Tag: deputy speaker

Finance Minister condemns Public Accounts Committee Chair

Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz has said that the Rf456,000 (US$31,000) issued to Maldives Media Association (MMA) according to the Finance Report sent by the ministry to parliament was actually issued to Maldives Media Council (MMC) and not to the dissolved NGO MMA.

”It was technically a typing error, we sent the Public Accounts Committee a report consisting information about some of the recent transactions, and the Public Accounts Committee’s Chair MP Ahmed Nazim [who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament] asked us to send detailed information of all the transactions mentioned in the report,” Inaz explained.

He said the ministry then sent the committee details of the transactions in the report, which still had the typing error uncorrected.

”We did not identify that error, and after we sent the details, the chair of the committee told the media that we have used Rf456,000 from the contingency budget to pay salaries of MMA staff,” he said. ”Actually it was used to pay the salaries of MMC staff.”

Inaz said he regretted that Nazim had not verified the typing error with the ministry before going to the media.

”We send the report to the parliament to cooperate with them and to assist them in making us accountable, I attended the committee three days in a row this week and we do not have a policy of withholding information,” he said, adding that he condemned Nazim’s actions and hoped that he would not repeat such things in the future.

”I also apologize to MMA members, but the responsibility goes to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee as well,” Inaz said. ”Things like this make the ministry lose the confidence we have in the Chair of the committee.”

Nazim told local media this week that a report submitted by the Finance Ministry showed that over Rf450,000 from the state budget was issued to the MMA.

In the wake of the revelation, the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) and senior members of the now-defunct Maldives Media Association (MMA) called on the Auditor General and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the alleged Rf456,000  released from the state’s contingency budget.

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Deputy speaker would “welcome” heightened transparency in the Majlis

Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ahmed Nazim has claimed that he would welcome moves to promote transparency in the People’s Majlis, such as revealing the financial assets of MPs to the public, but added similar commitments would also be needed from the country’s judiciary and executive.

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this week, Nazim, who is also a serving member of the People’s Alliance (PA) party and the Majlis’ Public Accounts Committee, said he would “fully support” any initiative to improve the image of parliament such as providing details of the property and assets of MPs. However, the deputy speaker said he believed that the appointment of an auditor general, a position that has been vacant since March 2010 when Ibrahim Naeem lost a parliamentary no-confidence motion by 43 votes to 28, was needed to oversee such a process.

The claims were made as debate over whether MPs should publicly declare details of their assets and income was found to have reached an impasse, with opinion divided in the Majlis over whether doing so was a constitutional necessity.

The issue had also been raised by the political NGO, Transparency Maldives, which claimed that it was having difficulties in getting details on the assets and financial status of MPs despite parliament showing a generally more open attitude to supplying information.

The NGO, which operates a project called Parliament Watch alongside the Maldivian Democracy Network, believes that the right of the public to know the financial details of their elected representatives in the Majlis was “in the spirit” of the constitution. Transparency Maldives added that it believed that transparency within the actions and decision making of parliament had nonetheless improved in recent years despite possible concerns about MP finances.

Although the decision for public declarations of MPs’ financial statements was rejected this week, parliament also failed to agree to two additional recommendations that financial statements should be released only under a court order or to the public upon investigations by state institutions.

On Tuesday (April 19), Nazim in his capacity as deputy speaker of the Majlis, said the matter had been declared “void” on the basis that neither proposal was accepted by MPs, but he added that parliament’s Secretary General had sought counsel on the matter and would go ahead according to the “rules of procedure”.

Speaking before the vote, Nazim said that the issue had been sent to parliament by the Majlis’ secretary general over concerns about an isolated issue raised by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in requiring the financial statements of one unidentified MP.

Under present standing orders that outline parliament procedure, the deputy speaker claimed that sitting MPs were required to provide information to the Majlis by the end of October each year detailing their annual finances between the twelve months from May 29 to May 28.

Nazim said that amidst the ensuing debate over whether these statements should be made freely available to the public, the decision to do would definitely serve to “improve the image of parliament.”

While provisionally welcoming the initiative, Nazim claimed that he believed the Majlis would only public release details of their financial status alongside a similar commitment by judges and senior cabinet ministers.

“It would be for the auditor general to collect this [financial] information from cabinet ministers, judges and government members,” he said, accepting that the position had been vacant for more than 12 months.

“No [financial] information has been put into the public domain, once this happens the Majlis would consider following suit.”

Presidential Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that ultimately, the decision on whether to make the financial statements of MPs available to the public was down to parliament itself and not related to the government.

“It all depends on how transparent they [parliament] wish to be,” he claimed. “There are opportunities to be accountable, yet holding back on these details might lead to allegations [of possible corruption].

When asked whether cabinet member were themselves considering or already required to reveal details of their earnings and assets, Zuhair added that the issue related to a very different kind of social contract that they were bound to.

“Government employees are banned from working in the public sector or within any positions that might create a conflict of interest,” he added.

Aiman Rasheed, Projects Coordinator for NGO Transparency Maldives, claimedthat MPs were generally operating in a much more transparent manner during the current parliament.  However, he added that while parliamentarians were not required to supply their financial statements to the public, choosing to do so would be more in the spirit of the constitution.

Through its work on the Parliament Watch project, Rasheed claimed that at present NGOs like Transparency Maldives were finding it very difficult to know which MPs submitted their financial statements to the Majlis by the required deadline of October, with requests for a detailed list of members still not being met.

“There is obviously a lot of discomfort about this in the Majlis,” he said. “But for the most part, documents [relating to MPs] are available. As far as we are concerned this parliament is really open.”

Despite welcoming possible improvements in the transparency of the Majlis, Rasheed said that the Parliament Watch project would be releasing a report in the next few months detailing its findings in trying to bring greater scrutiny to parliamentary records in relation to members’ attendances and work rates.

However, amidst the debates over public accountability in the Majlis, a number of MPs have raised criticisms of the role of media in shaping public perceptions of parliament and its work.

(Maldivian Democratic Party) MP “Reeko” Moosa Manik said this week that while he agreed with the constitutional principle of publicly declaring assets and wealth, it was not an advisable time to do so in “today’s political atmosphere.”

The MDP parliamentary group leader remains embroiled in an acrimonious feud with private broadcaster DhiTV, owned by business magnate “Champa” Mohamed Moosa.

Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed concurred with Moosa, claiming that parliament should be concerned about concerted efforts by some media outlets to “disgrace and humiliate MPs.”

“This is not being done by DhiTV’s owner or its management, we know that now,” he said. “But previously we believed that it was planned and carried out by the management there. But that is not the case.”

Echoing a claim made by several MPs in past weeks, Riyaz alleged that unsuccessful candidates for parliament and their family members or associates were behind hostile media coverage of parliament.

“In truth, when the financial status of MPs is made known, some MPs will be worried and others will embarrassed,” said minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur.

“That is, those who have a lot of money might be very worried and those who do not will be embarrassed. Therefore, at a time when our status is being revealed in the media, I don’t accept at all that these facts should be available to just anyone.”

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed meanwhile argued that MPs should not shirk from their constitutional responsibilities by blaming the media. “We will answer in the media to the things said in the media,” he said.

Along with debates over accountability, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom claimed yesterday that despite the cancellation of a scheduled meeting in the Majlis’ main chamber , work was still ongoing in the parliament, which he believed was playing its part in pushing legislation to allow law enforcement officials to deal with violent crimes, despite certain “public perceptions” to the contrary.

The opposition party MP claimed that parliament was stepping up its workload to ensure the government, as the country’s executive branch, had the right powers and capabilities to uphold the law.

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Police will investigate those pictured committing crimes in Facebook nude photo haul

Maldives Police Service today said that further action will be taken against people pictured committing crimes in the files acquired by Facebook blackmailers.

A media officer said police were unable to confirm whether any political figures were be involved in the case while the investigations continued.

Police have arrested 14 persons including a minor – reportedly a 17 year old girl – for alleged involvement in acquiring nude pictures and videos of Maldivians through two profiles that both used the same image of a young blonde woman wearing sunglasses.

The two false profiles – the front for an alleged blackmailing ring that netted incriminating photos of those who signed up – had netted a combined 2500 ‘friends’, most of them Maldivian, making the scope of the blackmail operation potentially massive.

The ring poses a “security risk” for politicians in the Maldives, Deputy Speaker of the People’s Majlis Ahmed Nazim told Minivan News, but was unlikely to lead to parliamentary censorship in the future on how the internet was used.

Nazim, who is also a member of the People’s Alliance (PA) Party, said that police investigations into accusations that two Facebook profiles had been used to acquire “hundreds of nude pictures and videos” of Maldivians were not expected to impact MPs’ social networking.

”While some of the pictures were taken of people while drunk other pictures were taken without the consent of the persons [involved],” police confirmed yesterday, adding that Maldivians across the social spectrum had been affected by the racket.

Nazim said that despite allegations appearing in the media that certain national politicians might themselves have been blackmailed already through some of the content acquired through the profiles, he did not expect a review of how social networking was used by MPs in the future.

“[The investigation] is obviously a very concerning fact, but it is the first time this has happened in the country,” he said. “Almost all MPs have profiles they use to spread messages and communicate with their constituents, which is important. There is nothing that can be done about this.”

Despite raising suspicions that the Facebook profiles may have intentionally targeted specific sections of society like political figures and civil servants, President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair claimed that the developments were not a cause of “alarm” for the government.

“No one has provided conclusive evidence that anyone in the government is involved in the case,” he said. “However, it appears that a group of cyber criminals have tried to target a certain group of peoples including MPs and government officials. They have certainly not been going after fishermen.”

Zuhair added that the fact that these files and videos were now out in the open and available for public scrutiny should “make everyone more cautious of their behaviour online”.

“The very fact this has come to light shows that all people should be more careful when using social network sites like Facebook or their webcams,” he added.

Police investigation

Police investigating the case have reported that some people in the Facebook files were allegedly performing explicit acts in the presence of minors, and warned that this “could affect the future and discipline of the minors”.

”The case relates to the rights of many citizens and affects the social policy of the Maldives, and may also affect the safety of the society,” said police.

Information gathered so far had revealed that people from all levels of Maldivian society were affected, “including underage females juveniles, young women, professional and semi-professional persons, and people of both genders working all across the country.”

Police appealed to Maldivians to be more careful approving friendships with strangers on social networks.

”It is notable that underage females are victims in this crime, and that a minor was arrested as a suspect. It is necessary that parents monitor the work of minors when they use internet and social networks,” said police.

Two Facebook profiles identified as being involved in the ring where those belonging to ‘Lyshiaa Limanom’ and ‘Angelic Sharrown’. Both of these profiles show the same picture of a young blonde woman wearing sunglasses, and each profile has between 1200-1300 Facebook ‘friends’ – most of them Maldivian.

Police warned Maldivians to be careful of receiving invitations and messages from these profiles.

Social media adoption in the Maldives is prodigious, particularly Facebook, with almost a third of the country’s population signed up to the service.

According to statistics from Facebook, the Maldives has 89,460 registered users – two thirds of whom are male. Almost half Maldivian Facebook users are aged under 18.

Police late last year identified cyber crimes such as hacking as a major concern for both private and public organizations, leading it to form a special team to try and curb illegal online practices.

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