Tag: DRP

New MDP President summons political appointees “to make government accountable”

Newly-elected Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President and former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi has said that he will summon political figures in the current government and question them regarding the fulfilling of the pledges made by the party.

“Those in political positions received those positions from the party. I am legally obliged, and it is also my responsibility, to query them,’’ Dr Didi said, speaking to the people of Thoddu in North Ari Atoll. The island is the constituency of opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader, MP Ali Waheed.

Dr Didi said he will summon senior officials from the Works Corporation to determine whether solutions for Thoddu’s sewerage system of Thoddu had been found, and also said he would summon officials from the Education Ministry to discuss the challenges to improving the education system in Thoddu.

New Deputy Leader of MDP and MP Alhan Fahmy, MP Ilyas Labeeb, MDP Thoddu branch president Hassan Shiyan and Thoddu Council member Ali Naseer spoke at the rally held in Thoddu.

Speaking at the rally, Alhan criticised the oppositio, saying that the biggest challenge for today was that there is no responsible opposition party in the Maldives.

‘’The future of this nation lies in the hands of youths. Ali Waheed is also a person who needs political progression. He can make progress in politics by joining MDP,’’ said Alhan, urging Ali Waheed to join MDP.

Rumors are currently circulating in the Maldivian press that Waheed has already joined the MDP, and that the party was planning to hold a special ceremony to celebrate it, however Waheed was unavailable for comment at time of press.

MDP Secretary General Ahmed Shah said he had no information that Waheed had joined MDP.

”Lately everyone on the MDP podium has been calling on Waheed to join the MDP,” said Shah. ”It may happen – I think that is the reason why everyone is speaking about it and rumors are being spread.”

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DRP considers legal action against Z-DRP, dismisses faction’s presidential ambitions

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has raised the possibility of legal action against the Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP) faction formed by some of its members last month, claiming it had infringed opposition party’s rights to its name and logo and threatened to “confuse” supporters ahead of the 2013 election.

DRP Deputy Leader and spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef told Minivan News that although he believed the Z-DRP had acted in a manner that would put off voters looking for a change to the current government, he was concerned about possible confusion among voters over the identity of the opposition’s leadership.

He claimed that after repeated requests to try and require party members aligned to the Z-DRP to work within the main party’s constitution and avoid criticising and attacking its leadership, party heads were now considering how to deal with what they see as dissent in the ranks.

Formed amidst an ongoing dispute between serving DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Z-DRP aims to represent the former national leader and his supporters. The faction includes serving MPs including Ahmed Mahlouf and dismissed deputy leader Umar Naseer, who led seven days of protests in the capital last week.

The Z-DRP and its supporters have been critical of Thasmeen and his role in opposing the government of President Mohamed Nasheed.

Referring particularly to what he said were party concerns about the by the Z-DRP of the party’s name and imagery, Shareef said he did not rule out the possibility of legal action being taken against registered party members belonging to the faction backing former President Gayoom over allegations they were infringing on the DRP’s image.

“The DRP council has recently met and passed legislation to give authority to the party’s leader [Thasmeen] to deal with the situation and protect the party’s name,” he said. “If it is deemed that matters warrant legal action then we will take it through the courts.”

Umar Naseer and the Z-DRP leadership had not responded to Minivan News at time of press.

After officially beginning work as the Z-DRP last month, Umar Naseer who is a prominent figure in the factional group, was yesterday reported claiming the faction was near to announcing its own presidential candidate for general elections scheduled for 2013, according to the Miadhu newspaper.

Speaking yesterday to assembled journalists, Naseer was reported to have said that the faction represented the “real DRP” for party supporters and had a strong chance of winning the presidential elections in two years time.

Along with working to try and form a parliamentary council under the Z-DRP banner, Naseer claimed that the faction would reveal its presidential candidate following a primary he expected to be held at a congress next year.

Shareef denied that the announcement of a Z-DRP presidential candidate would be a concern to the coutnry’s main opposition party, claiming the public were now becoming used to democratic processes.  However, he accepted that there was a danger that some people were becoming confused as to who the DRP’s leader actually was.

“I don’t believe [a Z-DRP presidential candidate] is a concern.  After what will be five years of democracy in the country, I believe people are more aware and will not vote for people who are unable to follow their own party’s constitution,” he claimed.  “I don’t think we have to fear about the impact of the Z-DRP.”

Speaking earlier this year regarding a possible split between different factions in the DRP, MP Ahmed Nihan, who is among the members of the Z-DRP, said that he had been the designer of the DRP’s sailboat logo and under recently passed intellectual property laws, he held the rights to the image.

“I designed the logo, which received over 700 votes to be adopted as the symbol of the party on 21 July 2005,” he said. “If anyone tries to make a big deal of the issue then we can claim it. They have never paid me for the use of [the logo].”

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MDP council approves “direct action to defend government” on Friday

The National Council of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has approved a resolution to conduct “direct action to defend the government, the constitution of the Republic of the Maldives, the President of the Maldives and senior government officials” against an opposition-led protest planned for Friday afternoon.

“Following disturbances over the past three nights, the [opposition allied] parties said [Monday night] that as they do not recognise the President and consider the government inept, their real purpose is to gather people to the capital Male’ from all across the country on Friday, May 6, 2011, to take the President out to the Republic Square, remove him from office in the presence of the police and army, and then torture and kill the President along with ministers and MDP leaders,” the resolution states.

The MDP resolution adds that as the opposition parties’ “decision to carry out this brutal deed was announced openly and publicly on VTV and DhiTV at 2.30pm last night [Monday night]” a council sub-committee shall be formed to determine the measures to be taken “in defence of the state.”

The committee consists of newly-elected MDP President Dr Ibrahim Didi, Vice-President Alhan Fahmy and MP “Reeko” Moosa Manik, leader of the party’s parliamentary group.

While the protests have adversely affected the public, school children and shops in the busy intersection of Chandanee Magu and Majeedhee Magu, the MDP resolution claims that corrupt ministers of the former government, wealthy businessmen and resort owners capable of controlling the dollar supply were leading and orchestrating the demonstration “in the name of youth”.

The resolution further accuses the protestors of “misleading the international community and the public” by spreading false information using opposition-aligned media.

Bad blood

Moosa meanwhile claimed today that a large group of opposition protesters broke into the house where his three children use to live, Henveiru Zeeniya, and made death threats against them and their grandmother before causing damage inside the residence.

“Fortunately, my children don’t live there anymore,” Moosa told the MDP website.

Moosa alleged that the group was acting on orders from Umar Naseer of Gayoom’s faction of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), whose dismissal as Deputy Leader precipitated the rancorous split in the party.

On the second night of the protests, VTV showed footage of Moosa getting hit on the head with a rock while he was attempting to confront the protesters with a group of MDP activists.

Umar Naseer told Minivan News that “Moosa Manik must have been drunk and he probably meant to say Mohamed Nasheed and mistakenly said ‘Umar Naseer’.”

He called on Moosa to clear his car’s trunk, referring to the incident where some alcohol bottles were discovered inside a car belonging to Moosa, an incident over which Moosa sacked his driver claiming it was a set up.

Naseer added that protests would continue this evening, starting from the artificial beach.

”The youth are organising these protests, and we are taking part in it,” he insisted.

The National Council of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) approved a resolution Tuesday to determine direct action to “defend the government, the constitution of the Republic of the Maldives, the President of the Maldives and senior government officials” against an opposition-led protest planned for Friday afternoon.

“Following disturbances over the past three nights, the allied parties said [Monday night] that as they do not recognise the President and consider the government inept, their real purpose is to gather people to the capital Male’ from all across the country on Friday, May 6, 2011, to take the President out to the Republic Square, remove him from office in the presence of the police and army, and then torture and kill the President along with ministers and MDP leaders,” the resolution states.

The MDP resolution adds that as the opposition parties’ decision “to carry out this brutal deed was announced openly and publicly on VTV and DhiTV at 2.30pm last night (Monday night)” a council sub-committee shall be formed to determine the measures to be taken “in defence of the state.”

The committee consists of newly-elected MDP President Dr Ibrahim Didi, Vice-President Alhan Fahmy and MP “Reeko” Moosa Manik, leader of the party’s parliamentary group.

While the protests has adversely affected the public, school children and shops in the busy intersection of Chandanee Magu and Majeedhee Magu, the MDP resolution claims that corrupt ministers of the former government, wealthy businessmen and resort owners capable of controlling the dollar supply were leading and orchestrating the demonstration “in the name of youth”.

The resolution further accuses the protestors of “misleading the international community and the public” by spreading false information using opposition-aligned media.

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Conflicting reports on death of elderly man following violent protests

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the government had not been officially informed of the death of an elderly man who reportedly died after being injured by police attempts to disperse the crowd during yesterday morning’s protests.

Police spokesperson Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam meanwhile said the police had not received any such complaints about a death of an elderly man in the riot. Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) also told Minivan News that it had not received any information about a fatality during the protests.

However, local radio station SunFM reported State Home Minister Mohamed Naeem as saying that an elderly man who was in the riot was injured that admitted to hospital, and died later that evening.

”An elderly man was injured that night and we received news that he passed away that same evening,” SunFM quoted Naeem as saying. ”Some say he died because of his injuries while others say he died of a heart attack, but this has to be confirmed.”

”We have not so far received any official reports regarding incident,” said Zuhair, insisting that police had been “very professional” and had the government’s full confidence.

”We have every confidence in the police to protect the state,” Zuhair said. ”The government welcomes peaceful gatherings but will not tolerate any sort of violence. In no country do the police tolerate this amount of violence.”

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Shops vandalised, police station damaged in third night of violent protests

A third night of violent protests in Male’ ended around 4:00am this morning after the windowpanes of a police station were smashed, shops vandalised and fires started across the city.

Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd gathered at the intersection of Male’s main street Majeedee Magu and the tourist strip Chaandhanee Magu, the focal point of the protests so far, after a group of MDP activists arrived and clashed with opposition protesters and young people around 11:30pm.

The two sides were separated by police but continued attacking each other with bricks and bottles. Police appealed for people to leave the area and eventually dispersed the crowd at 12am using tear gas.

“Police dispersed the two crowds using tear gas to minimise the amount of force that would need to be applied,” Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News.

Police, he said, had noticed that “once the criminal activity starts most people leave the protest.”

A group of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists then gathered outside the house of the former President’s half brother, Abdulla Yameen, before being moved on by police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

Meanwhile, anti-government protesters gathered outside the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) building.

“The opposition [demonstrators] gathered in the area for 1-2 hours and started several fires in the road before they were dispersed with teargas,” Shiyam said. “ Later they attacked a police building in Maafaanu and a police vehicle, vandalised the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) headquarters and set several more fires. They also smashed the window of the STO Home Improvement store. The opposition MPs who had gathered at the MMA building left when vandalism began.”

The remaining crowd kept moving, Shiyam said. “Most of those involved were people known by police to be involved in criminal activities.”

More than 30 people were eventually arrested. Some police officers were injured and police property was also damaged.

“We saw some protesters [hurt] but we received no reports of serious injuries,” Shiyam said.

Of the 52 people arrested for violence the previous evening, whom police claimed were connected to various gangs in Male’, most were subsequently released by the Criminal Court while “12-15” remain in police custody.

The opposition has maintained that the demonstrations against the government’s decision to implement a managed float of the rufiya are led by youth unhappy with rising commodity prices, despite the active involvement of dismissed opposition Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, and MPs Ilham Ahmed, Ahmed Mahlouf, Ali Waheed, and Ahmed Nihan.

The government has meanwhile accused former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s faction of the opposition of instigating and organising the protests.

“The government understands that many people are concerned about the economy and recent price rises and we are doing everything possible to ease the situation,” the President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said in a statement.

“Peaceful protest is legal and welcome in the Maldives’ new democracy. But former President Gayoom is taking advantage of economic situation to cause violence in the streets. These protests are more to do with Gayoom trying to shore up his position in the opposition, than the state of the economy,” he claimed.

“In the Middle East, you have democrats on the streets bringing down dictatorships. Ironically, in the Maldives, the remnants of the former dictatorship are trying to bring down democracy.”

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) meanwhile issued a press release urging people not to misuse the right to protest “and obstruct the media.”

The commission said that protesting late at night in densely populated areas “violates the right of many others.”

”We call on the police not to disperse the protests by using methods that harm the protesters and civilians,” HRCM said.

At a press conference today, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohamed Rishwan said protests would be restricted to the artificial beach and the tsunami monument areas in Male’, unless prior permission was given by police or Male’ City Council.

The government meanwhile defended its decision to float the currency within 20 percent of the pegged rate of Rf12.85 “as part of a package of measures introduced on the advice of the central bank, International Monetary Fund and other multi lateral organisations, in order to reduce the country’s budget deficit and stabilise the economy.

“According to the World Bank, in late 2008 the Maldives was in the worst economic situation of any country undergoing democratic reforms since 1950s. The budget deficit stood at 31 percent of GDP, inflation stood at 12 percent and the economy was reeling from a massive fiscal expansion which saw the government wage bill increase by almost 400 percent between 2004 and 2009.

“Since coming into office, the Nasheed administration has reduced the budget deficit from 31 percent to 16 percent of GDP, helped ease the chronic dollar shortage through a managed float of the Ruffiya and brought the economy from recession to 4 percent growth this year,” the President’s Office said in a statement.

The IMF has pressured the government to cut back on its disproportionate public sector wage bill, however austerity measures attempted last year ended up in a political stalemate and the government instead embarked on a program of corporatisation, allowing it to hire and fire while circumventing what it claimed was the opposition-driven machinations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Opposition spokesman Ibrahim Shareef has accused the MDP of financial mismanagement and recklessly increasing spending, without investing “in productive resources that ensure future revenue for the country, and reducing expenditure in areas that do not affect the people – such as foreign missions.”

“They need not reduce the civil service, because these are the lowest paid government employees and reducing their numbers would have not tangible effect. But the top players in government – the political positions – and positions in the paper companies created by the government are many areas [that can be reduced],” Shareef claimed.

The government recently announced an incentive programme to encourage public sector employees as young as 18 to leave the civil service, offering lump sum payments of between Rf 150,000 – Rf 200,000, which was positively received by the CSC.

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Police clash with protesters in crowded street injures “dozens”

A large crowd of mostly young people last night held a protest in Male’ against the rising cost of living, following a spike in import costs brought on by the government’s managed float of the rufiya – a decision which has led to a cost increase for dollar commodities of up to 20 percent.

Although the protest was led by opposition leaders, Minivan News observed many unfamiliar faces not identified as members of either major party.

The protest’s leadership consisted mostly of those from the ‘Z-DRP’ faction of the opposition loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, including MPs Ahmed Mahlouf, Ilham Ahmed and dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed, Jumhoory Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muthalib and other opposition allies were also present at the protest.

The group gathered near the artificial beach last night around 9:00pm and marched towards the tourist street of Chandhanee Magu, occupying the intersection with the main road of Majeedhee Magu. Minivan News observed many protesters sitting or lying down in the intersection, some having coffee.

Riot police initially blocked off vehicle access to the area, and waited without taking any action.

However at around 3:30am early on Sunday morning, police advised protesters to leave the area or otherwise they would use force to disperse the crowd.

The protesters declined to leave the area and continued protesting, whereupon police issued several warnings before throwing tear gas canisters into the crowd camped in the narrow and congested intersection, and moving in with shields and batons.

Male and female protesters were injured in the incident after being attacked with batons, while police claimed officers were injured in the effort after bricks were thrown. Protesters also pelted police with empty water bottles, empty cans and other such materials.

“One female officer was hit in the chest with a pavement stone, she is still hospitalised,’’ said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

While police were attempting to disperse the crowd, a motorbike in the area was destroyed by fire and the glass window of a nearby shop was broken.

After the violent attacks, police failed to completely disperse the crowd as the protesters continued to return to the area and gathering.

Local media SunFM and Haveeru News also reported that police used excessive force on their journalists taking coverage of the area.

Haveeru, which described the incident as a “deadly clash”, reported that its journalists were arrested after they refused to leave the area were told by a police spokesperson that even journalists wearing press identification could not stay in the area.

The protest lasted until 9:00am this morning, lasting a total of 12 hours.

Residents living in the densely-populated urban area surrounding the intersection have complained of women and children being affected by tear gas used by police used to control the riot.

News agency Associated Press reported Gayoom’s spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, as saying that dozens were hospitalised in the demonstration consisting of 5000 people rallying against “economic hardship, alleged government mismanagement and wasteful spending”, but was unable to raise a response from the Maldivian government. News of the incident quickly went international, appearing on the Washington Post and other major newspapers.

This afternoon the President’s Office released a statement condemning the violent protest as orchestrated by supporters of the former President.

“Scores of people were injured and shops and private property were damaged when protesters hurled bricks and other projectiles at the police. The police responded to the unprovoked assault with tear gas and made several arrests,” the statement said.

“The protest was orchestrated by the Z-DRP, a faction of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, which is under the control of former President Gayoom.”

President Mohamed Nasheed’s spokesperson, Mohamed Zuhair, added that “peaceful political activity, such as the right to protest, is legal – and indeed welcome – in the Maldives’ new democracy. But there can be no excuse for needlessly causing violence in the streets. We have numerous peaceful political rallies, protests, petitions and other forms of legitimate democratic activity throughout the year, which is a healthy part of our democracy. However, whenever Mr Gayoom’s supporters take to the streets, it always seems to end in violence and bloodshed,” Zuhair added.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News that he believed the protests, which he described as a “youth movement” rather than an opposition political gathering, had been building for some time amidst concerns regarding the government’s commitment to democracy and increased living costs.

“We feel the protests are overdue, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is not championing democracy like it promised,” he said.

Mausoom claimed that the prime areas where he believed the government had failed to bring about democratic reforms – a key policy area for the governing MDP party – were in freedom of expression and allowing protesters to demonstrate peacefully.

Although opposition parties like the DRP and the recently formed spin-off faction the Z-DRP were present at the protest, Mausoom said that they had been invited by local young people to support their concerns.

“This has been organised by young people [of the Maldives]. Opposition parties joined in support only after being invited. This was not a political movement, but a youth movement,” he claimed. “The protests were in themselves largely peaceful and we feel the police response was inappropriate.”

Mausoom added that he believed that the protesters should have been given the right to air their concerns and called on the government to address areas such as spending on political advertising and cutting living costs.

The opposition DRP has recently been split by infighting and violence between supporters of Gayoom and those of the party’s leader, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, triggered by the expulsion last year of Deputy Leader Umar Naseer from the party for organising protests without sanction from the DRP Council.

Both sides claimed the animosity within the party was cause it to “disintegrate“, and there was speculation that Gayoom’s supporters would form a spin-off opposition party. However last Thursday, two days before the protest, Gayoom’s faction officially announced that it was “commencing work” as the Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP), a separate branch of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

The Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP) faction today announced that it has officially commenced its work as a separate branch of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

An earlier protest on April 12 against the government’s currency decision ended peacefully, with both factions conducting separate rallies around Male’.

A currency in crisis

The government has struggled to cope with an exacerbating dollar shortage brought on by a high budget deficit – triggered by a spiralling public sector expenditure – in comparison with the foreign currency flowing into the country. Civil service expenditure has increased in real terms by 400 percent since 2002.

Banks subsequently demonstrated reluctance to sell dollars at the pegged rate of Rf 12.85, and high demand for travel, commodities and overseas medical treatment forced most institutions to ration their supply or turn to the flourishing blackmarket.

After a short-lived attempt to crack down on the illegal exchange of dollars, the government floated the rufiya within a 20 percent band, effectively allowing it to be sold at up to Rf 15.42 to the dollar.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been critical of the government’s growing expenditure despite a large budget deficit, praised the decision as a step towards a mature and sustainable economy.

“Today’s bold step by the authorities represents an important move toward restoring external sustainability,” the IMF said in a statement. “IMF staff support this decision made by the authorities. We remain in close contact and are ready to offer any technical assistance that they may request.”

However many companies dealing in dollar commodities immediately raised their exchange rates to Rf 15.42, along with the Bank of Maldives.

The government’s move, while broadly unpopular, acknowledges the devaluation of the rufiya in the wake of increased expenditure and its own inability to overcome the political obstacles inherent in reducing spending on the country’s bloated civil service.

Yet as Maldives relies almost entirely on imported goods and fuel, and many ordinary citizens have found themselves harshly affected by short-term spike in prices of up to 20 percent as the rufiya settles.

“We do not really know, based on the breadth of the domestic economy, what the value of the Maldivian rufiyaa is right now,” Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee admitted at a recent press conference.

The government has said it hopes the rufiya will stabilise within three months.

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Z-DRP faction officially commences work, denies backing presidential candidate

The Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP) faction today announced that it has officially commenced its work as a separate branch of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Formed amidst an ongoing dispute between serving DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Z-DRP aims to represent the former national leader and his supporters.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahouf told Minivan News today that the Z-DRP faction has now formed a council and a committee to officially organise and coordinate the work of the faction.

“Last night, our first meeting was held and it was chaired by Azima Shukoor,” Mahlouf said. “In the meeting, we decided to set up our own office.”

Mahlouf said that during the meeting, the group’s members raised concerns that DRP Leader Thasmeen had disconnected the phone lines of island-based party offices and that the Z-DRP faction was unable to have contact with them.

DRP MPs, including Thasmeen and Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef, were unavailable for comment about these claims when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.

“The committee we formed consists of Umar Naseer, MP Ilham Ahmed, myself, [Gayoom’s daughter] Yumna Maumoon, Azima Shukoor and Dr Saud” said Mahlouf.

Mahlouf also said that Thasmeen was accusing the Z-DRP faction of promoting the People’s Alliance (PA) party leader and half-brother of the former president, Yamin Abdul Abdul Gayoom as its candidate in the next presidential elections.

‘It’s all false accusations, we have decided to elect a person as presidential candidate only after going to a primary,” he said. “It could be anyone.”

He claimed that out of the 40,000 registered members belonging to the DRP, 30,000 were in support of the Z-DRP faction.

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Gayoom loses defamation case over NYT “looters” article

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has lost a long-running defamation case against the editor of Miadhu newspaper Abdul ‘Gabey’ Latheef.

Gayoom sued Latheef over an article published on June 13, 2010 which referenced allegations of corruption against the former President made in a New York Times (NYT) report.

That story was based on an audit report of former Presidential palace Theemuge, published by Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, a damning indictment of the former government’s spending habits.

These, according to the NYT article, included an estimated “US$9.5 million spent buying and delivering a luxury yacht from Germany for the president, US$17 million on renovations of the presidential palace and family houses, a saltwater swimming pool, badminton court, gymnasium, 11 speed boats and 55 cars, including the country’s only Mercedes-Benz.”

“And the list goes on, from Loro Piana suits and trousers to watches and hefty bills for medical services in Singapore for ‘important people and their families. There was a US$70,000 trip to Dubai by the first lady in 2007, a US$20,000 bill for a member of the family of the former president to stay a week at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore. On one occasion, diapers were sent to the islands by airfreight from Britain for Mr Gayoom’s grandson.”

Onus of proof

The Civil Court ruled today that as both articles were based on a state audit report, the information made public by the country’s first independent auditor general should be considered valid unless proven otherwise.

The court judgment added that there was no legal basis for individuals or media outlets to be held responsible for proving the truth or falsehood of an official audit report.

Delivering the judgment, Judge Mariyam Nihayath said that while the court believed the articles in question could be damaging to Gayoom’s reputation, information publicised in an audit report must be considered factual unless proven otherwise.

“Regardless of how damaging statements made or information provided is to the plaintiff’s honour or dignity, if the statement or information is true, [defamation law] states that it cannot be considered defamatory,” she said.

Latheef told Minivan News today that the court case was the first case Gayoom had lost in 32 years, and was a landmark case for freedom of the media.

“The media must be able to report on independent authorities such as the Auditor General’s Office or the Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said. “His lawyers said in court four or five times that they wanted to stop the media writing about these things.”

The court’s ruling meant that Gayoom was obliged to sue the source of the allegations, the Auditor General’s office, rather than the media that reported on it, Latheef said.

“[Gayoom] has been saying for three years he would take the Auditor General to court, but he hasn’t because he knows he will lose. But he thinks that, because I’m just an ordinary man, he can sue me,” he said.

Latheef said that one of Gayoom’s lawyers had approached him to settle out of court, but said he had refused as that would not have resolved the issue of media freedom at stake.

“They also approached me indirectly through some of my close friends to say why didn’t I settle and say sorry in court, and then they could support me. I said it was not compensation I needed.”

Latheef said Gayoom’s lawyers had told him after the verdict that they intended to appeal in the High Court.

“I am ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Latheef.

Gayoom’s spokesperson Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Shareef had not responded to Minivan News at time of press.

Head of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, said he agreed with the ruling and felt that it was a good precedent for the country’s journalists.

“The NYT reported on the audit report and Mr Latheef reported on the NYT story. I agree with the court’s judgement,” Hiriga said, concurring that the media was not under obligation to prove the veracity of official government reports.

“The authenticity of the audit report is a different question, and the accusation is that the Auditor General was biased and that the report was politically motivated. That was the basis of the argument by Gayoom’s lawyer,” Hiriga said.

“Politically motivated”

The opposition have steadfastly maintained that the report was a politically-motivated attempt to sully the then-president’s reputation prior to the election. Naeem was however appointed by Gayoom.

“It is common knowledge that Naeem’s audit reports were both politically-motivated and riddled with inaccuracies. References from such documents are unbecoming of professional journalists, albeit the MDP government utilises them as handbooks to achieve their political objectives,” said the DRP in a statement following publication of the article.

“The MDP government, in an year and a half of searching through its ‘presidential commission’, has failed to find anything that they can pin against President Gayoom to defame his character. The MDP government will continue to fail in their sinister plots,” the DRP statement read.

“The DRP will take all necessary action to alert the international community to the government’s sinister motives behind the allegations against the former president. We condemn the government for its continued attempts to shroud its incompetence in running the country behind cheap propaganda gimmicks.”

Naeem’s tenure following publication of over 30 audit reports, alleging rampant corruption and “organised crime” by the Gayoom administration, was short-lived.

On March 24 last year, Naeem sent a list of current and former government ministers to the Prosecutor General, requesting they be prosecuted for failure to declare their assets.  Naeem cited Article 138 of the Constitution that requires every member of the Cabinet to “annually submit to the Auditor General a statement of all property and monies owned by him, business interests and all assets and liabilities.”

He then held a press conference: “A lot of the government’s money was taken through corrupt [means] and saved in the banks of England, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Naeem said, during his first press appearance in eight months.

Five days later he was dismissed by the opposition-majority parliament on allegations of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), for purportedly using the government’s money to buy a tie and visit Thulhaidhu in Baa Atoll.

The motion to dismiss Naeem was put forward by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Deputy Speaker and member of opposition-allied People’s Alliance (PA), Ahmed Nazim, who the previous week had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the former Ministry of Atolls Development while he was Managing Director of Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd.

Nazim was today dismissing claims from opposition MPs that he has dodged Criminal Court summons regarding the matter eight times to date.

The parliament has meanwhile yet to approve a replacement auditor general, with the finance committee refusing to endorse any of the candidates put forward so far by President Mohamed Nasheed.

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Visit to Fares-Maathoda shows challenge of decentralised development

In the final part of a special report from the island of Fares-Maathoda, Minivan News looks at the challenges for communities developing beyond Male’s glance as they attempt to switch to decentralised governance and overcome their natural vulnerabilities.

Sitting in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, the conjoined landmasses making up the island of Fares-Maathoda present an environment that has seen little of the economic and infrastructure changes witnessed in the population hubs in North Male’ atoll.

Yet like everywhere else in the Maldives, the formation of island and Atoll councils following nationwide local elections in February 2011 has raised new challenges to bring about change on a more decentralised basis.

However, some opposition politicians believe that the government was “not fully prepared” in its plans to devolve power locally, and that has caused friction between the government and local councils over what exactly their roles and responsibilities are in relation to overseeing potential changes.

For the residents of Fares-Maathoda and the five-member council elected to serve them, these changes include a proposal to use aid funds from Denmark to try and offset continued flooding resulting from drainage and waste management issues as part of wider development aims.

Ibarahim Shareef, spokesperson and deputy leader for the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) told Minivan News that he believed a combination of a lack of experience among elected councillors and obstruction by central government was limiting the roles of individually elected councils to oversee and deal with projects such as development.

“There is disagreement over the role of councils and what duties are being issued to them. Our country is disintegrating around us,” Shareef claimed, accepting that divisions between the present and previous leaderships of his own party had added to the partisan atmosphere of the country’s political backdrop.

“We should get all the parties including the government and opposition groups to stick together and try and resolve the differences like this issue.”

Speaking earlier this month during a visit to Fares-Maathoda, two islands that were linked together in the 1990s by reclaiming area between them – a move that exacerbated flooding problems – UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox said he believed that environmental and development facing the country required cooperation from all stakeholders in light of decentralised government.

“What seems to be the case at the moment is that the decentralised structures [island and Atoll councils] are developing and that’s fine. But what that means at the moment is that until things become clearer in some of the areas where we need to work, we need to stay closely connected with everybody. Yet we appreciate the need for strong coordination,” he said.

“In the end, you need the right environment if you are going to attract large-scale funding. In actual fact for the money to come to the Maldives there needs to be a favourable environment for that and even more so there needs to be a good investment environment, because that’s the way that you are going to do large-scale projects.”

Cox was on Fares-Maathoda alongside representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Ministry of Housing and Environment, the National Office and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to meet with local councillors and outline how Danish donor aid for funding climate change adaptation would be allocated on the island.

Pointing to a sea-wall development riddled with flags, displaying the yellow of the MDP on one side and the blue of the DRP on the other, Cox suggested that was a powerful reflection of the country’s partisan political functioning and the challenges it created for decentralising aid distribution.

“You have the blue on one side and the yellow on the right, which typifies the Maldives more than anything else,” he added.

However, Cox claimed that rather than acting as a test for the viability of other collaborations with recently appointed local councillors in delivering aid, Fares-Maathoda represented the need for “development best practice” and how best to try and mitigate detrimental environment and economic factors over partisan thinking.

“In the end, people involved in a project need to be involved in its decision making. That’s the bottom line, so frankly I think if you succeed, you succeed and it’s good for development and everyone who is involved can take credit,” he said. “But if you fail, it’s important to know why you failed. Then you try and reflect that back when you expand an approach outwards than you better find a way of taken advantage of that knowledge and understanding and don’t do it again.”

However, Ibarahim Shareef said he believed that in opting to decentralise power following February’s elections, President Mohamed Nasheed and his fellow MDP members had been “shocked” by the number of island councils seats that fell to opposition parties like the DRP.

Shareef claimed that he believed the government was now aiming to try and centralise power in an apparent reversal of its original intentions.

“Local people have been in a long struggle for democracy, yet some are now questioning the wisdom of supporting democratic reform,” he said. “They have not got empowerment at the level they expected.”

Shareef said that despite these uncertainties regarding the exact role of local councils, everyone involved in the process of decentralisation needed to work together to set out what powers councillors did and did not have in order to function properly.

“It is in everyone’s interests to ensure they are working properly,” he claimed.

In a bid to try and help coordinate the development projects undertaken by local councils such as those bought forward by UN aid, the President’s Office announced the formation of seven national offices back in March that it claimed were not related between some isolated disputes with local councils.

Speaking from Fares-Maathoda during the UN visit, Mohamed Shareef, Deputy Minister of State for the Upper South Province national office, claimed that government coordination remained vital to ensure all councillors are sufficiently trained to oversee development and aid in the future.

Speaking to Minivan News, Mohamed Shareef said he believed that criticism of the national offices stemmed from incorrect presumptions that the government was acting against its own decentralisation plans by giving the president more power over the country.

To try and offset these criticisms the national office has said it is offering training programmes across the country in places like Thinadoo and Addu City that aim to provide information to councillors and outline their responsibilities.

“Councillors have come from many different walks of life, but many haven’t been in administration or management, so they are very new to these procedures and understanding them,” said Shareef. “They keep saying that there are no procedures, but it is just a matter of understanding what the procedures are. So we have to keep on running training programmes. The government has a very extensive programme to try and make the councillors and the public aware of the system.”

With the councils now in place, Shareef said that these training programmes would be vital to try and ensure the success of decentralisation. However, he accepted that there was a notable difference of opinion between whether more details and information should have been given to candidates and the public before electing councillors or whether the system should be fleshed out afterwards.

Despite criticisms that more education for the public and councillors on the exact purpose of decentralisation in the Maldives should have been in place before voting began, the national office claimed that it believed the best way – as has happened – was to start the programme and learn along the way.

“I think if we had earlier tried to make people understand what [the government] were trying to do, it would have been a difficult process. On the other hand, if you have bought the system and make everyone learn by experience it might have been easier for us – it could be debated either way,” Shareef said. “We were in need of immediate change that was for sure. So we wanted a change to be implemented and it was done very quick.”

In terms of main challenges facing national offices like those in the Upper South Province, Shareef said that the cost of running five member councils across the country was definately a concern.

“We have a very poor income and the country is very small in terms of people and resources. We can discover new resources in terms of tourism but the challenge lies in the expense of bring about these changes [local councils]. It is an expensive process.”

Shareef claimed that the national councils would ultimately like to see more responsibility being taken by local councillors in dealing directly with donor agencies such as the UN over development and aid projects, while it held a light coordination role in instead.

“This would allow the direct impact [of these funds] to be felt more closely by the councils. Otherwise we should have a major role. It’s not very easy for the government agencies,” he said. “In terms of being more responsible, I think the councils can very much have a role in making the maximum use of aid coming in.”

Mohamed Shareef added that the belief of the national councils was that training projects would be at the heart of granting more development roles to local councillors in the future.

“The vision of the government is that we are going to have a very big leap in terms of development by having decentralisation. So the councils need to be very responsible and capable if they want to take up these challenges,” he said. “It all depends on how capable the councils are. In one way it’s a big relief for the government that there are councils and governors who are interested in dealing with them. For the government, it doesn’t make it very easy, but it’s the way they want to go forward I guess.”

Ultimately, Shareef said that the main plan in the long-term for each council would be to have them become more technical and development orientated rather than trying to serve a particular party political interest.
“That was the stand with which the councils came into their position, but still we have some way to go to get the councils to realise they are a technical and development body and not a political body.”

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