Tag: DRP

Criminal Court summons DRP MPs Ali Waheed and Mahlouf

The Criminal Court has ordered main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Ali Waheed and Ahmed Mahlouf to appear before the court to face charges of obstruction of police duty.

Mahlouf told Minivan News today that the case was most likely regarding a DRP protest held outside the presidential residence Muleeage earlier this year that led to violent confrontations with riot police.

”Yesterday Ali Waheed and I received a chit from the Criminal Court saying that a hearing would be conducted on the 29th [Monday],” he received. ”It stated that the charges were ‘obstructing police duty’.”

The DRP MP for Galolhu North added that ”unlike president Mohamed Nasheed, we do not go breaking laws one after the other.”

”That night we were not obstructing police duties and we were not engaging in any unlawful activities,” he insisted. “We were exercising our right to free expression and freedom of assembly.”

Mahlouf said that he was “very pleased” that President Nasheed decided to prosecute him because ”the international community would understand how democratic Nasheed is.”

”He says he would never arrest [opposition] politicians, but he is arresting and charging young politicians and MPs in the country,” he said.

The DRP protest in January that marched to Muleeage turned violent, resulting in injuries to both police officers and demonstrators.

Following the unrest, Ali Waheed and Mahloof were summoned to police headquarters and questioned about their role in the protest.

At the time, Mahloof and Ali Waheed, also DRP Deputy Leader, exercised their right to remain silent.

Regulations currently in place on public gatherings, enforced by presidential decree under the former government, prohibits demonstrations outside certain designated areas, including Muleeage and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) headquarters.

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Ministerial appointment system “defective”, says MP Nasheed

The process of appointing cabinet members has been criticised as ‘defective’ by an Kuludufushi-South MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed, who has claimed that constitutional changes within the Supreme Court will be required to address the nation’s ongoing political deadlock.

The independent MP today told Minivan News that yesterday’s votes on ministerial appointments, which saw a boycott of the sitting by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs before the approval of just five of 12 cabinet posts by the opposition majority parliament, may require court intervention before being settled.

The claims comes as Miadhu today reported that Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, head of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), threatened to turn to the Supreme Court if the seven ministers rejected in yesterday’s vote remained in office.

Despite the stalemate over the cabinet appointment issue, MP Nasheed said parliament today functioned “normally” with a number of bills under discussion, such as the proposed strike legislation.

However, the independent MP claimed that differences of opinion, particularly between the MDP and the DRP, highlighted to all sides that there were “defects” within the constitution concerning ministerial appointments.

The appointment process remained “beyond resolution” in a highly partisan political environment.

“The [current] political environment is not conducive for a resolution within parliament,” he explained.

According to Nasheed, this difference of opinion stems from two very different processes of thought currently within parliament.

MDP rationale, Nasheed said, was that cabinet ministers could only be rejected under a motion of no-confidence that required 39 parliamentary votes to pass. However, he added, opposition groups remained unable to table possible no-confidence motions for cabinet members that had not been appointed by the Majlis.

These differences, he suggested, revealed a major defect in the appointment process.

“Only when all these processes are agreed can there be a cabinet,” he added. “I think the matter will need to be resolved through the Supreme Court.”

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that parliamentary rules required 39 votes to pass a no confidence motion concerning an individual cabinet minister.

With individual voting for every appointee during yesterday’s sitting falling short of the number of votes required for a no-confidence motion, Zuhair said the President “is happy the ministers are rightfully in place.”

He claimed that ministerial appointments were “not a case of popularity, but confidence”.

All 12 cabinet ministers were reinstated to their positions in July following a protest resignation about what they claimed were the “scorched earth” politics of the opposition-majority parliament.

Despite talks of legal action from the opposition, Parliamentery Speaker Abdulla Shahid – himself a DRP MP – said he was optimistic that the rival parties could reach an “amicable solution” within the current political framework.

“I am urging parties to engage in dialogue,” said Shahid, who claimed the ministerial statemate created by yesterday’s decision would not adversely affect important upcoming legislation such passing the 2011 budget.

Shahid told Minivan News that despite its fledgling status, Maldivian democracy “had a history of engaging in dialogue to overcome political deadlocks. We will find an amicable solution.”

Despite ongoing uncertainty resulting from issues such as the cabinet appointments, Shahid added that it was vital to establish ‘customs and norms’ within the Maldives’ parliamentary proceedings.

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Parliament only approves 5 out of 12 ministerial appointees

After three weeks of stalemate, parliament today voted to approve five out of a dozen cabinet ministers reappointed by President Mohamed Nasheed in July, while MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) boycotted the sitting before voting began.

Seven ministers – Finance Minister Ali Hashim, Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi, Home Minister Mohamed Shihab, Defence Minister Ameen Faisal and Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad – did not receive a majority of votes from the 42 MPs in attendance.

The five ministers who won approval were Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam, Health Minister Aminath Jameel, Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari, Human Resources Minister Dr Hassan Latheef and Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that the cabinet will remain in place as “the only way to remove a minister is with 39 votes” through a no-confidence motion, pointing out that none of the seven nominees who failed to win consent received 39 votes against.

“No consent does not amount to no-confidence,” he explained, adding that today’s votes showed that “overall the Majlis has confidence in the cabinet.”

Zuhair said that the opposition parties failure to secure 39 votes “demonstrates splits” in their ranks.

The cabinet resigned en masse in June protesting the “scorched-earth policies” of parliament, accusing the opposition majority of corrupt practices, deliberate obstruction and attempts to wrest executive control from the government.

Aftermath

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, “Reeko” Moosa Manik, MDP parliamentary group leader revealed that he “asked the parliamentary group to remain silent even if the Speaker acts in violation of the rules and to leave the Majlis and step aside.”

Feydhoo MP Alhan Fahmy argued that after the Supreme Court ruled that article 171(e), which allows nominees to be interviewed by committee, could not be applied “the whole process has to be undone” since the invalidated provision was in place when the nominees were reviewed by the government oversight committee.

Appointing cabinet members was a “fundamental power” of the president under the constitution, said Alhan, adding that parliament had to pass no-confidence motions to dismiss the ministers who did not receive parliamentary consent.

“What we saw today in the Maldives parliament was a decision made in absence of the ruling party by the opposition party on their own,” he said. “I note that by this decision, instead of helping the administration govern, they have deliberately obstructed the government.”

Alhan condemned the opposition for “acting dictatorially” by “using parliamentary power irresponsibly” to dismiss ministers the DRP were unhappy with.

“I wonder if the DRP can give any justification as to why they did not give consent to [Attorney General] Dr Sawad,” he said. “For example, they can say something about not approving the Home Minister by talking about the police and what’s happening on the street. But why would they not give consent to Dr Sawad?”

Meanwhile, DRP MP for Galolhu South Ahmed Mahlouf dismissed the government’s as “the talk of madmen.”

Mahlouf argued that 39 votes were not needed to remove a minister as the constitution specifies that consent must be given by “MPs present and voting.”

“We voted for the people we believe are competent,” he said. “I do not believe the rest of them are ministers anymore. They should immediately give up their official cars and other state assets and they should not go to work tomorrow.”

While the MDP MPs maintain that Finance Minister Ali Hashim would still present the 2011 budget, Mahlouf claimed that he “certainly would not allow Ali Hashim to enter the Majlis.”

He further insisted that DRP’s voting reflected the will of the public and not personal prejudice: “[Defence Minister] Ameen Faisal was involved in the November 3rd coup and we tabled a no-confidence motion against [Education Minister] Luthfy when the cabinet resigned and Ali Hashim has sold our airport.”

He added that the opposition voted to approve ministers they believed were “competent and performing”, such as Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam and Islamic Minister Dr Bari.

“For example, we voted for Dr Bari because we believe that if we didn’t the President might appoint somebody like [Aishath] Velezinee (President’s member on the Judicial Services Commission) as Islamic Minister. We didn’t want to take that risk.”

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DRP Leader, Parliament Speaker dismiss bribery allegations

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid – also a DRP MP – have dismissed allegations republished in local media that they each accepted bribes of US$1 million from Indian infrastructure giant GMR to stall parliament sittings until the GMR-Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) consortium took over management of Male’ International Airport.

Parliament Majority Leader Thasmeen dismissed the rumours as “a total fabrication” linked to opposing political agendas while Speaker Shahid said he had “never met [GMR officials] and never been offered anything.”

“These allegations originated in an internet site called the Dhivehi Post,” Thasmeen told Minivan News today. “If you go through it you can make a reasonable guess as to who they support.”

He added that the party’s opposition to the GMR airport deal had not changed as DRP signed an agreement with four opposition parties in parliament to oppose the leasing of the international airport.

Managing Director of GMR Male International Airport Limited P Sripathy described the claims as “totally false and baseless, and very disappointing and damaging to our reputation. We have never met any members of the opposition to date.”

“The GMR Group is in Male’ on serious business – to build a world class, benchmark airport that people of Male’ and the Group will be very proud of,” he added.

The rumours of the senior DRP officias  accepting bribes from GMR surfaced in the Dhivehi Post blog earlier this month, a website that routinely refers to President Mohamed Nasheed as “bipolar” and “ganjabo” (marijuana smoker).

The DRP, DQP, JP and PA formed an opposition coalition in June to protest against the airport deal, on nationalistic grounds. Deputy Leader of the DRP Umar Naseer told Minivan News on June 28 that ” if [the operators] allowed it, an Israel flight can come and stop over after bombing Arab countries.”

The government has alleged that opposition to the airport deal stems from the “vested interests” of certain MPs, several of whom it arrested following the resignation of cabinet on June 29 in protest against the “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament.

The fuel trade is the most immediately lucrative part of the airport deal, Minivan News understands, and is a key reason behind both GMR’s interest and the government’s decision to award the contract to the Indian infrastructure giant. GMR has told Minivan News it will amalgamate the trade under one umbrella, a decision that will likely affect current third party suppliers.

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Parliament immobilised for third week running over cabinet endorsement issue

The parliament sitting today was again cancelled this morning, with the political deadlock over the cabinet endorsement issuing immobilising the legislative branch of government for the third week runnig.

Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid canceled the sitting and suggested the political parties come to an understanding over the cabinet endorsement issue, the same request he made last week.

The previous sitting was also canceled after the opposition and ruling party MPs clashed over the issue of cabinet endorsement, and MPs refused to debate other bills.

The opposition and the ruling party MPs have been continuously blaming each other for parliament’s repeated cancellation.

Opposition MPs claim that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs were declining to follow the parliament’s rules of procedure and alleged they were trying to influence parliamentary proceedings.

Opposition MPs have demanded individual approval of each member of the cabinet, and announced that they intend to disapprove six current cabinet ministers.

However, MDP MPs believe that the parliament should amend the rules of procedure and shall give consent to the cabinet as a whole rather than voting individually, as the no-confidence motion already exists.

President Mohamed Nasheed has said in his weekly radio address that although the parliament voted to dismiss any member of the cabinet, they will still remain in office, despite parliament’s disapproval.

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan once again said that MDP MPs were deliberately forcing the speaker to cancel the parliament by constantly creating point of orders, to try and dismiss the cabinet endorsement issue from parliament’s agenda.

”After what the president said during his radio address, we were comforted at the thought that MDP MPs would remain silent as they were told and would let the cabinet endorsement issue continue,” said Nihan. ”We condemn this act of the ruling party, it is regrettable that the parliament has malfunctioned for nearly three weeks now.”

Nihan said there was a lot of other work that the parliament needs to complete.

”There will be the budget that has to be passed by the end of November, work on the Tax Bill is also at a halt, and the committee meetings as well,” he said.

He called on all the political parties to discuss the issue and to arrive to a common understanding so that the parliament could reinstate its work.

President Nasheed said during his weekly radio address that disapproval by parliament would mean ministers would be dismissed, and suggested MDP MPs to remain silent during the vote so parliament’s agenda could proceed.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that it was unfair to say that only MDP MPs were responsible for the parliamentary deadlock.

”The real issue is due to a misconception in the meaning of the constitution, for there are MPs in the parliament who still have an ancient way of translating the constitution,” said Zuhair. ”It is regrettable that the parliament have arrived to a halt .”

Zuhair said the opposition was now effectively obstructing the president from establishing his government.

”Some of them cannot accept defeat and are attempting to obstruct the president from establishing a government,” he said. ”

Speaker Shahid said that the next sitting will be held tomorrow.

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DRP to hold gathering to commemorate ‘Victory Day’

The main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced it will hold a special gathering tonight to celebrate ‘Victory Day’, a public holiday held in remembrance of those who died in the November 3 coup attempt in 1988.

The Maldives was attacked by 80 armed mercenaries linked to the Sri Lankan terrorist group, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom requested Indian intervention and 1600 paratroopers were deployed to the Maldives. 19 people were killed in the fighting, including several hostages taken by the mercenaries.

The escaping mercenary vessel was intercepted by the Indian Navy frigates INS Godavari and INS Betwa.

“We will gather and march in the main roads of Male’, said DRP MP Ahmed Nihan. “People who are attending are requested to wear black clothing because it was a dark and saddening day for the Maldives.”

Nihan criticised the government for not commemorating the day “as they should be”, accused several senior members of the government of collaborating with the mercenaries, and further claimed that the Maldives secured its own independence before the intervention of the Indian government.

“Anyone is welcome to join our gathering tonight, it is remembrance of the martyrs who passed away in the attack, and the black clothing resembles the sadness and darkness Maldivians were in back then,’’ he added.

Nihan said the gathering would begin at 8:45pm at the Artificial Beach and continue for an hour.

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Police clash with journalists during opposition protests

Several journalists from different media organisations have reported violent police attacks on journalists covering the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led protest last night.

The protest began last night as a gathering in front of party’s head office, but degenerated into a riot when protesters marched to the President’s official residence of Muleeage.

Police attempted to restrict the activists from going any further when they reached Sosun Magu, but demonstrators broke through police lines and continued their march.

A journalist from Miadhu, Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV, one from newspaper Miadhu and a photographer from Haveeru reported they were attacked by the police.

The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.

Editor of DhiTV Midhath Hilmy claimed that three journalists from DhiTV were injured during the riot.

“One was hit by a tear gas canister and his head was bleeding, another journalist’s leg was injured,” said Midhath. “Police hit another DhiTV journalist three times in a chest with a baton.”

Midhath said all the journalists from DhiTV was wearing their press identification and were carrying video cameras.

Police were the persons supposed to protect the journalists, Midhath said, adding that he regretted the police attacks and hoped it would not occur next time.

‘’According to video footage take by journalists, I can see police have tried to stop the coverage and sometimes had covered the camera by putting their hands on it,’’ he said. “They also ordered the media to stop the coverage.’’

Editor of Miadhu Abdul ‘Gabbe’ Latheef told Minivan News that according to the injured Miadhu journalist, the police attacked her with baton while she was showing them her press card.

‘’She told me that some of the police referred to her rudely, while other police officers provided assistance to her,’’ said Latheef. “The media should condemn these actions.”

Latheef said he understood that the police were in a difficult situation and  “had communication errors and difficulty identifying journalists.”

‘’The case should be investigated by an independent body,’’ he added.

Local media reported that police actions were violent and hostile, and that police attacked the journalists deliberately while they were staying in the area police officers had advised them to remain in.

However, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam denied the claims and said some of the journalists working in the area had begun to show the characteristics as the opposition activists and engaged in hostile confrontations with the police.

‘’Some journalists opposed police orders and refused to stay in the security zone,” Shiyam said. “It would have gone smoothly if they had worked according to the orders,’’ said Shiyam. “Some journalists who opposed the police were moved away by using force.’’

He also claimed that journalists had tried to break the police lines and pass through the cordon. A Minivan News journalist was meanwhile obstructed from entering the area to cover the incident.

President of the Maldives Journalist Association Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir described the incident as “a black day for journalism in the Maldives”, and claimed that at least nine reporters were attacked by police with batons and shields.

“We will investigate each and every injury and ask journalists to send us their accounts of the incident.”

While those injured “were members of the mainstream media, reputable journalists”, Hiriga said he had heard reports that there might have been other journalists in the area “from an underground website”.

“It is an issue and some people have argued that the government should issue media accreditation,” Hiriga said. “The MJA doesn’t agree the government should do this – it needs to be an independent body.”

Image courtesy Maldives Journalists Association.

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Police to investigate vandalism of Supreme Court

Police have launched an investigation into the last week’s vandalism of the Supreme Court, the former palace of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, after black oil was sprayed onto  the walls of the building,

The vandalism occurred during a week of opposition-led protests, triggered by a disagreement with the government over the process of endorsing the reappointment of cabinet ministers. The Supreme Court last week ordered the parliament to delay the cabinet endorsement until the court delivers a ruling.

The court also issued a statement calling the act “disgraceful”, claiming that it “tarnishes the reputation of the court.”

The Supreme Court has now filed the case with police. Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police were investigating the matter, but that so far nobody had been arrested in connection with the crime.

The court also said the official name board of the court was also sprayed with the oil.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom said DRP’s protests were not an objection to the ruling of the Supreme Court.

“We protested to express our concern over the actions of the government for disrespecting the constitution and deliberately attempting to delay the cabinet endorsement,’’ said Mausoom.

Mausoom said DRP’s protest last week was concluded “precisely on the decided time”, and that it had no connection with the act of vandalism.

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Tear gas used in second night of protests

Police used teargas to disperse a crowd of opposition supporters outside the President’s Residence of Muleaage last night, following a second night of protests.

The protests have been sparked by a parliamentary deadlock after the Supreme Court granted the government a temporary injunction on Monday, blocking the endorsing of cabinet ministers until a ruling on the process can be issued.

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) wants to endorse ministers individually, while the government claims the procedure is “ceremonial” and that this would be tantamount to a series of no-confidence motions.

Shortly before midnight, police took 15-20 DRP members into custody including Ali Arif and MPs Ahmed Mahloof and Ahmed Nihan, after the gathering left behind the main group of protesters near Sultans Park and approached Muleaage. demanding to see President Mohamed Nasheed.

“We are seeing a rising dollar crisis, housing crisis and many other things – look at the long line of people outside the Bank of Maldives every morning,” said Nihan.

“We called out to Nasheed to come out and meet us to solve these problems. We told police it was a peaceful gathering.”

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrived five minutes later, Nihan said.

“MP Mahlouf was severely injured because of pepper spray. Mahlouf and Arif were handcuffed and we were taken to police headquarters and detained for an hour without reason. It was very peaceful, and we sat on cushioned chairs,” Nihan stated.

Police apprehended the group at 11:35pm, he said. “Very few of us made it though to Muleaage. The rest of the demonstrators were near Sultans Park.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the MPs and demonstrators “were not really arrested. They tried to cross the MNDF line and police tried to send them back, but they were eventually taken to police headquarters,” he said.

No injuries were reported to protesters or police, he said.

Miadhu reported minority opposition Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim as saying that the handcuffing of MPs was “unjust and illegal”.

“The police should be the furtherest of people away from being unjust and oppressive. They should not be biased to any party or any colour,” Gasim told Miadhu.

Nihan emphasised that the DRP was not disputing the Supreme Court’s injunction on the cabinet re-endorsement.

“We will always take into consideration the rule of law to ensure it prevails – in any court, not just the Supreme Court,” Nihan said.

“The government needs to accommodate the opposition, and accept that we are not out to topple them but rather to make them accountable,” he said.

The Supreme Court has meanwhile released a statement condemning “uncivilised” vandalism of the building last night, after crude oil was thrown on the walls, vegetation and name board around midnight.

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