Tag: DRP

Govt owes civil servants, says DRP

The amount reduced from civil servants pay this year constitutes “a debt owed to civil servants by the government” which had to be paid back, Kendhoo MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has said.

At an opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party rally in Gaaf Alif Villigili on Friday, the party’s newly elected leader said if the government refuses, the DRP would make sure that funds were allocated in next year’s budget to pay back civil servants.

Last month, the civil court ruled that the finance ministry did not have the authority to overrule the Civil Service Commission on determining salaries and allowances of civil servants.

While the commission ordered government ministries to prepare salary sheets to give out the restored salaries from January onward, the finance ministry has insisted that the “special economic circumstances” that warranted pay cuts in October last year had not passed.

“It is a debt owed to civil servants by the Maldivian government,” said Thasmeen. “It has to be paid back sometime. This is very clear in legal terms. The legal framework of the country does not allow the government to chip away at salaries whenever they want.”

The attorney general’s office has lodged an appeal at the High Court challenging the civil court ruling. The High Court has issued a preliminary injunction ordering all parties involved to restrain from any course of action until its final deliberation.

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President sacks economic minister

President Mohamed Nasheed has dismissed Minister of Trade and Economic Development Mohamed Rasheed from his post.

Rasheed belongs to the Gaumee Iththihaad Party (GIP), the same party as Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who has publicly voiced criticisms of the government and recently led a political rally to boost support for his party.

The President’s Spokesman Mohamed Zuhair said Nasheed has made the decision “based on the existing political realities on the ground.”

“It is nothing personal against the economic minister, and nothing to do with his performance,” Zuhair emphasised, although he noted that a likely outcome would be restructuring of the Ministry to be more “result-oriented”.

The decision to remove Rasheed from cabinet was made over the weekend but announced this morning, he said.

Meanwhile, staff at the ministry were “in shock” this morning, reported Permanent Secretary Yousuf Riza.

“[Rasheed] is no longer coming to the office, but the Ministry will continue to function,” Riza said.

“We will continue issuing trade and investment permits, however the Minister’s dismissal will hamper decisions about policy.”

DRP Spokesman and Deputy Leader Ibrahim “Mavota” Shareef meanwhile claimed the dismissal was because of the “obvious friction between the President and his Vice President. I heard [Rasheed] was dismissed because he was asked to sign with the ruling party and refused.”

“Rasheed is one of the most qualified people in the government, and he has been dismissed for no apparent reason. As long as a minister does his job properly there is no reason to dismiss him,” Shareef said.

“I think this is very sad this is happening. We might be the opposition party but we do not have any ill will towards the government.”

Amid speculation that Rasheed’s removal was due to the icy drop in temperature between GIP and MDP, a senior government source suggested it was more likely that the dismissal was part of a “larger picture – something to do with [MDP’s] declining support in the Majlis to the point where it has become ineffective. They need support.”

The recent scuttling of MDP’s provinces bill in parliament is a sore blow to one the party’s key pledges, the decentralisation of government.

No replacements have yet been put forward: “The president has time before choosing a new minister to put forward for parliamentary approval,” Zuhair claimed.

Mahmoud Razee, currently Minister for Civil Aviation and Communications, is one potential candidate, given his proven palatability with parliament and work on the privatisation committee. Razee was promoted to his current role after the dismissal of another minister, Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed.

However, MDP Spokesman Ahmed Haleem revealed that the party had begun talking to the People’s Alliance (PA), currently in coalition with the opposition DRP, seeking the party’s support in passing a new economic minister through parliament.

“DRP are always against us and they have control of a lot of the media,” Haleem said. “But [PA leader] Abdulla Yameen has some commitment to the people – he was trade minister in 1998, he is an economist and he is well educated. I think he is OK.”

The Maldivian economy was sorely troubled “and a lot of people are suffering very badly and are very poor,” Haleem said. “[MDP and PA] have the same goal, we want to stabilise the economy and we are looking for support. Yameen’s seven members could support the parliamentary approval of a new minister.”

Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan declined to comment on the matter, and Mohamed Rasheed did not responded to calls at time of press.

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DRP-PA coalition still strong, says Yameen

Leader of the People’s Alliance (PA), Abdulla Yameen, has said that recent statements by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members that the PA walked out on the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-PA coalition agreement is not true, reports Miadhu.

Yameen said the rumours were started to make MDP supporters happy, and to cause friction between himself and Qasim Ibrahim, founder and leader of Jumhoory Party, who recently joined the coalition.

The PA said the party could only back out of the coalition if the council decided to, and said the council had not considered the option.

Qasim later said he will accept any party’s work as long it is being done to improve people’s lives.

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MPs with ‘decreed’ debt face disqualification from parliament

An article of the constitution stating that members of parliament with unpaid debts face immediate disqualification from the Majlis stands to be tested in the Supreme Court, after a spate of cross-party accusations on the subject.

Article 73 [c]of the constitution states, “A person shall be disqualified from election as, a member of the People’s Majlis, or a a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified, if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgment.”

Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Umar Naseer has filed a case at the Supreme Court claiming that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Thimarafushi Mohamed Mustafa has an unpaid debt dating back to 1997 and should therefore be unseated.

However the MP has said there was “no doubt” of his eligibility for remaining an MP, dismissing the case filed against him. The Supreme Court has concluded its hearings on the case but has yet to deliver a verdict.

Umar argued that MP Mustafa should not have been eligible to be a candidate in last year’s parliamentary elections ”because he had a proven debt which was not paid.”’

“He has to pay US$31,231.66 (Rf401,326.83) to Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which is now bankrupted and its loans and debts have been taken over by the Maldives Monitary Authority (MMA),” Umar said.

Umar said that on 28 August 1997, the civil court ruled that the debt should be payed by MP Mustafa and his company Seafood International Private Limited.

”We raised the issue at the Elections Commission (EC) during the parliamentary elections and the former president of EC said that there was no debt which should be paid by Mustafa,” he said.”That’s why I took it to the Supreme Court.”

But, Mustafa claimed he inquired with the MMA about the outstanding debts.

‘The MMA said that there was no debt that I should pay,” Mustafa said, ”That’s why I ran in the parliamentary elections.”

Mustafa added that the Elections Commission (EC) also investigated the case and ruled that he was eligible.

‘They are trying to defame my character,” he said. ”Umar Naseer is a politically insane person.”

Last month, the Male’ municipality asked the attorney general to file a suit against Mustafa to recover unpaid rent for a plot he leased for a restaurant in artificial beach.

MP Mustafa is one of several MPs who have been variously accused of having outstanding unpaid debts.

Namira Engineering was sentenced last week to pay Rf116,497 to the State Trading Organisation (STO). People’s Alliance MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim, who was former managing director of Namira Engineering before he resigned from the company, said he had left it three years ago and has no connection with the debt.

On 8 January, a criminal case involving Nazim, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem and former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, was sent to Prosecutor General’s Office.

On 31st of January, Peoples Alliance party leader Yameen Abdul Gayoom sued the DRP leader-elect Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to recover an unpaid debt.

On 8 December 2009, Sultans of the Sea, a company affiliated with DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, was ordered to pay Rf654 million to Bank of Maldives.

The BML audit report released last year revealed that US$633 million worth of loans was issued on 2008. Of the US$633 million, US$45 million was granted to Sultans of the Seas and US$36 million to Fonnadhoo Tuna Products.

MP Thasmeen did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Copyright laws presented to parliament

Parliament today voted to proceed with a bill on copy right laws submitted by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

MPs voted unanimously to send the bill to the economic affairs committee for review.

Introducing the draft legislation, MDP MP Mohamed Thoriq said the proposed copyright laws would create a legal framework to protect intellectual property in the Maldives and thereby “encourage creativity”.

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Mausoom said while the party supported to the bill, it needed some amendments: ”Software protection was not fully provided in the bill,” he said.

A significant proportion of software used in the Maldives, including by government agencies, are pirated copies. Historically this has been due to the both the ready accessibility of unlicensed software and the comparatively high cost of legitimate licenses in the developed world. For example, a copy of a popular accountancy software package that costs Rf25 (US$2) at a shop in Male’ can run to several thousand US dollars if bought legitimately.

As the bill was connected to the productivity of the country, Mausoom added, it was very important to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Maldivian Democratic Party MDP MP Mohamed Mustafa concurred that the bill was important to the Maldives as ”copyright should be protected in the country.”

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said that the bill was necessary but noted that ”there are amendments that should be brought to the bill.”

Nihan said that there were people who had become mid-level businessmen by selling the pirate copies of softwares and other products.

‘There are fake iPhones, blackberries and other types of mobile phone sold in the market,” he said. ”This business of fake models and products should be prevented.”

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DRP criticises government for not consulting Parliament on new SAARC Secretary General nominee

Leader of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) Women’s Wing and daughter of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Dhunya Maumoon, has said the government did not consult with Parliament before nominating former Auditor General Dhiyana Saeed as the new South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretary General, reports Miadhu.

The DRP has welcomed the new appointee for SAARC Secretary General but have criticised the government for not consulting the appointment with Parliament.

According to Miadhu, the government did not have to consult with Parliament before announcing their nomination for Dhiyana to serve as secretary general. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, said her term will begin 1 March 2011.

Dhiyana was in office as attorney general for a short time and was previously a DRP MP during Gayoom’s government.

She is married to local businessman, Abdulla Jabir, who has been linked to a corruption case currently under investigation.

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MPs vote against referring to Supreme Court on provinces issue

Yesterday MPs rejected the resolution presented by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to refer to the Supreme Court on the controversial provinces issue.

35 MPs voted for the resolution while 38 MPs voted against the resolution.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party Vice President and MP Ali Waheed said that he doubted the accuracy of the resolution, claiming that it was presented “to mislead the people.”

”MP Ahmed Sameer (who presented the resolution) has told so many lies standing near the podium,” Waheed said. ”Maybe he wanted to make a record for the first ever issue taken to the Supreme Court.”

The provinces section was removed from the decentralisation bill on the vote of the DRP, Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP), Peoples Alliance (PA), Jumhoory Party and several Independent MPs.

”I never knew that people voted to divide the country into seven provinces,” he said.

Waheed said even if the issue was taken to the Supreme Court, they were also unable to divide the country.

”It can only be done by the vote of 77 MPs,” he said.

Independent MP Ibrahim Muthalib said he was concerned that if the issue was taken to the Supreme Court, it would set a precedent and many decisions would be made by the Supreme Court.

”We are losing our dignity on our own,” he said.

MDP MP Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed said that the issue was not a constitutional issue, and was rather a political issue.

”Dividing the country into provinces were in both the MDP and DRP manifestos,” Nasheed said. ”To fulfill the pledges of MDP, it’s one path we have to go down.”

He said that it would be more beneficial if there were seven ‘Males’, instead of one.

”What is really going on is that some DRP MPs and vice presidents had told me that if the issue was taken to the Supreme Court, it would rule that it is lawful,” he said. ”They asked me how they will save face in front of the people if that was the case.”

He called on the DRP MPs to take the issue to the Supreme Court if they were confident on the matter.

”If the Supreme Court rules it is unconstitutional we will also be supporting DRP MPs,” he said.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahloof said the purpose of MDP presenting the resolution was to mislead the people.

‘The ‘DRP manifesto do not say it the party will divide the country into provinces,” he said, ”it says it would make four cities like Male’.”

Jumhooree Party MP Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim said it was not necessary to pass the resolution and take it to the Supreme Court.

”We should take this out of the parliament floor and continue our work making laws,” he said.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said that before taking the issue to the Supreme Court people should define the meaning of MDP’s pledges they made to the people.

”They pledged to provide houses for people made homeless by the Tsunami within one year,” he said. ”We should ask them what they meant by ‘one year’ and ‘providing houses’.”

MDP Parliamentary group leader Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik recently said that the MDP parliamentary group would put forward a no-confidence motion against the speaker of the parliament.

However, newspaper ‘Miadhu’ reported that DRP MP Rozaina Adam had claimed there were MDP MPs who would not vote for the no-confidence motion.

Rozaina told Minivan News that she did not wish to speak about the matter.

Reeko said that the parliamentary group would be deciding the matter after the decentralisation bill.

”We do not want to speak about it yet,” he said.

MDP Secretary General Ahmed Shah, Spokesperson Ahmed Haleem and Chairperson Mariya Didi did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

DRP Vice President Umar Naseer said Reeko had promised to draft the no-confidence motion against the speaker not with the intention of doing it, ”but just to charge their activists.”

MDP can only get 27 votes even if the no-confidence motion was forwarded, he said: ”MDP can’t shoot goals in parliament.”

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Vice President voices concerns about government at GIP rally

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed once again spoke out publicly against the government at a Gaumee Itthihaad Party (GIP) rally on Saturday, where he reiterated his opinion that the government’s coalition platform, which won them the 2008 presidential elections, is not being put into practice.

Dr Waheed appeared on the new VTV programme Hoonu Gondi (Hot Seat) earlier this month, where he voiced his concerns that the government was not employing the multi-party system they based their 2008 campaign on. He also said President Mohamed Nasheed did not consult with him enough, and he did not want to be a Vice President who “slept for five years.”

The vice president told Minivan News at the time he was “not completely satisfied” with his job and felt it was time for him to speak out without being afraid. “It’s my responsibility to express my feelings,” he said.

At Saturday’s GIP rally, the vice president once again spoke out against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members who were acting as though MDP was the only party in the government, and said the Maldives would soon be “colour coded.”

According to reports, toward the end of the rally more than half the audience walked out in protest when Deputy Minister for Economic Development and GIP member, Ahmed Inaz, spoke of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, reiterated Dr Waheed was speaking as the head of a political party and not as the vice president at Saturday’s rally.

“I believe he has identified a need to strengthen his own party. New political party regulations require a party to have 3000 members, otherwise the party will be dissolved,” he said.

Zuhair added “another factor may be the local government elections in June, and he feels he needs to be seen as active. All this has nothing to do with the government.”

He noted the president and vice president “get on well at the office” and everything is running normally.

Zuhair said Dr Waheed’s comments on “colour coding” were taken out of context by the media. “I don’t believe this is correct,” he said. “The government does not favour any one party, which I believe is a compliment to the government.”

He said “the vice president accepted the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) manifesto. He is raising these problems with the government but he is part of it, so perhaps he should be more proactive in solving them.”

Zuhair added the opposition would surely try to use this to drive a wedge into the government, saying “it’s already happening.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said he believes there have been “some misunderstandings between the president and vice president.”

He said he doesn’t see anything wrong with the vice president making his comments public, as he “wasn’t criticising the government.”

Shareef said many people, both in the government and general population, were “blowing it out of proportion” making many people think there is disunity in the government.

He added Dr Waheed was asked difficult questions, and “I believe the vice president has answered correctly. Everybody knows it to be the truth.”

He said the government’s problem was they were “trying to change things for the sake of change” and had “so far failed to deliver anything concrete.”

Shareef said “people’s lives are becoming very difficult”, especially for those in the civil service, and noted that even if the government could not deliver on anything concrete, people were still expecting it from them.

“It’s only been a year and a half,” he said, “but some decisions are very hasty and not thought out properly.”

Spokesperson for MDP Ahmed Haleem said he thought the vice president “wants to get more sheets for the local elections [to be held in June]” and “wants to show he is still alive.”

“Seventy-five percent of the people reject this vice president,” Haleem said, adding the Vice President’s recent comments were not injuring the image of the government or the MDP, but were injuring Dr Waheed himself.

Haleem said there is “no more coalition” in the government, since most parties withdrew from the coalition. But noted the GIP was “very supportive of us” and are supportive of democracy, too.

According to GIP’s website, the party joined the MDP to “create a platform for those individuals who wish to present new ideas, who value honest leadership that cares about the Maldivian people.”

The GIP promises to “bring new ideas on health care, education, housing and other development to better improve our country and give our citizens something we’ve never had – a truly representational government.”

As of last week, the GIP has 3,508 members according to the Elections Commission.

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DRP drafting bill on domestic violence

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) is drafting a bill on domestic violence, hoping to create more comprehensive legislation for victims and perpetrators of violence in the home.

DRP MP Rozaina Adams said the bill would encompass legislation on both physical and sexual violence against women and children.

She said most people are not willing to talk about these issues, and “women are not sure they can get help through the system, so they stay quiet.”

The bill also aims to improve how people who report these cases are dealt with, and to give more security and assistance to anyone affected by domestic violence.

Rozaina said Independent MP for Kulhudhuffushi-South Mohamed Nasheed was assisting the DRP in drafting the bill.

“He was going to present the bill himself, but because we have a women’s wing he said he would help us,” Rozaina added.

She said they are working to see if they can present the bill at the next parliamentary session.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said the bill was being drafted on a previous model. “There was a legislative framework considered by the previous government,” he said.

He explained the bill was being drafted to ensure “the protection of women and children according to international standards.”

He said the DRP “will forward it to the Majlis in due time.”

In early March this year, former president and former leader of the DRP, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,  expressed his concerns over “false information” being spread by the Islamic Ministry on women’s rights according to Islam.

He said he provided rights for women under his government, especially by giving them equal opportunity in politics, and criticised the current government for not making legislation to minimise violence against women.

Gayoom’s daughter and leader of the DRP’s Women’s Wing, Dhunya Maumoon, announced the drafting of the bill.

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