Tag: government

Adhaalath party congratulates parties for ending Supreme Court deadlocks

The Adhaalath Party has congratulated the parliament and the government for coming to an understanding over the controversial issue of establishing the Supreme Court and appointing a Chief Justice, on conclusion of the interim period of the constitution.

“We praise and thank the speaker of the parliament and the government for the sacrifices they made and for the unity they showed for the first time, to establish the Supreme Court and to appoint the Chief Justice,’’ said the party in a statement.

“We also congratulate the new Chief justice and the Supreme Court judges who have been appointed permanently.’’

The party said they hoped the Supreme Court would bring balance and justice to the country and that the unity parliament had showed would be continued..

Earlier this week a surge in political partisanship, caused by disagreement over the interim period set out in the Constitution and the locking of the Supreme Court by the military, had threatened to derail the appointment process and leave the Maldives without its highest judicial authority.

However on Tuesday morning parliament approved the amended judge’s bill with 71 in favor, out of 73 members present. It was quickly ratified by President Nasheed shortly after lunchtime.

The new Judges Act enshrines judicial independence, governing ethical standards and rules on appointment and dismissal, as well as powers, responsibilities and practicalities such as salaries and allowances. The law also requires serving judges to meet a certain standards within seven years, or face dismissal.

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Tourism Minister Dr Sawad nominated as new attorney general

Tourism Minister Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad has been nominated as the new attorney general of the Maldives, according to a senior government official.

Husnu Suood resigned yesterday, taking some responsibility for the constitutional crisis, and urged Speaker Abdulla Shahid to step down as well.

The source told Minivan News that Dr Sawad was ready to take the oath of office pending the missing law on judges, which the administration is waiting for parliament to pass.

‘’As soon as the parliament passes the new law on judges, the new Attorney General will take the oath,’’ said the source.

Dr Sawad was not contactable at time of press.

Meanwhile, the MNDF has blocked the the interim Supreme Court judges from entering the Supreme Court, on advice from the former Attorney General that the interim Chief Justice and judges at the Supreme Court ceased to have any legitimacy following the interim period deadline last Saturday.

When queried why the Supreme Court judges were not allowed to enter to the court, the source replied “that’s because they are not judges.’’

The opposition – and yesterday, the Civil Court – contends that the interim Supreme Court continues to function until a new court is appointed by parliament.  The government claims this chapter was annulled after the two year deadline.

The former Attorney General Husnu Suood resigned claiming his position is untenable in the “constitutional void” triggered by parliament’s failure to enact legislation ensuring the continuation of state institutions such as the judiciary.

In his resignation letter, Suood stated that he had resigned because he did not believe that the state could be operated according to the constitution, because he had noted that state institutions had failed to fulfil their responsibilities as obliged by the constitution.

As a consequence, Suood wrote he did not have the opportunity to perform his own duties and responsibilities under article 133 of the constitution, prompting his resignation.

All three arms of state – executive, judiciary and legislature – are now deadlocked.

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Deadlock continues as confusion over time cancels scheduled peace talks

Scheduled peace talks between the government and opposition joint coalition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), People’s Alliance (PA), Jumhoory Party (JP) and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) supposed to be held yesterday afternoon were reportedly cancelled due to confusion over the time..

MDP MP Hamid Abdul Gafoor said the meeting was scheduled for 4:30pm yesterday – a time agreed during the last meeting held – but the opposition attended the meeting at 4:00pm.

‘’It was just a minor time issue, an inadequate reason to cancel the meeting,’’ said Gafoor. ‘’We understood that the meeting was scheduled for 4:30pm and we went there for 4:30pm.’’

Gafoor said that when MDP delegates attended some of the opposition delegates had already left the venue and others were being interviewed by the press.

‘’They were telling the press that the meeting was canceled because we did not come on time,’’ Gafoor said.

Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for the DRP, Ibrahim Shareef, insisted the time agreed by both sides was 4:00pm.

“It was scheduled for 4:00pm. In the joint statement issued the time was set for 4:00pm, and [the MDP] came late,’’ said Shareef. ‘’Our team waited but there was no sign of the ruling party delegates.’’

He said that the MDP delegates “did not even advise whether they would be coming or not”, and that therefore the opposition coalition decided to cancel the meeting because they had not arrived at the scheduled time.

‘’If they gave us a signal that they were coming we would have waited, but since there was no sign that they were coming, we did not know when they would arrive,’’ Shareef said.

MDP Chairperson Mariya Didi described the incident as “a very silly mistake on both our sides. I think it has been played up in the media. We were waiting outside [the venue] – it is unfortunate they did not call to find out.”

Speaker of the Parliament and DRP MP Abdulla Shahid cancelled the parliamentary session today to make way for the ongoing peace talks, in a bid to allow the resolution of issues behind closed doors.

Mariya acknowledged the decision, suggesting that a sitting of parliament would potentially lead “to fighting and further bad faith.”

The President’s Member on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), Aishath Velezinee, last week accused the Speaker of taking “undue advantage” of the political crisis and the cancellation of parliament, by seeking to expedite the reappointment of existing judges before the Constitutional deadline of August 7 despite plummeting public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.

“The Speaker is now coming and sitting in the JSC [office] day and night, during Friday, holidays and Independence Day. The Speaker is sitting in the JSC trying to expedite this process of reappointing judges before the Majlis starts,” Velezinee claimed.

Abdulla Shahid was not responding to calls at time of press.

President Mohamed Nasheed has nominated Supreme Court Judge Uz Ahmed Faiz Hussain as the new Chief Justice, however this – along with the reappointment of his cabinet members, following their voluntary resignation a week earlier – requires parliamentary approval.

Mariya noted that the judiciary was one of the subjects of discussion among the parties, but reiterated that both sides had agreed not to reveal details of the talks to the media.

As for the status of the talks following yesterday’s apparent confusion over times, “we’re still working on it.”

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Opposition joint coalition will deliver “shocking message” to government

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced it will hold a “special protest” this evening together with coalition partners, to deliver “a shocking message” to the government.

Ali Solih, DRP Media Coordinator, said that the protest would be held at the Artificial Beach tonight and that the leaders of the four opposition parties will be present at the protest.

”Leader of People’s Alliance (PA) , leader of Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP), leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) and leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) will address the people at tonight’s protest,” said Solih, ”and they will deliver a shocking message to the government.”

JP leader Gasim Ibrahim and PA leader Abdulla Yameen, both high-profile businessmen, were recently accused by the government of vote buying and treason. However Supreme Court has since ruled that their arrest was unconstitutional, after a panel of five judges decided that there was not enough evidence to keep them under house arrest.

Solih claimed the protest would show the government “the unity of the opposition coalition.”

”Due to the weather, not many islanders will be able to participate in this protest,” he said, ”but it will be a mass protest.”

Solih said that the party had requested the municipality council provide a ground for it to hold meetings, but that the council had not given an appropriate answer.

Deputy Leader of the DRP, Umar Naseer, said tonight’s gathering would not be a protest “but a rally where the leaders of four parties will address to the people.”

”It will start at 8:45pm,” he said. ”This rally is to let the government know that they have failed and that they should resign now.”

He said that the rally was “not scheduled to turn into a protest.”

On May 13, DRP held a protest against hiked electricity tariffs, titled ‘Red Notice’. The protest was dispersed by riot police outside the State Electricity Company (STELCO) building, and several DRP MPs, protesters and police were injured in the scuffle.

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Malheur des Maldives: Economist

In recent months the Maldives’ fledgling democracy has proved to be self-incapacitating more than progressive, reads an article in the the ‘Newsbook’ of last week’s Economist magazine.

Fed up with an opposition-led parliament, which tends to block its every move, this week the archipelago’s entire cabinet resigned in protest. Political deadlock has ensued.

The president, Mohamed Nasheed, has stayed put, alongside his vice-president. He claims that an informal alliance of lawmakers is sabotaging his every proposal; an aide described it as “scorched-earth politics”.

The opposition has already passed an amendment which allows it to veto every lending or leasing agreement made between the government and an overseas party. Thus in one fell swoop it was able to scupper Mr Nasheed’s planned privatisation of the capital’s airport and much else besides.

Hopes for foreign investment—at the core of the new government’s ambitions and an essential part of its effort to plug the fiscal deficit—have been dashed.

Read more

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Communications officers have completed training programme

A training programme for communications officers from government offices, state-owned companies and independent institutions concluded last week.

Economic Advisor to the president, Ali Shiyam, presented the certificates to all participants after the two-day course.

He said it was important to note the role of communications officers in presenting accurate information on government policies and projects.

The programme was organised by the President’s Office, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and the Maldives College of Higher Education.

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New training programme for communications officers has started

A new training programme began yesterday for communications officers in the government, state-owned companies and independent institutions.

The programme is being organised by the President’s Office, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and the Maldives College of Higher Education.

The programme is being facilitated by Terry Anzur, a communications expert from the USA.

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PA dismisses “impossible” pact with MDP

A coalition agreement between the government and the opposition People’s Alliance party is “impossible”, Secretary General of Peoples Alliances Adam Ahmed Shareef has said.

”Our stand is very clear,” Shareef said. ”We work in the opposition and we do not support the current government’s policy and the way they are treating people. In the current situation it’s impossible to join with them.”

He added that the current administration was unable to “cope with” the other parties in the Maldivian Democratic Party-led (MDP) coalition.

Shareef dismissed rumours that the party was in talks with the government.

”I do not think Yameen [PA leader] would shift to a position where the president can dismiss him anytime,” he said. “People are spreading rumors just to gain political support and to harm PA.”

Saareef also denied rumours of a rift between PA and its coalition partner, the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

”What PA MP Ahmed Nazim said was that PA MPs should not have to follow the DRP whip line in parliament without prior consultation,” he said. “In such cases, hereafter PA MPs would vote according to their own views in a manner they think would be beneficial for the people,”

MDP Spokesman Ahmed Haleem told Minivan News earlier this week that the party had begun talks with PA to seek support in the confirmation process for a new economic minister.

“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.”

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President Nasheed launches GEMS

President Mohamed Nasheed launched the Government E-Letter Management System (GEMS) at a ceremony held at the President’s Office yesterday.

President Nasheed said GEMS is part of the government policy to introduce the most advanced technologies and modern practices of administration to make government communication more efficient.

He noted GEMS would allow government offices to lower expenditure as well.

The system allows all communication between government offices to be exchanged electronically. It will allow for more “transparency” and “credibility” of government bureaucracy and will make management and administrative duties more efficient.

GEMS will be initially introduced to all government offices in Malé and the South Province.

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