Tag: Dr Hassan Saeed

Nasheed’s antics – a never ending story: Dr Hassan Saeed

“There is at least one person in the Maldives who appears to know what the outcome will be of the National Commission of Inquiry (CNI).  And that’s former President Nasheed,” claims Dr Hassan Saeed, Special Advisor to President Waheed, writing for Haveeru.

“What other explanation can there be for the fact that he continues to encourage the street demonstrations and violence that are plaguing the streets of Male’ at present?
Mr Nasheed’s MDP is calling for his Direct Immediate Action Campaign to continue with the on-going protests until the government is overthrown and early elections are called.
How is this behaviour consistent with his commitment to the international community that he will respect the outcome of the CNI process?
A Commission that includes his own nominated representative and is co-chaired by a Singaporean Supreme Court judge nominated by the Commonwealth and assisted by advisors from the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
Well the short answer is that it isn’t consistent.
But this behaviour is consistent for a man who suspects that the outcome of the Commission’s investigation will not go the way that he wants it. Otherwise he would patiently wait for its outcome. After all, one and half month is not a long time.
As ever, former President Nasheed seems capable of taking two completely inconsistent stances at the same time. On the one hand he tells the international community that he is a true democrat and will abide by the processes that they have helped to put in place and on the other hand he is playing to his local supporters and activists encouraging actions that explicitly seek to pre-empt any conclusions that the Commission might reach.
And as supporting evidence, just look at the activities of his supporters on the social media. Here we see a prolonged and consistent campaign to try and discredit the very judge –Justice GP Selvam – in front of whom Mr. Nasheed was perfectly happy to give evidence earlier this month.
How is it that Mr. Nasheed allowed to get away with this?
Well of course it’s a pattern of behaviour that both his supporters in the Maldives and elements of the International community seem blind to.”
Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Death Penalty!?: Dr Hassan Saeed

“We should be clear on why want to carry out the death penalty. Do we want it as deterrence or as a discharge of a divine obligation?” Dr Hassan Saeed, Special Advisor to President Waheed, has asked the question in an opinion piece for Haveeru.

“Last week I talked about the murder of my friend Ahmed Najeeb. Knowing him well as I did I sought to rationalize how we as a society should respond to such a senseless act. I felt it was the least I could do to honour his memory and make some sense of this tragedy.

It is also right that we consider our emotions too. As well as sadness there is anger. That anger can drive us to seek retribution as a form of justice. Seeking an equivalent penalty from the murderer could be seen as a form of fairness and has a long history across religions and cultures throughout the world. It is not just particular to us in the Maldives.

I have seen the use of execution with my own eyes. As a teenager I witnessed two people being hanged in Faisalabaad, Pakistan. I was close to the platform setup for the hanging. The hanging was announced in advance. I went to see the event. And found a space reasonably close to the platform.  It was a vast open field and the whole place was full. I have never seen such a huge crowd.

I saw the two men brought to the place of execution. When the two of were brought in front of the crowd the public cursed. Their hands and legs were tied. Their faces were covered in a sack like cloth piece. When they were hanged I saw them struggling. There was deafening silence. Finally their struggle came to an end. Doctors checked and the bodies were taken away.

The military ruler of Pakistan General Ziyaul Haqq clearly knew what he was doing. He was carrying out Quranic punishment. He believed pubic execution would be the best form of deterrence.

It certainly affected me. Even some 27 years later I still have clear memories of that day. I am sure lot of others who witnessed that event would remember that too.

But I haven’t committed murder because of that experience. It was because I believe it is wrong. It is an offence. One of my neighbours who also witnessed the hanging was arrested shortly afterwards for attempted murder! Apparently the incident did not deter him.

Following the murder of lawyer Najeeb lots of people are calling for the death penalty. Perhaps the loudest argument in favour of it is that it would deter offenders. I will come back to the issue of deterrence, but there are a lot of issues in this debate, which in a short article, one cannot do full justice to.

Some are legal issues that I am aware of from my professional work. The death penalty is very expensive to administer. It is a lucrative area for lawyers as appeals will take years. Do we want a justice system that costs the Maldivian people even more than imprisonment? It can also be arbitrary where the quality of the defence counsel will determine the outcome as much as the actual guilt of the suspect.”

Read More.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

“We must stop spending beyond our means”: Dr Hassan Saeed

“As I said two years ago and repeat today, we must stop spending beyond our means,” explains Dr Hassan Saeed, Special Advisor to the President and leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), writing for Haveeru.

“We need to redefine the role of government. Its core purpose should be to provide efficient services to the public not job creation for a privileged few. Instead we need the government to be supporting entrepreneurship amongst our people and the creation of small and medium sized businesses which are able to innovate and foster efficiencies in our economy.”

“Population consolidation needs to start so we can deliver public services fairly to all people as well realising economies of scale in delivery. This cannot be just an aspiration; action has to start now.”

“If nothing is done, there will, very soon, be an abrupt turn-off of the spending tap, with a vast deficit to deal with, leading to many unpredictable consequences.”

Read More…

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

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

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Are we getting bogged down in the process?: Dr Hassan Saeed

“The political process affects us all and can make a real difference to people’s lives. Politics should be about real things that matter to people. But do politicians and the public talk about the same things, even when both are focused on the issues?,” asks Dr Hassan Saeed in his latest comment piece for local newspaper Haveeru.

Dr Hassan, leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Special Advisor to President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan,  gives his opinion on the need to put political processes into a wider perspective.

“I say that when we are heading into a period when matters other than politics are likely to be at the forefront of ordinary citizens minds. I’m talking about the Euro Football Championship and of course Ramazan.

This natural break presents an opportunity for politicians to review how they operate.

Let me give an example of the different priorities for the public and politicians. I posed myself the question “What was the most important event in the Maldives last week”?

•    Was it progress on the Commission of Inquiry?
•    Was it the All Party Talks?
•    Was it the vote of confidence in the Majlis in the Speaker?
•    Was it MPs swapping parties?
•    Was it the drama on Usfasgandu?

No, it was the fatal stabbing of 16 year-old Mohamed Arham.”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Islam and Democracy: Dr Hassan Saeed

“The myth that Islam and democracy are incompatible should be discarded for good. Now we should talk less about the ‘transition to democracy’ and start talking more about the daily trials and tribulations of democracy. The international community should avoid the mistakes they committed in the Maldives,” writes the President’s Special Advisor and head of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Dr Hassan Saeed.

The article is the latest in a series of pieces Dr Hassan has written for local newspaper Haveeru.

“If we take just five countries Egypt (population 81 million), Indonesia (239 million) Pakistan (174 million), Bangladesh (148 million), Turkey (73 million), we see nearly three-quarters of a billion people on the Earth living in countries that would call themselves democracies and the vast majority of whose population celebrate the Muslim faith. The Maldives along with an increasing number of other smaller countries are also now in this position too.

As a result, the myth that Islam and democracy are incompatible should be discarded for good. Now we should talk less about the ‘transition to democracy’ and start talking more about the daily trials and tribulations of democracy. In other words we should see our Islamic faith and our democracy as a mainstream part of our lives. In doing this we demonstrate to the whole world that the extremists and terrorists who claim to act on their faith, without any popular mandate from the population they claim to represent, to be a tiny minority mainly hiding out in small failed states.

Stalwarts of democracies around the world have an obligation to ensure that the emerging Muslim democracies succeed. They should use every possible means to build and strengthen institutions, invest heavily in voter education and development of civil society. These are key to any successful transformation to a democracy. Only then the East and West can start speaking a common language – ie. the language of democracy.”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

What difference a 100 days makes: Dr Hassan Saeed

“In the Maldives, after the excesses of the Nasheed years, many people will instead have been looking for stable and dignified government,” writes Dr Hassan Saeed for local newspaper Haveeru.

That is why last week President Waheed marked his 100 days in office with a simple press conference, which through its demeanour demonstrated a strong contrast with the previous four years.

This contrast with the past was further reflected this week when Nasheed and his MDP celebrated and experienced justice at first hand. Judge Abdulla of Criminal Court to whom Nasheed, as the former President denied justice, this week, delivered justice to Nasheed!

The Government backed by the Attorney General’s legal opinion asked the police to evict President Nasheed and his MDP activists from the central government’s Usfasgandu land they have been occupying in the capital Male. The Government has a responsibility for the upkeep of that land so were well within their rights to seek control of property that they administer on behalf of the people.

The Police, seeking to clarify the legal basis of the Government decision, sought a court order from the Criminal Court. The Court decided that it cannot be clearly determined that the issue or case was within its mandate and therefore ruled that it cannot issue an order to dismantle the Usfasgandu area. This again shows that MDP allegations of one-sidedness of the Police and Judiciary are false.

Ironically the Chief Judge of the Court is Judge Abdullah whom Nasheed kidnapped and held in forceful custody for 21 days against court orders of all levels. Barely three months ago Nasheed planned to “abolish” lower courts and declared those judges “illegal”.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

“National Enquiry Commission – a process not an end,” Dr Hassan Saeed

Constitutional debate is vital to resolve the Maldives’ current political turmoil, but it should not dominate the agenda of the country’s politicians “to the exclusion of all else”, writes Dr Hassan Saeed for local newspaper Haveeru.

I have spent much of the last week in discussions about the National Enquiry Commission which of course has implications for the next Presidential election. And these are important issues. But their respective outcomes won’t by themselves solve all of our country’s problems.  At present, ‘normal’ politics is on hold whilst differing interpretations of the events leading up to and including February 7 swamp any other political dialogue.

I have already written about the issues that I believe will dominate the next election campaign. I believe voters will want to know which candidate and which party is most likely to deliver economic security and a better standard of living for themselves and their families.

So whilst the constitutional debate is vital and must be resolved we simply cannot afford for it to continue to dominate our political agenda to the exclusion of all else.

Anybody who wants to lead a country in the future needs to be able to finish the sentence ‘I will bring peace, stability and prosperity, to the Maldives by the following actions…….‘

We need to be offered a convincing scenario that credibly describes how the Maldives might move forward as a united country.

Will the outcome of the National Enquiry Commission bring some sort of closure?

Well it should help but it won’t be enough by itself. The views of activists on either side of this debate are so polarised that it’s hard to see how this could heal the divide.

The divisions in our country involve our hearts as much as our rational minds. There are some who will never change their views no matter what the outcome of the National Enquiry Commission is.

Read More

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

We need to focus on the development of key population centres in order to live within our means: Dr Hassan Saeed

“The public’s thirst for improved local facilities and services such as harbours for our islands or free healthcare seems to be unlimited,” writes Dr Hassan Saeed for local newspaper Haveeru.

“There is nothing wrong with this. We do need to listen to people’s hopes for the future. However we also need to recognise that we cannot do everything at once,” adds Dr Saeed, currently the leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Special Advisor to President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

“Like any household or business, our country also needs to live within its means. However up until last February our government was portrayed by some as a provider of unlimited funds often provided through international donors. Irresponsible politicians were happy to make the most of this with no thought for the future.

We were and continue to be in the position of a typical Maldivian who goes from one businessman to another businessman asking for help with medical treatment. This is exactly what the Maldivian government has been doing for years with international donors and the development institutions.

This generosity has been good for us; just as at a local level a Maldivian will be very grateful for the support for that medical condition I described. However the government and that person has to be aware that the generosity may not last forever.”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)