Tag: Majlis

Letter on recalling elected MPs

Dear Editor,

Should we have the right to recall Majlis Members? It can be done in other democracies, why not in the Maldives?

I believe it is time we change the electoral law to force MPs to seek votes of confidence through a constituency recall mechanism if they have been found guilty of unacceptable behaviour.

In the light of current political chaos and other ongoing outrages committed by Majlis Members, we should demand the right for voters to be given the power to sack MPs.

Please demand ”right to recall” legislation by signing a petition:
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/37519.html

Solah Rasheed

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Maldives government to go to Supreme Court to break political deadlock: Zuhair

The Maldives government is preparing evidence to file a case in the Supreme Court over the Majlis attempt to “grab powers invested with the executive”, according to the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair in a statement to the Asian Tribune.

The government is also attempting to hold talks with opposition parties to encourage co-operation between the Majlis and the executive branch of government, said Zuhair.

Opposition DRP official Dunya Maumoon confirmed there have been “indications” of approaches for talks, and she criticised the government for attempting to govern without cabinet ministers.

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Mountain, Mountain, Come to Mohamed!: Ibra’s Blog

The amendments to the Maldives Public Finance Act were ‘the Grand Finale in the process of decimating the Executive, once and for all’, according to the latest update on Ibra’s Blog.

Ibrahim Ismail, one-time member of the Majlis for Male during the presidency of Maumoon Gayyoom, was an early supporter of democratic reform.

His blog analyses the cultural, legal and political dimensions of reform in Maldives.

“With the change in government, there was trepidation among many that there may be a witch hunt to bring criminals within the former regime to justice. The relative security of the Majlis was sought by many, and some succeeded. After the initial scrambling for personal security, some were emboldened…”

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Cabinet resigns in protest over opposition MPs “scorched earth” politics

The entire cabinet of the Maldives has resigned in protest against “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament, leaving only President Mohamed Nasheed and Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan in charge of the country.

Cabinet members handed Nasheed their letters of resignation this afternoon at 5:00pm in front of assembled press at the President’s Office, shortly after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Unusually, the four hour meeting was adjourned at two hours and reconvened in the President’s residence, Muleeage.

“The Majlis (parliament) is preventing the cabinet ministers from performing their legal obligations. Majlis members are behaving against the spirit and the letter of the Constitution,” the President told the media after the meeting.

“So I appeal with the honorable members of the Majlis not to muddy the waters for governance in this country and to lend us their cooperation.”

Attorney General Husnu Suood said parliament was making the country “ungovernable”.

“Every passing week, there is another attempt by opposition MPs to wrestle more control from the executive,” Suood said.

“The opposition MPs are operating a ‘scorched earth’ policy, trying to stop the government from doing any work to help the people. We have told the President that we cannot continue to work like this,” said Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, in a press statement.

Finance Minister Ali Hashim accused opposition MPs of “obstructing the business of government” by “awarding themselves powers to appoint members to independent institutions”, when this was “clearly a prerogative of the President.”

“They have declared that the government cannot raise any loans from abroad or rent any government or state asset without their say-so. And they are threatening Ministers with no confidence motions on spurious grounds,” he added.

In addition to revisions of the financial regulations, last week, parliament voted through amendments to the Civil Service Act to transfer powers of appointing members to the independent commission to a parliamentary committee.

Opposition MPs arrested

Shortly after the press conference concluded, Minivan News learned that the police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) had arrested the leaders of several opposition parties, including Jumhooree Party (JP) leader MP Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) leader MP Abdulla Yameen (DRP), who have reportedly been taken to the prison on Dhoonidhoo island.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said “police are not saying anything officially at the moment,” but suggested Minivan News could “probably report what people are saying.”

Police and MNDF are meanwhile on high alert, while DRP supporters gathered at the artifical beach area outside the party’s headquarters. Reports around 9:00pm suggested rocks had been thrown, while sensitive areas around the President’s residence and the Majlis were sealed off by police and army roadblocks.

Meanwhile, the MDP National Council adopt a resolution to terminate its coalition agreement with Gasim’s Republican Party and recommend the dismissal of the party’s political appointees to President Nasheed.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that a police and MNDF investigation of corruption in the Majlis (parliament) would likely lead to “seven or eight parliamentary by-elections.”

“There have been allegations of corruption and attempted bribery, and allegations of certain threats against the state made by ministers,” Zuhair said.

He added that the government had “full confidence” in the state and deputy ministers, civil service and the permanent secretaries to keep the country running following the resignation of the ministers.

“Their resignation forces me to investigate using the police and the Maldives National Defence Force,” the President said, noting “I am Chief of the Armed Forces.”

Nasheed said amendments to the state finance laws passed by parliament yesterday, which requires any decisions relating to the leasing of state assets to be sent to parliament for approval, “was done in the self-interest of certain MPs. You cannot run the government like that.”

The President acknowledged that there would be “difficulties” faced by the people in the absence of cabinet ministers, “but it is the parliament who brought us to this situation.”

After the press conference, President Nasheed walked to police headquarters and requested police investigate the case.

Opposition reaction

Umar Naseer, Deputy Leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) which has the most number of seats in parliament in conjunction with its coalition partner the People’s Alliance (PA), said it was “really good that the cabinet ministers finally realised they were incapable.”

”The government along with the cabinet ministers was unable to govern the country,” Umar Naseer said. ”Now it is only the president and vice president [in charge], and how can they both do something they were unable to do with ministers.”

“Tomorrow President Nasheed will resign,” Umar Naseer predicted. ”Now it is the time to hold mid-term elections.”

He said this afternoon’s decision brought the current government to the brink of becoming a dictatorship.

”The President said he would launch an investigation using Police and the MNDF. That means he will probably arrest senior opposition leaders – I am not afraid of it.”

Umar added that however much he wished otherwise, “according to the constitution the president cannot dissolve parliament.”

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan described the incident as “an international joke” that “proved the government has failed.”

”For instance: three boats are competing in a race, and one of the boat’s crew abandons their vessel leaving only the captain and his first mate,” said Nihan. ”The current government does not have the majority support of the people.”

The arrest of Yameen and Gasim was “autocratic” and “a very ugly act”, Nihan said, adding that “President Mohamed Nasheed is worse than Adolf Hitler.”

Appearing before press at an impromptu press conference this evening, DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali denied that the parliament had acted unconstitutionally.

The MP for Kendhoo argued that the government could have filed cases at the Supreme Court to decide on constitutional matters submit issues of in lieu of the mass resignations.

Thasmeen said the sudden arrests of MPs was not in the public interest, adding that the resignations showed that the government had ‘failed.’

Deadlocked

Parliament voted 47-11 yesterday in favour of an amendment bill that would allow them to veto every lease or loan agreement made between the government and an overseas party, allowing them to effectively prevent the government from privatising assets such as Male’ International Airport.

On Sunday a signing agreement between the government and GMR Infrastructure-Malaysia Airport Holdings to manage Male’ International Airport was scuttled in front of the waiting media, after a reported dispute among board members of the incumbent Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) over who would sign the document.

That evening, four opposition parties including the DRP, PA, JP and DQP signed an agreement to oppose the airport deal on nationalistic grounds, and the following day parliament passed the amendment bill allowing the Majlis to veto any such project.

The government nonetheless reshuffled the MACL board members and proceeded with the signing ceremony on Monday evening. However today it was reported that the opposition parties had filed a civil court action seeking an injunction to block the deal going ahead.

Sources in the President’s Office suggested “this was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back” and led to this evening’s Executive outburst against the Majlis.

Other possible causes include a recent no-confidence motion levelled at Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy by Independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib, after the Ministry’s steering committee proposed make the Islam and Dhivehi subjects optional at A-Level.

Former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, who had previously released audit reports alleging rampant corruption in the former government, was also dismissed by parliament shortly after announcing a financial audit of current and former government ministers, including former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. However the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reported to parliament that Naeem had misused a government credit card to purchase transport and a tie, and he was removed from office.

Last year a no-confidence motion against the Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed was narrowly defeated, after the government sought to renewed diplomatic relations with Israel.

Note: Minivan News apologises for earlier disruption to the site following publication of this report. At peak demand we were receiving 200 requests a second, critically overloading the website’s database.

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Education Minister fights back against no confidence motion

Education Minister Dr. Mustafa Lutfy has sent information to members of the Majlis regarding issues raised by 10 MPs who have filed a motion of no confidence against him, reports Miadhu Daily.

It is important that members of the Majlis are given the real facts about these issues, says Miadhu, and in a document on the Education ministry’s website Dr. Luthfy has responded to seven issues raised by the MPs.

Dr. Luthfy says that he has taken steps to strengthen Islam and Dhivehi at Maldivian schools, including the separation of Islam and Koran which was previously taught as one subject, offering innumerable opportunities for professional classes for Islam and Koran teachers, obtaining assistance from the ministry of Islamic Affairs to establish prayer rooms in schools and encouraging schools to make time for prayers, and for schools to take in the lead in promoting the practice of praying.

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Dictatorial Majlis hindering progress in Maldives: Mariya Didi

Previously it was a dictatorial executive but now it is a dictatorial Majlis which is hindering progress in Maldives, said Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) chairperson and MP Mariya Ahmed Didi speaking at a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the MDP.

The opposition parties which campaigned for a presidential system are trying to rule the country like a parliamentary democracy, Mariya Didi said, referring to opposition DRP’s Majlis bills which aim to limit the policy options of the government. The MDP sees these bills as an encroachment by the Majlis into the mandate of the executive branch of government, she said.

Members of independent commissions usually work with government agencies, and the president usually names the members of such commissions in almost all countries with a presidential system, Mariya Didi said, but because the opposition DRP controls the Majlis, it has decided that the Majlis would recruit the members of independent commissions.

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Majlis undermining executive power: Eva Abdulla

The Majlis is undermining the constitutional powers of the executive branch, said MDP MP for Galolhu Uthuru, Eva Abdulla, during yesterday’s Majlis session.

Abdulla gave examples from draft amendments to the Civil Service Act, the Public Finance Act, the Police Act and the newly proposed Atolls Capital bill, which she said were designed to narrow policy options for the executive branch. She condemned the amendments and the new bill. The mandate of the Majlis is to make independent institutions responsible, said Abdulla, but it is now attempting to manage those institutions.

Last week, the Civil Service Act was amended to make Civil Service Commission appointments through the Majlis, which also rejected the government proposed amendments to the Decentralisation Act, and passed a law mandating a change of island capitals on Shaviyani and Kaafu atolls.

Maria Ahmed Didi, MDP chairperson, has said that the encroachments by the Majlis were unconstitutional, and the MDP has claimed that the aim of such amendments and laws was to stop the government’s development projects. However, the DRP has said the amendments and new bills were designed to make government more accountable.

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National Security Committee meeting on Gitmo detainees postponed

Today’s National Security Committee meeting regarding the transfer of Guantánamo Bay inmates to the Maldives has been rescheduled, after Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid requested to cancel it.

The meeting has been postponed for next week, after a call from Shahid to the Chairman of the committee and leader of the People’s Alliance (PA), Abdulla Yameen.

He wanted to postpone the meeting until Parliament reconvenes in June and all committee members are back from leave.

Yameen said the meeting “was cancelled by the speaker,” and has been rescheduled for next Sunday. He said although he was not sure if all members of the committee would be present at the meeting, “we will have quorum.”

He did not want to comment on the issue of the detainees “as of yet.”

Independent MP for Kulhudhuffushi-South, Mohamed Nasheed, said “when the chair wants to hold a meeting, the speaker has no right to postpone it.”

He said the decision to hold a committee meeting, whether during recess or session, was completely up to the chair of the committee, “and there’s nothing the administration or the speaker’s office can do.”

Nasheed said the Majlis committees were all “very democratic institutions,” and all the powers vested in the chair were provided for in the codes.

“The only people who can object is a majority from the committee itself,” he added.

Nasheed said “the meeting will not be cancelled” and there will be “lots of hearings” with the Foreign Ministry, Police, and the Attorney General, among others.

He said the situation will be verified, details asked for and documents submitted on the matter.

“The committee will then make an assessment and then report to the Majlis.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan said Yameen had decided “all the party should be present,” and added “the Parliament should be involved” in deciding upon the issue of the detainees.

He said it was important the meeting was held with “the inclusiveness of all [11] members,” and should be postponed until all members returned from leave.

“If anything happens to Maldives, we should all be concerned about this.”

Price per head

MP Nasheed said he was “not in favour of the meeting going in a particular way,” but he believes it is “a serious issue” where law and policy must be looked at carefully.

He said the government was trying to paint the detainees as “innocent and helpless Muslims,” but, he asked, “if they don’t want them in the jurisdiction of the US, why keep them in a third country?”

Nasheed argued that the detainees’ fundamental freedoms were still being encroached on. “Their movements are still controlled. Why do all these things?”

He said although the “government’s spin” was that they were innocent, he noted that Bermuda’s government was paid US$9 million per head for each Guantánamo detainee they settled in their country.

“They ought not get into this deal just for the money,” Nasheed said, adding that there were children in Vilingili orphanage who needed families, money and staff to look after them. “Why take in Chinese or Palestinians?”

“If they’re innocent, free them,” he said. “But the government is saying they are not even capable of committing a crime. This is absurd.”

He noted the government had initially tried to transfer two Chinese nationals who had been detained at Guantánamo, until a Chinese delegation came to the Maldives protesting that the two men were terrorists.

He said the government withdrew its intention to resettle the two men “only after China issued a press release.”

Precedent

The small South Pacific island nation of Palau, a former US territory until 1994, agreed to take in 17 Muslims from China last June, according to The Times (UK).

The men, from the Xinjiang area in China’s north-west, belong to the Uighur ethnicity.

They claim to have been persecuted for decades under Beijing’s rule, and fled to neighbouring Pakistan.

They were taken to Guantánamo on the basis that they had received a small-arms training, which they claim was to defend themselves from China.

China has repeatedly asked the US government to send the men back to China, claiming they are terrorists, but their plea has met with harsh opposition. The US fears they will be killed or tortured if sent home.

China has also asked many other countries not to take the men in, leaving Palau as the sole country on the list of volunteers to resettle the Uighurs.

They were found innocent in 2004, but remained in Guantánamo until Palau’s government agreed to take them in. Palau is one of the few countries that does not recognise China, but maintains diplomatic relations with Tibet.

Additionally, the US gave Palau US$200 million in “development and budget” aid, but the White House has denied the money is tied to the transfer of the detainees. The Pentagon, on the other hand, has called it a “pay-off.”

Correction: When stating that US$9 million was paid per detainee, MP Nasheed was referring to the case in Palau, although the government of Bermuda also accepted four Uighurs from Guantánamo Bay. Whether Bermuda’s government accepted money from the US was not made public.

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JSC decision must be investigated by Parliament, urges member

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) decided last week to reappoint all current judges, regardless of whether they hold a previous conviction for a crime or a criminal breach of trust or bribery.

After the decision was made, member of the commission Aishath Velazinee spoke out against it, writing in her blog, “it is indeed a sad state of affairs, and an insult to all those honest judges whose integrity and good name is compromised by today’s decision.”

Today, Velazinee told Minivan News it might seem like “one mad woman screaming,” but insisted “the Majlis has to attend to this and demand a public inquiry. I can only bring it to public attention.”

She said “Parliament has failed to hold the JSC accountable,” and said she still “firmly believes” the composition of the commission presents a conflict of interest, leading to a vote that ultimately contradicting the purpose of the commission.

The JSC was created to reform the judiciary and investigate all judges, “and was asked to evaluate every single sitting judge appointed prior to the 2008 Constitution,” Velazinee said.

According to the Constitution, the nine-member commission must comprise of the speaker of parliament; an MP and a member of the public both appointed by Parliament; three judges, one from the Supreme Court, High Court and the trial courts; a private lawyer elected among licensed lawyers; the Chair of the Civil Service Commission (CSC); a person appointed by the President; and the Attorney General.

“The JSC was not functioning under the law of the Constitution, and not acting in the interest of the public,” said Velazinee, who is the President’s member on the Commission.

She suggested it be made up of a “cross-section of people in this country, who are educated and have an understanding of democracy.”

Last week’s decision was won by majority, with five votes in favour.

“They have decided Article 285 is symbolic,” Velazinee said, “it is a very simplistic view of democracy.”

Article 285 stipulates that the JSC shall determine before August 7, 2010 whether or not judges on the bench posses the qualifications specified by the Constitution.

Currently, there are seven judges found guilty of a criminal breach of trust; five with allegations of a criminal breach of trust; two are being prosecuted for an alleged breach of trust; one is on trial for sexual misconduct; two have been found guilty of sexual misconduct; one was found guilty for an offence which had a prescribed punishment in Islam; and another judge who has been accused of a criminal breach of trust, and found guilty of sexual misconduct.

That is a total of nineteen judges with a criminal history, most of which have not been tried in a court of law.

Velazinee said she was not given an opportunity to discuss or issue alternative proposals, even though she had been trying to bring attention to her argument for months. “Even the Superior Court Justice decided it was not worthy,” she added.

Parliament’s power

Parliament has the power to reverse or alter the JSC’s decision, “but now they’re in recess, too,” Velazinee said, noting probably nothing much can be done until the Majlis reconvenes in mid-June.

Adding to Velazinee’s concern, the JSC has only until 7 August of this year to submit any reforms and all cases on the judges. “And probably not even until the deadline,” she added.

She said although the president “would normally have a say” in this decision, “in the current political context, the president getting involved could do more harm.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, said “there are legalities to be considered” because “the law does stipulate a clause on limitations,” which says that a judge, or an MP or a citizen, “can be absolved of a crime after five years” of being convicted.

He added “judges should be examples” and new regulations and legislation should be considered.

Zuhair said President Mohamed Nasheed “will adhere to the Constitution,” and there is “nothing to do until Parliament comes back.”

But, he added, a parliamentary committee could look into the issue extraordinarily, just like the National Security Committee is having a sitting this Wednesday.

Judges Abdulla Mohamed and Abdulla Didi did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Attorney General Husnu Suood did not respond, either.

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