef suggested that these points prove Nasheed’s intentions.

“I’ve said this because Nasheed did plan to murder the members of the December 23 coalition. He hired people to carry out the murder and then ordered the Police to fall back,” Shareef is said to have told the press.

Shareef also alleged that Nasheed had planned to create conflict between the police and the MNDF in order to instigate bloodshed that would result in foreign interference in the Maldives’ internal affairs.

The CNI report provided little detail regarding this accusation, stating only that the leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), Dr Hassan Saeed, had received reports that the Indian Military were preparing to intervene.

“Deputy leader of the Qaumee Party announced to the public at the Republic Square that Dr Hassan Saeed had received assurances from the Indian High Commission that Indian military will not be coming to the Maldives,” read the report.

Ghafoor said that Shareef’s claims were completely without evidence.

“He should have been more careful and directed his accusations to a serious and credible report,” he said.

“We must remember that Shareef likes to get attention – nobody takes him seriously,” added Ghafoor.

The MDP released the report of its own investigations into the events on Saturday. Prior to its reformation, the MDP had refused to work with the CNI.

The MDP’s version of events had claimed that opposition figures were had plotted the overthrow of the government with the help of a police and army officer protest from as early as September last year.

The report claimed that coup conspirators then engaged in concerted efforts to cultivate an atmosphere of unrest and to conscript willing agitators from within the security forces.

The report names numerous figures within the security forces, including current Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim and Police Commissioner Abdullah Riyaz.

Government Spokesman Abbas Adil Riza described the release of the report as “terrorism” whilst the MNDF today threatened legal action against “those who make false claims about the Maldivian military, issue reports, and act in ways that causes loss of public confidence in this institution.”

Meanwhile the MDP have interpreted the CNI timeline as indicating that there had been a coup and that President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan should therefore resign.

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President targets CNI reform by June 15

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has announced that the composition of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) will be reformed by June 15, allowing a representative from former President Mohamed Nasheed to join the official investigation for the first time since he was ousted from power on February 7.

The CNI was set up by Dr Waheed  to investigate the controversial circumstances that brought him to power, amid widespread allegations that his successor was forced to resign in an opposition backed coup, aided by rogue police and military officials.

However, Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – and subsequently the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) – challenged the credibility of the three member panel appointed by Dr Waheed, and pressured the government into accepting a nominee from Nasheed and a retired foreign judge to serve as co-chair of the CNI. Commonwealth and the United Nations will each provide an expert adviser for support to the commission as well.

Last week the government announced it had accepted the 13th nominee proposed by Nasheed, Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed.

Speaking to the reporters today, Dr Waheed said, “We are hoping by 15 of this month commission members will be completed.”

“I think new members will have the opportunity to look into previous works of the commission and come up with some ideas on how to proceed with the investigation,” he said, speaking to the reporters after arriving from a trip to London to participate in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations with other Commonwealth leaders.

Nearly 200 supporters and government officials gathered near the jetty to welcome the President.

During the visit, President Waheed met with British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague, and Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, and discussed about the progress of the investigations.

“Everyone wants peace and stability in the Maldives. We expressed our commitment to cooperate with all parties,” President contended.

However, last week’s abrupt release of  CNI timeline on the events of February 7,  followed by a contradictory report published by two senior MDP members on the same events, has caused additional challenges to the stalled political mediation process.

In May, CNI had announced that it had ceased its work to accommodate changes to its composition, but on Thursday released the time line asking for public opinion.

“It is unacceptable that a committee that has been discredited by the civil society, members of the public and the international community should proceed to make public its findings, ahead of the commencement of the work of a restructured commission,” said MDP’s Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, in a statement on Thursday.

“It is incomplete, biased and reveals the malicious intent of the Commission,” he said, adding that neither former President Nasheed nor any MDP member had given testimony to the commission before it released its findings.

The government meanwhile described the MDP’s report (Dhivehi) as an “act of terrorism”.

CNI’s Timeline findings were gathered by the three member panel which include Chair Ismail Shafeeu, Defence Minister under former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Dr Ibrahim Yasir and Dr Ali Fawaz Shareef.

MDP has repeatedly called for Shafeeu to be removed, citing his connection to Gayoom, leader of government alligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

However, DrWaheed today confirmed he has no intention of changing Shafeeu or two other members during the scheduled reformation.

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If I had no role in coup, I don’t have to resign, Waheed tells BBC

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has told the BBC he would not necessarily resign even if the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) were to find evidence of a coup, following  investigations of the ousting of the former President Mohamed Nasheed.

“If [the commission] find out that I had a role in bringing about a coup, then I would definitely resign,” he said.

“But if I have no role – if somebody else has done it – it doesn’t mean I have to resign, according to the law of the Maldives.”

Waheed’s interview with the BBC came whilst the President was in London as an invitee to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

He would not be drawn into debate ovr what course of action he would take should the commission determine the circumstances surrounding the transfer of power in February to have been illegal.

The BBC reported Waheed as saying only that he would seek “legal guidance” in this eventuality.

Waheed suggested that the consequences of his resignation and a premature election would be far worse for the country.

“We have to consider the political situation. We have other political parties – big political parties – who are not ready for an election. I have to exercise my judgement – as leader of the country – to make sure we don’t get into a worse political turmoil.”

He also told the UK’s Financial Times that calling early elections would be “reckless”, as it would require him to resign hand power to the Speaker of Parliament, Dr Abdulla Shahid, “who got elected with just 2,000 votes”.

Dr Waheed’s own Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) received 518 votes in the 2009 Parliamentary Election, and had 2625 members as of February 27.

President’s Office Spokesman Abbas Adil Riza explained that the suggestion that some big political parties were not ready for elections referred to the “unanimous” desire of all political parties to introduce new legislation that would govern the activities of political parties.

Abbas claimed that a ‘Political Parties Act’ was discussed at the all party talks held at Bandos Island resort last weekend. Such legislation would make it easier to penalise parties who fail to accept the outcomes of elections or who violate the law, he said.

The Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) international spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor agreed that both elections and reforms were needed to move out of the current political crisis, but questioned the President’s ability to oversee the required changes.

“He is unable to get these reforms as he is not in control of the coalition, which is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode,” said Ghafoor.

Ghafoor saw such comments as an attempt by the President to posit himself as an interim president.

“I suspect he is playing the victim card, saying ‘I am holding on for the sake of this country’, pleading with the international community to help him, “ Ghafoor continued.

Former Maldives High Commissioner to the UK Dr Farahanaz Faizal told the BBC that Waheed’s February move from the Vice President’s to the President’s office would become an illegitimate one if any kind of coup is proven.

“If the elected president has been deposed unconstitutionally, then there is no rightful succession of the vice-president,” said Faizal.

Not ready for elections?

When speaking with the BBC in April, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon also argued that reforms were needed before free and fair elections could be held.

One of the institutions criticised by Dunya, the Elections Commission (EC), dismissed suggestions that it was too weak to supervise polls almost immediately after they were made, claiming it was ready to hold any election when required.

This claim appeared to be substantiated later in the month as several elections, including two parliamentary by-elections, were held over the same weekend in mid-April without incident.

Abbas told Minivan News today that reform of the EC was an issue raised again at the Bandos round of all party talks.

Identifying necessary reforms for independent posts and institutions, discussing laws to be enacted, and possible amendments to the constitutions were third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the talks’ six point agenda.

Setting a date for fresh presidential elections was last on the list.

The first item on the party talks’ agenda was solving the problem of public disturbances, the governing coalition’s solutions to which led the MDP to argue that the talks were not being taken seriously.

Among the 30 points suggested by the coalition to alleviate “political turbulence” in the country, it was suggested that all partys stop practicing black magic and using sexual and erotic tools.

It was also suggested that parties not walk in groups of more than 10, not hold rallies in the street, and stop the use of megaphones in protests.

The MDP yesterday held its usual Friday protest as many hundreds marched round the streets of the capital. Loudspeakers accompanied the rally, challenging the legitimacy of the current government and calling for early elections.

The party’s rally yesterday was also used as an opportunity to celebrate world environment day.

Earlier this week, US Senator Robert Casey, who Chairs the Senate’s Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee, called for elections as early as possible “to ensure that the seeds of the democratic process planted in 2008 are able to flourish.”

In April United States pledged US$500,000 (Rf7.7million) in technical assistance to assist Maldivian institutions in holding free and fair presidential elections, available from July 2012.

However President Waheed has said repeatedly that he is constitutionally restrained from bringing elections forward any further than July 2013.

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Former Inquiry Commission’s release of timeline “blatant attempt to conceal truth by pre-empting impartial inquiry”: MDP

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned the former three-member Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) after it yesterday released a ‘timeline of events’, calling it a “blatant attempt to conceal the truth by pre-empting an impartial inquiry.”

The initial three-member panel was appointed by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan to investigate the controversial circumstances that brought him to power. It was boycotted by the ousted MDP, who contended that its members had been appointed by those it was accusing, and it was not credible or impartial.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and civil society groups concurred, and pressured the government to reconstitute the commission to include a nominee representing former President Mohamed Nasheed, a retired foreign judge, and UN and Commonwealth monitors. Earlier this week the government announced it had accepted the 13th nominee proposed by Nasheed, Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed.

However yesterday the three-member panel released a 282-point ‘timeline of events’, for the stated purpose of “asking for public opinion”.

“It is unacceptable that a committee that has been discredited by the civil society, members of the public and the international community should proceed to make public its findings, ahead of the commencement of the work of a restructured commission,” said MDP’s Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, in a statement on Thursday.

“It is incomplete, biased and reveals the malicious intent of the Commission,” he said, adding that neither former President Nasheed nor any MDP member had given testimony to the commission before it released its findings.

The agreement for a restructured commission was brokered by the Commonwealth’s Special Envoy to the Maldives, Sir Donald Mackinnon, “just two days ago”, Ghafoor noted, a move praised in public statements by the UN, Commonwealth and the UK Foreign Office at the time.

“The publication of the findings of the commission is a blatant attempt by the government to pervert the course of justice. This is in flagrant disregard for the appeals of the international community, including the CMAG, which had demanded that the composition of the Committee be changed to make it impartial, independent, credible and more broadly acceptable,” Ghafoor said.

“This conduct by the current Commission is further confirmation that the real mandate of this Commission is to conceal the truth and absolve the perpetrators of the coup from guilt.”

President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said the CNI was entitled to ask for public support, “and the government has no views about it, as the commission is independent.”

“We see no wrong-doing in [the commission] requesting public support,” Riza told Minivan News. “The government’s view is that the inquiry is fully independent and that it can ask for help where it wishes.”

Asked whether canvassing public opinion was in the commission’s mandate when it was set up, Riza stated that the commission had a mandate to “find the facts from January 14 to February 7”.

At to whether the timeline was relevant, given that the reconstituted commission would presumably be starting from scratch, Riza said “it is up to the commission to determine that.”

Attorney General Azima Shukoor meanwhile today told local media that administrative work had begun to formulate the new CNI.
Shukoor told local newspaper Haveeru that the new commission needed to be established by a new presidential decree, which was currently being drafted in time for President Mohamed Waheed’s return from the UK.
She also said that work is being carried out drafting the procedures and principles of the commission, as well as the code of conduct for the commission members with advice of senior members of the commission. Shukoor also said that the three-member panel had taken not wage or allowances for the work they had done  up until now.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from the Commonwealth at time of press.

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