Tag: elections commission

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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DRP reclaims top position in membership battle

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has again become the political party with the most number of members in the Maldives, after it was eclipsed by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) last month.

Secretary General of the Elections Commission (EC) Ahmed Ali Didi has confirmed that as of yesterday the DRP’s membership stood at 32,539 while the Maldivian Democratic Party’s MDP’s membership stood at 30,848.

DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told a party meeting yesterday that once the completed forms for DRP membership are submitted to the EC, the DRP’s membership could  rise as high as 37,000.

Didi explained that forms were received by the EC  every day from different parties, and they could only know how many of those were for DRP once they had screened everything. The results would then be published on the EC’s website, he said.

Didi added that sometimes the parties gave out a membership estimate depending on how many forms they have in their office waiting to be sent to the EC for screening.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said DRP’s majority was “nothing new”, and said he thought it was “very likely” that the DRP would now maintain membership majority.

“MDP only had majority for a brief time,” he said, accusing the MDP were “forcing” members to change from DRP to MDP with promises of jobs.

“We don’t have the means to pressure members into signing with us,” Shareef said, noting that “many new members of DRP are signing on their own accord.”

MDP Spokesperson Ahmed Haleem said they “are not worried” about DRP’s current majority.

“I think after one month or so MDP will regain majority. There are a lot of forms in our office waiting to be processed.”

He said many DRP members were moving to other parties, “and in about one month they will have maybe 25,000 members.”

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Umar Naseer to take EC to court over decision to retain IDP

Former president of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) Umar Naseer, who recently joined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), has announced he intends take the Elections Commission (EC) to court over its decision not to allow the disbanding of the IDP.

Umar left the IDP last month to further his political career, claiming there was “no future” in being president of such a small party. He claimed a “the majority” of the IDP wished to disband the party altogether.

However, Deputy President of the IDP, Mohamed Hassan Manik, said the majority of the members disagreed and believed that the IDP “can still be run as a viable and independent political party.”

Umar’s decision to abandon the party, he suggested, was made “because it will be easier for him to try and become president of the Maldives [in the DRP].”

Meanwhile, the EC ruled that Naseer’s decision to disband the IDP was not valid under the party’s own regulations and that it could continue to exist as a political entity, following an investigation of what the EC’s president Fuad Thaufeeq described as “a big mess.”

“We found that the number of persons in the executive committee required to be present at a meeting to change a rule was not satisfied,” he said. “This is according to their rules.”

According to Thaufeeq, the decision to dissolve the party was taken at a meeting where less than the required 50 per cent of the executive committee were present.

“We looked at the minutes and percentage attendances at the meetings and found this regulation was not strictly followed, and is why we do not conisder Umar Naseer’s decision to dissolve the party to be valid.”

Thaufeeq said it was Naseer’s right to take the matter to court, and acknowledged that while this would be very expensive for the independent commission, “we don’t have any option.”

“There are two groups within IDP. One is with Umar Naseer, the other is against him,” Thaufeeq said. “I have no clue how this will be resolved without going to court, because regardless of our decision either group will take us to court.”

Naseer had not responded to Minivan News’ request for comment at time of press.

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Small political parties to be abolished, says EC

The Election Commission (EC) has announced it will look to abolish all political parties with less than 3000 members.

According to TVM, the president of the election commission Fuwad Thaufeeq said the commission would make improvements to its political party regulations.

Fuwad said that the new regulation is being drafted and would be submitted to parliament next week.

Part of the new regulation will state that a new party will have three to six months to gather the required 3000 members.

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EC requests finance ministry to reconsider pay cuts

The Elections Commission (EC) has sent a letter to the finance ministry in protest against pay cuts for their employees, arguing their salaries are already lower than staff in other independent institutions.

EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz Hassan told Minivan News that there was “widespread dissatisfaction” among staff at the commission.

“While a labourer in the Elections Commission would get Rf4,000 to 5,000 (US$300 to US$400) a month, someone in the same job at the Human Rights Commission would get Rf10,000 (US$800),” said Fayaz. “There’s a huge difference in salaries.”

He added that the interim EC had requested the finance ministry raise the salaries of their staff earlier this year.

In August, the government announced it planned to undertake a series of austerity measures to offset the yawning budget deficit, including pay cuts for civil servants of up to 20 per cent.

Fayaz said that while the pay cuts were reasonable in principle, the EC’s 52 employees were “unhappy” because “they know staff in other commissions get better pay than them.”

He said employees expressed this grievance at a meeting on the new commission’s first day in office but added he did not think any would leave their jobs given the country’s economic climate.

Speaking to MInivan News today, Ismail Shafeeq, permanent secretary at the finance ministry, said it was up to independent institutions to decide upon the salaries of their employees.

“We have nothing to do with that. We have no control over them,” he said, adding he did not think the EC would increase salaries considering the economic difficulties being faced by the country.

But, said Shafeeq, the finance ministry had informed all independent institutions of pay cuts between 10 and 20 per cent effective this
month for all civil servants, which would be up for review at the end of the month.

In October, Ahmed Assad, state minister of finance, said independent institutions were “making excuses” to avoid lowering salaries and
allowances of employees.

His remarks came after independent institutions argued they were not legally obliged to cut their employees’ salaries.

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