Tag: maldives news

Private healthcare group contemplates Maldives’ cancer treatment limitations

HealthCare Global Enterprises (HCG), an Indian-based supplier of specialist cancer treatments, is in the Maldives this week to consult with authorities and private medical companies over possible partnerships to treat the disease, an area of medicine that health officials is limited locally.

Speaking today to Minivan News, Bhavani Shankar, head of international marketing for HCG, said the company was in the early stages of consulting private and public healthcare providers in the country, along with the operators of Male’s ADK hospital and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IMGH) over a number of potential opportunities for cancer treatment.

“Basically there is no cancer treatment here. Only a few facilities are there; medical oncology, chemotherapy and some small investigation procedures are available in the Maldives,” he claimed. “Most people are flying to India [for cancer treatment], about 600 to 750 people are doing this each year.”

Claiming to operate more than 18 specialist centres across India and South Asia either directly or through partnerships , Shankar said that the company was experienced in providing specialised surgeries and state of the art cancer treatments throughout the region.

“We have a variety of facilities and technologies such as the ‘CyberKnife’ robotic radio surgery, radiotherapy as well as offering other surgical procedures,” he said. “We can offer screening in the country before considering flying people out to India for treatment, which is the easiest option.”

In contemplating potential healthcare roles or business opportunities within the country, the HCG spokesperson said the company was keen to work with both private and public partners in terms of supplying technical knowhow or training for doctors and nurses alongside NGOs. Given the limitations of Maldivians in the country travelling abroad for health reasons due to income, Shankar said he believed that there were a number of treatment options it could make available for the population.

“We are focusing on both kinds of things [private and public cooperation], we are trying to help even the people who cannot afford treatments as well. We have different options actually, but this depends on what the hospitals and health bodies can manage,” he added. “We are open; whether the government is able to fund a small cancer care centre or through work with a private partner, we are looking for both [opportunities].”

At present, the Maldives’ State Minister for Health, Abdul Bari Abdulla, said that there was no budget in the country specifically for cancer prevention, with any possible funding being supplied under a wider national health act.

“The cancer programme we have is currently led by IGMH, but we don’t have the capacity for treatments or screening,” he said.

The State Health Minister claimed that the main challenge for the nation regarding cancer prevention related to a lack of technical expertise.

“Cancer treatment within the country requires state of the art techniques,” he said.

In considering strategies for trying to combat cancer within the Maldives, Bari said that health was one area that the government was looking into the possibilities of private and public partnerships and the potential benefits that may be available.

So-called ‘medical tourism’ to countries such as India and Singapore is very common in the Maldives among those able to afford it, and is major expense for many families unable to afford it but who do so anyway because of low confidence in local services for surgery and serious ailments.

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Comment: Don’t walk like a Maldivian – what Egyptians can learn from us

Egypt has us all riveted. The images of its revolution are particularly poignant for Maldivians: some of us are reliving moments when a dream came true; others are having nightmares about when their ambitions for perpetual rule ended. We see reflected in Egyptian faces the same passion with which we wanted change, we identify with them. The shared political trajectory of Gayoom and Mubarak, the Egyptians and us, has been the talk of the town for the last few days.

Let us hope though, for the sake of the Egyptian people, that once they manage to remove Mubarak and replace his regime with democratic rule, we part ways – the Egyptians and the Maldivians. If not, what we see when we look at us now, is what they will see happening to them in the next few years. Seen in the hindsight we can offer as foresight to our Egyptian counterparts, their future bears very little resemblance to the ideals motivating their present:

The dictator will be gone from office, but his old regime will retain power by occupying a majority of both the legislature and the judiciary, as well as other positions of influence within society. Having negotiated immunity as a condition of departure from office, the dictator, his assets, and that of his family and cronies, will remain untouchable by law. Not satisfied, he will keep trying to return to office, his fists feeling the absence of power like an amputee feels the missing limb.

It is not he, however, who will ultimately succeed in diverting the winds of change. That will be accomplished by the remaining elite of his regime – the businessmen, politicians, family members, and civil servants in the gigantic public sector he built – who benefitted [and benefits still] from the structures he left in his wake. They will deliberately and systematically murder the hopes that lived and breathed in those clamouring for democracy.

They will turn the parliament into a stock market, buying and selling votes, legislation, and people’s rights. They will increase their own salaries, and pass legislation giving themselves immunity from prosecution, freedom from past convictions and privileges beyond the common man’s most uncommon dream. They will come to regard the parliament as their own property to such an extent that building high walls and barbed wire fences around its premises will seem natural, justified and right.

In the judiciary, loyalty to the old regime will be the main criteria for deciding an individual’s fitness for the bench. Rules of the dictator’s handbook will be what count as jurisprudence. Many called to the bar would have been groomed for a particular purpose: to manipulate the letter of the law – to knot every i and twist every t – until whatever project the new regime has planned can be interpreted as void. The spirit of the law will be long dead. Reform will not just be a dirty word, it will lack legitimacy and can be lawfully thwarted.

Meanwhile, the executive, headed by the new president who is the human symbol of the change that people agitated for, will become a prisoner of his own success. The manipulations of the other two branches of power will put him in the position of a lame duck president so often, it will seem natural to dive into water to sign some of his most radical agendas into policy.

He will still remain passionate about democracy, he will believe in it, and he will want to put it into practice. He will come to realise, however, that the autocue does not have the power of a megaphone; government announcements do not read like dissident pamphlets; and words, when spun by political machinery, does not have the same power to move as when spoken from the heart. He will be forced to accept, like many other leaders before him: it is often easier to instigate democratic reforms from within the bars of a prison cell than from within the confines of executive office.

To complicate matters further, religion – entirely outside of human reason on which liberalism rests – will be added to the mix. With the support of the old regime that only concerned itself with faith in so far as its ability to transform worshippers into voters, politico-religious players will come to the forefront of the battle over change. What the dictator had wanted was total control, what the self-appointed ambassadors of God will want is total submission. They will re-cast every act of reform as a secular sin until the new regime is forced into shelving yet another reformation project for a later date, perhaps until such a time as the hypothesis of evolution is proven beyond all unreasonable doubt.

In the aftermath of the violent American project for Enduring Freedom, Egypt, and the rest of the Arabic countries in revolt, have taught the world a valuable lesson: democracy cannot be forced on people with superior military might, political coercion or harsh punishment. Democracy can only come, and comes only, when people want it.

What the Egyptians can learn from us is that democracy, once won, can only be sustained if people continue to want it badly enough.

For Egypt and the Maldives to continue sharing the same page in political history, one of two things has to happen: Egyptians will have to allow their revolution to be hijacked by the old regime; or Maldivians will have to rekindle the fires of their own revolution and reclaim the democracy we fought for.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Maldives votes: Local Council Elections 2011

The Maldives votes today in its first local council elections. Minivan News will provide rolling coverage throughout the day (scroll down).

Local Council Election Guide (English)

10:00 – The country’s ballot boxes opened from eight this morning without any major disruptions across the country and are expected to remain in use until 4:00pm this afternoon, according to Elections Commission (EC) President, Fuwad Thaufeeq.

Thaufeeq told Minivan News that there were no reports of delays or closures at any of the country’s polling stations, with an additional two ballot boxes opened in Trivandrum, India and Colombo, Sri Lanka, for Maldivian nationals overseas.

“All the [polling] stations were opened on time and many were staffed from about 45 minutes before operating to ensure they were fully ready,” he said. “We also have the two boxes in Sri Lanka and India that will also open between 8:00am and 4:00pm local time.”

Constituents wishing to take part in the elections will have until today’s 4:00pm deadline to queue up at one of the country’s polling stations to ensure they can select their chosen candidate, according to Thaufeeq. Any arrival after this deadline is expected to be turned away without being able to vote, the EC has said.

10:15 – The Maldives Police Service has said that it has received no major reports of major violence so far this morning or in the run up to the local council elections, despite fears about potential clashes between rival supporters.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that despite some “little misunderstandings” at some island polling stations, there had been no major clashes.

“There has not been any violence so far today, yesterday or the day before that,” he said. “We are trying to work with the Elections Commission (EC) in regards to any problems, though there hasn’t been much confrontation.”

Shiyam said that certain “misunderstandings” had been reported to have occurred at some island-based ballot boxes, where confusion had arisen over whether one constituent was able to correctly see how he would be casting his vote.

“As someone was casing their vote, allegations were made that the constituent in question was blind, while others denied there was a problem,” he said.

10:30 – Police questioned a man in Villimale after he allegedly used his phone to photograph his ballot. Election officials are alert to the use of phone cameras at the ballot box, which can be used to show evidence that bought vote was made as demanded. Police were reportedly unable to find the photo on the man’s phone.

10:40 – Two Commonwealth Election Observers are working in Male’ and nearby islands, while two more are covering larger population hubs such as Kulhufushi.

The team includes Commissioner Florence Kebbie (National Election Commission of Sierra Leone), Zenaida Moya-Flowers (Chairperson of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and Mayor, Belize City Council), Anuya Kuwar (Project Officer – Asia region, Commonwealth Local Government Forum) and Alison Pearman (Policy Officer, Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat).

“We don’t normally observe local council elections, but the Elections Commission asked us. We’re not formally monitoring the election – we won’t be doing press releases or making public announcements, but we will produce a report for the Commonwealth Secretary General and this will like by passed to the Elections Commission,” explained Pearman.

The EC has said that 913 observers from local NGOs and political parties will be observing the election. 1179 applications were submitted.

12:15 – Fares-Maathoda in Gaaf Dhaal has reportedly suspended voting because of the number of elderly people voting with help of assistants.

12:20 – Miadhu has reported on some of the rhetoric adopted by politicians in the lead up to today’s voting, with rival parties being compared to diseases and “back breakers” as election fever heats up.

The paper reported Speaker of Parliament and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) member Abdullah Shahid as claiming that the party offered “vaccination” against “yelllow fever” – yellow being the colour of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Majlis Speaker and DRP Council member, Abdullah Shahid said Saturday’s election provided an opportunity to cure voter disaffection with the serving government.

“I appeal to all people to take your family and vaccinate them against yellow fever on Saturday,” Shahid was yesterday reported as saying. “This rally will end our campaign for the upcoming elections. And likewise the elections will end the yellow fever epidemic for the whole of the Maldives,” he said.

Meanwhile MDP Parliamentary Group Leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik suggested that voters would not turn to the DRP, as they had already had their “backs broken” during the party’s previous innings. ‘Back breaking’ is a reference to allegations against a prominent opposition figure, who is alleged to have broken the back of a dissident under the former administration.

According to Miadhu, Moosa told attendees at an MDP campaign rally held yesterday at Male’s artificial beach that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had headed “an oppressive government” that he claimed “ruled tyrannically by abusing the rights of the people.”

Beyond MP wordplay and party rhetoric, Minivan News last week reported on what a number of the country’s most prominent parties saw as the key election issues.

13:30 – Aiman Rasheed, Projects Coordinator for NGO Transparency Maldives which is coordinating the domestic observation of the elections, has claimed that it continues to have a number of major concerns including the prevalence of ‘assisted’ voting, ongoing campaigning by parties within ballot areas, and low levels of voter education as to the process.

Rasheed told Minivan News that Transparency Maldives had particular concerns regarding public’s understanding how to vote in a such a complex election, and feared this would lead to many votes being invalidated, particularly in areas where multiple votes were required for island and council atolls.

“If people pick four instead of a required five candidates, then their vote is invalidated. It has to be just right,” he said. “[Transparency Maldives] anticipates quite a lot of invalid votes. In the general election – 2008 – only about one percent of votes were invalid. We are expecting a higher number this time.”

Rasheed added that there was also potential for the abuse of the assisted voting system, which is used to aid disabled or incapacitated constituents to attend the ballot.

“Assisted voting is given at the discretion of the Elections Commission (EC) officers, though we have been getting complaints from all over the country and police have also raised concerns,” he said.

According to Rasheed, although laws have been outlined over the provision of assistance and votes to constituents with mental illness or disabilities at the ballot box, many of the traits for defining these criteria in the country remain “subjective”, making enforcement difficult.

13:40 –Transparency predicts vote counting will begin at 5:30pm, after those still in the queue at 4:00pm are given the chance to vote. Initial results should be available after two hours (~7:30pm).

14:50 – Haveeru reports that several ballots on Baarah in Haa Alif Atoll have been destroyed after an ink bottle spilled on the ballots. The EC confirmed a request for more ballots to be sent to the island.

15:45 – Large crowds remain outside several voting centres in Male’, despite proximity to ballot closing.

16:30 – As polling comes to a close, some of the political parties have begun discussing early impressions from the polling.

Ahmed Haleem, spokesperson for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said that although polling appears to have gone relatively smoothly, he was not happy with voter turn-out within Male’, which he claimed had been “poor” – a major potential setback for the party.

According to Haleem, the ruling party was concerned that many in the electorate were not aware of the importance of the council elections, which meant that voter turnout in the city was not as high as islands across the country’s atolls.

“This is a big problem for the MDP, we have a large support base in Male’,” he claimed.

The party spokesperson also expressed concern at the decision to end polling by 4:00pm as opposed to later in the evening.

“People are not coming to vote by 4:00pm – a lot of people are still waiting outside the gate to vote, but they can’t get in now.”

16:46 – A number of islands have reported problems with assisted voting for disabled or impaired constituents, says Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam, with allegations that insiders from various parties may have been abusing the system to gain votes.

Despite these complaints, Shiyam added that police had not become involved in the matter as it was not believed to be sufficiently widespread or organised, leaving Elections Commission officers to deal with the matter.

Beyond some concerns over the assisted voting, Shiyam claimed that voting across the islands had remained peaceful during the day.

“So far, there has not been any big issues with violence,” he said.

15:09 – Ballots are closing as queues recede, and counting has begun for some islands. Preliminary results should be available in several hours.

17:52 – Preliminary result for Hulhuheniveiru, 52% MDP (Maizan Ali Maniku), 40.5% DRP (Ahmed Nizam).

18:00 – Preliminaryresult for Galolhu Dehkunu area T-05 ballot box, DRP leading 43% out of five candidates (Ibrahim Sujau).

18:27 – Total four ballot boxes counted, temporary results indicate 3 to MDP, 1 to DRP.

18:29 – Preliminary results for Male’ city council available shortly.

18:43 – Latest ballot box count: MDP 8, DRP 4, GIP 1, Independent 2

19:42 – Latest ballot box wins: MDP ahead with 16, DRP 9, Independent 3, GIP 1.

20:49 – Preliminary results for 27 boxes counted in Male’ suggest MDP may hold all but 2 seats, although margins remain narrow. MDP’s Maizan Ali Manik, has 847 to DRP’s Ahmed Nizam’s 395 for Hulhuhenveyru Dhaairaa. DRP looks to have won Galolhu Dhekunu Dhaairaa with 442 to Ibrahim Sujaau, against MDP’s Abdulla Shafeeu with 396.
Incumbent municipality head, prior to his resignation several days ago, Adam ‘Sarangu’ Manik, has a narrow lead with five boxes counted in Machangolhi Dhekunu Dhaairaa, with 979 to DRP’s Assad Shareef’s 926. Independent Aishath Sherin so far has 63 in this area.

21:15 – Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has said he remains confident the opposition party will have a positive feedback from the elections as more votes come in from the country’s island councils.

Thasmeen told Minivan News that despite not doing “too badly” in the Male’ council elections so far, he was disappointed at a last-minute decision by the Supreme Court allow the elections for the formation of a council to serve an Addu City.

Otherwise the party remained positive of success, he said.

“We have been getting feedback from the islands and so far it looks good,” he said.  “We still are awaiting all the results from the island council that are slowly coming in and over the course of the night, we expect we will have a reasonable margin.”

In Male’, of four seats won by the DRP during the previous government election within the city, Thasmeen said he believed it would lose only one in the council elections; a decision he blamed on a DRP member running as an independent alongside an official party candidate.

According to the DRP leader, the major disappointment of the day had so far been felt in the controversial decision to once again allow elections for the Addu City that it had not been prepared for.

Thasmeen claimed it had reluctantly gone along with the decision of the courts, but was hindered by having disbanded its campaign team for Addu.

“It was clearly announced [the Addu elections] would not be today,” he said.  “[The decision to hold them] has given the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) an advantage due to their larger finances.  We should have had more time to allow constituents to return.”

21:21 – 50 percent of ballot boxes have been counted or are in process, according to Aiman Rasheed from Transparency Maldives.

“I think things have gone much better than we anticipated, although there have been issues that the Electoral Commission could have prevented,” he said.

Low voter turnout, Aiman suggested, was likely due to general apathy “as people don’t know what these councils are supposed to do or what their mandates are.”

21:31 – Complaints have delayed the counting of two ballot boxes in Dhaalu Atoll. Ballot box for Maavah in Laamu Atoll has resumed counting after temporary disruption.

21:36 – Preliminary results suggest Fuvamulah Maadhandu won by MDP, Mahibadhu in South Ari Atoll by DRP.
23:10 – Haveeru reports clashes between police and MDP supporters on Kela in Haa Alif Atoll MDP after the Elections Commission reportedly allowed voting to continue this evening. President Mohamed Nasheed is holding a meeting at the MDP Haruge shortly.
23:15 – MDP looks to have won all seats of the Addu City Council and nine of the 11 seats in Male’. A last minute decision by the Supreme Court allowed voting to take place in Addu after the Elections Commission declared in cancelled two days ago, in a move that has antagonised the opposition.
00:10 – Counting of ballots from outer island continues, while preliminary results suggest strong result for MDP, particularly in Male’ and Addu.

Refresh this page for further updates as the day progresses

Download the Local Council Election Guide (English)

Credit: Analysis spreadsheet prepared by Aishath Aniya. Data sourced from Elections Commission.

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Supreme Court elections decision clears path for Addu City – Dr Sawad

A Supreme Court decision to allow the election of a municipal council to serve within Addu has effectively ruled in favour of government plans to provide city status to the southerly atoll, Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad has said.

Dr Sawad said that the last minute decision taken yesterday by the Supreme Court to repeal an earlier Civil Court ruling disallowing Addu Atoll to hold city status was final and would not face the scrutiny of any additional appeals after today’s polling.

Elections set to appoint a council to serve a newly formed Addu City were cancelled by the Elections Commission earlier this week by the Civil Court, after it invalidated the criteria established by the Local Government Authority to determine cities.

Dr Sawad said that the Supreme Court had now effectively ruled in favour of the government’s aim to have Addu Atoll recognised as a city.

Haveeru reported that the five Supreme Court judges unanimously ruled that the Civil Court decision to invalid the city criteria had the potential to create conflict in Maldivian society, as well as violate the legal rights of candidates contesting the election in Addu.

Following the Supreme Court order, Elections Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq recalled an earlier decision to cancel the election in Addu – however it still remains unknown as to how the confusion impacted voter turnout.

The Supreme Court decision was met with criticism from Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), who claimed that the party had been severely hindered by the short notice given to participants for the elections.

“It was clearly announced [the Addu elections] would not be today,” he said. “[The decision to hold them] has given the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) an advantage due to their larger finances. We should have had more time to allow constituents to return.”

Thasmeen said that the party would reluctantly follow the ruling of the Supreme Court nonetheless.

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“Democracy cannot not be consolidated without decentralisation”, says President

Local council elections will consolidate democracy, President Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday during a speech for Maldives National Day, marking the 451st anniversary of the Maldives gaining independence from Portuguese rule.

However, he said, democracy could not be consolidated without decentralising the country, which until now has been Male’ centric.

“This administration does not intend to centralize all the powers in the capital, and the country will not progress without relinquishing powers concentrated in Male’ for centuries,” Nasheed said.

Revolts occurring against governments in many countries in the Middle East was the result of suppressing people’s freedoms and liberties, he said.

Safeguarding the people’s freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful political activism was a prerequisite of sustainable national development, added the President.

Basic rights of the people and safeguarding these rights for future generations were central to the current political and socio-economic changes in the Maldives, the President said.

“The most important part of preservation of the new found freedoms and rights in the Maldives is redefining the national identity based on Islam, human rights, culture, and socio-economic progress of this country,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed also paid tribute to Mohamed Thakurufaanu, the National Day hero who restored the country’s independence after Portuguese rule.

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Elections Commission removes ineligible council candidates from ballot

The Elections Commission has taken action to remove 29 candidates planning to stand in today’s local council elections following a Supreme Court ruling on their eligibility.

Haveeru reported that the decision was taken yesterday to cancel the candidates’ standing in the elections, but 11 of the names would still be appearing on ballot papers.

According to the report, polling station heads will strike out the invalidated names in the presence of each voter.

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Maldivian staff to wear blonde wigs, confirms Olialia brand manager

Maldivian staff at the proposed Lithuanian ‘Blondes only’ resort will wear wigs, Olialia Brand Manager Lauryna Anuseviciut has confirmed in an interview with Associated Press.

Anuseviciute told AP that “staff who are not blond will wear a blond wig to make everyone look similar.”

Companies in the Maldives are required to employ at least 50 percent local staff, few of whom have blonde hair.

Plans for the resort are still at an infant stage, but early designs show the island will be shaped as a gigantic high-heeled shoe.

Anuseviciute insisted to AP that Olialia had already secured financing for the plan, however the Maldivian government says it has yet to issue a permit or even see a proposal.

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Blue VS yellow: election fever comes to a head

Streets of blue and yellow flags and posters of politicians carpeting every available surface leave little doubt that election fever has hit Male’, ahead of the country’s first local council elections.

Maldivians will go to the polls on Saturday to elect local councilors in the third major election since the introduction of multi-party democracy.

Candidates will compete for nearly 1100 positions across island, atoll and Male’ city councils.

According to data from the Elections Commission, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will be fielding approximately 930 candidates, and the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) around 880. Of these, the MDP is fielding almost 60 women, the DRP 80. The religiously conservative Adhaalath Party is fielding 53 candidates, including two women, while the Jumhoree Party has 46 candidates and the People’s Alliance (PA) eight candidates, the same number as the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP). The Vice President’s Gaumy Iththihaad Party (GIP) has 10 candidates.

Several key themes have emerged during the election campaigns, as both major parties convince voters of their respective merits.

President Mohamed Nasheed has spearheaded the MDP’s campaign, touring the country and highlighting government projects on each island, the number of people receiving welfare, completion dates for harbours and other such metrics of government assistance.

The DRP campaign has followed a divergent path after a factional split between leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, who was dismissed by the party’s disciplinary committee just prior the party’s election campaign but contends his dismissal was against the party’s regulations.

The relationship between the two remains frosty after a party rally in mid-December descended into a factional brawl, after supporters of the dismissed Naseer gatecrashed the venue.

However, the split has given the party two fronts in the campaign – “It has worked in their favour since they have been able to cover more fronts than the MDP,” observed the President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

Opinion poll

Significantly, the local council election triggered the return to politics of former president and DRP ‘Honorary Leader’ Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, apparently backing Umar Naseer’s faction, despite anointing Thasmeen as his successor following his retirement from politics in February 2010.

Gayoom remains an enigmatic figure in Maldivian politics. The extent of his popularity since the DRP’s win in the parliamentary elections over two years ago is unclear, given the absence of independent and impartial political polling in the country and passionate partisan politics.

By his own account, recorded in a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron late last year, “I continue to enjoy the strong support, love and affection of the people, and have been voted by the public as ‘Personality of the Year’ in both years since stepping down from the presidency.”

Certainly his return shook the MDP – Zuhair observed that Gayoom’s presence will “certainly get [the DRP] more votes. After 30 years of tenure many people still believe he is their benefactor.”

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf has previously suggested that the MDP was afraid of Gayoom and the loyalty he inspired in the party faithful.

“Gayoom is the only person with popular support, and that was clearly seen in the parliamentary election. [The MDP] are scared he will run in 2013,” Mahlouf said, on Gayoom’s return last month.

The MDP contends that its infrastructure and development projects have won over many islanders – hence the focus of the election campaign. However many Maldivians – especially Thasmeen – still live in the shadow of their ‘Honorary Leader’ of 30 years and blame the MDP for the many teething problems and political upsets of the fledgling democracy.

Gayoom’s return has raised the stakes, for both major parties. The results of the local council elections will serve as the first national opinion poll in two years, revealing both the extent of Gayoom’s continuing influence and whether the MDP has been able to successfully convince people that its politics are progressive.

The Addu factor

The cancellation of the City Council elections in Addu Atoll, has, in the words of a senior source in the President’s Office, “effectively disempowered 30,000 Adduans for the sake of vested political interests”.

It has also cost Rf220,000 (US$17,100) in wasted public money, according to the Elections Commission (EC), which was today defending itself from the MDP’s political wrath over this speed-bump in the party’s ambitions to decentralise the country.

A referendum held in October 2010 over the administrative consolidation of small islands, while suffering voter turnout of less than 30 percent, was overwhelmingly against the proposal – except in Addu Atoll, where the islands of Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo and Hulhudhoo endorsed it, while only the islanders of Feydhoo and Meedhoo did not.

“In my view, the results of the referendum showed very clearly that citizens of the atoll want to develop as a city. So we will designate Addu Atoll as one city island,” President Nasheed announced.

The plan was derailed by the opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), when Deputy Leader Imad Solih succeeded in January of getting the Civil Court to rule that Nasheed did not have the authority to declare Addu a city as the criteria to do so had not been established.

That led to the burning of an effigy of Solih and protests outside the home of the party’s leader, former Attorney General Hassan Saeed, by both angry Adduans and MDP activists. One of the latter observed that the DQP’s case was something of an “own-goal” given that Saeed is himself Adduan.

Nasheed quickly corrected the technicality by installing Home Minister Hassan Afeef in the contentious Local Government Authority (LGA), which published the requirements for a city that afternoon in the government’s gazette.

Then, days before the election, the Civil Court ruled in a second case that the city criteria was invalid as it required “a majority”. Unable to wait for legal wrangling, the Elections Commission formally cancelled the local council elections for Addu, removing them from the contest and next to guaranteeing upheaval on Saturday.

“[The DQP] are arguing that the government is acting against the constitution, which is not correct,” Zuhair stated. “There is no rule stipulating the number of members required on the LGA. We will appoint the LGA and reissue exactly the same criteria, but because of this, Addu will have no representation on the Authority.”

Independence remains a sensitive subject for the southern atolls, particularly Addu, which in 1959 led the formation of a short-lived break-away nation called the United Suvadive Republic, together with Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah.

This was crushed in 1962 when Thinadhoo was destroyed on the orders of then-President Ibrahim Nasir, and the island of 4800 depopulated.

In one of history’s odd parallels, the Adduan under whose name the second Civil Court was filed was also a Nasir.

“He’s a cook on board a safari boat. He’s registered with the Vice President’s party [GIP], but our information suggests the DQP is behind this,” said Zuhair.

DQP-aligned news website, Maldives Today, waxed lyrical about the “proud son of Addu” who had succeeded in cancelling the atoll’s elections.

“He might be a crew of a wooden ship that carries rice, flour, and other consumables from Male’ to Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. But nobody thought that this crewman might challenge the highest authority in Maldives. He challenged the president of Maldives in the civil court regarding how the criteria was set to make his home land Addu a city,” wrote the website.

“Some rogue elements within Addu blindly says that he is a villain,” it added.

The government has said it intends to appeal the decision, but that is unlikely to happen before Saturday, when the entire country will vote apart from Adduans. Protesters have already barricaded two courts, television news crews have been sent to the atoll, and there have been dark mutterings about the atoll’s potential for secession.

Zuhair contended that the intention of the opposition’s disruption was “simply to portray the government as ineffective – to make a political point.”

“The opposition [to decentralisation] in Male’ is there because traditionally the atoll and island chiefs have looked to influential office bearers in Male’ for what they need. This election will make them the masters of their own development,” he claimed.

“For example: in Male’ the planning department will design a 200 by 300 foot harbour for 20 islands, none of which are the same size. Many harbours are built this way, without local involvement.”

Expensive proposition

The new layer of government introduced by the elections will cost the Maldives over US$12 million a year in salaries and allowances, or US$220,000 per month. The President of every island council will receive a salary and allowance of Rf 15,000 (US$1160), council members Rf 11,000 (US$850). The mayor of Male’ will receive Rf 45,000 (US$3500).

In addition to salaries, explained acting Finance Minister Mahmoud Razee, parliament has allocated a further Rf200 million (US$15.5 million) to office expenses – at a time when the country has a double-figure deficit, a crippling foreign exchange shortage and complete reliance on a single industry.

“At this point in time we have to increase revenue and decrease waste – that’s the only way we can afford this,” Razee said, adding that the government was continuing to work with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to “right-size” the bloated civil service.

“Nothing is easy in politics, but we have a moral obligation to do so. Insofar as the government and the CSC are concerned, our objectives are not far apart.”

Foreign consultants were, he said, presently working with the civil service to determine “if positions are required, and that the grade they are paid matches the work they are doing.”

Their report, he said, could be ready as soon as March-April. However international funders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were last year expressing a growing frustration with the Maldives’ tendency to put politics above economics, and the bill for the local council elections had not escaped their notice.

One senior MDP figure, questioned as to whether the Maldives was in a position to afford local government – or, for that matter, anything – responded with a cavalier “we’ll figure it out after the elections”.

UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox summarised the problem.

“This is going to be a very interesting experience, perhaps in some ways a difficult experience for the Maldives,” he said.

“We all know the challenges of development in the Maldives; the geography makes transport very expensive, very difficult, and some of the islands which are inhabited are very small. It can be very hard sometimes for some of these islands to have their voice heard at a national level.

“The opportunity that is offered by these elections is that people can take greater responsibility for the government which affects them on a day to day basis, and it’s very interesting in theory. But in practice, how is that going to work?”

Local Council Election Guide (English)

Credit: Analysis spreadsheet prepared by Aishath Aniya. Data sourced from Elections Commission.

Correction: A calculation error in an earlier version of the election spreadsheet mistakenly listed the number of independent candidates as 2500. The actual number is 765. This has been corrected.

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NGO aid overdependence may hamper effective national development, says UN coordinator

The high number of NGOs operating in the Maldives dependent on foreign aid may be setting back effective development in areas such as health and human rights, according to UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox.

At the launch of a new wave of UN joint funding, Cox told Minivan News that he believed current numbers of Maldivian NGOs “could not be sustained” with about 700 such organisations registered within the country.

Cox claimed that the funding unveiled today was being supplied in an attempt to steer future aid projects into specific areas of interest in the community where NGOs could effectively support and maintain themselves to benefit local people in the long-term.

A total of nine grants, which are jointly funded by the UN (UNDP) Development Project and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), were today unveiled as part of the first of three batches of funding to support projects by NGOs and civil society organisation (CSOs).

The projects, which range in budget and duration from four to eight months, are aimed at encompassing issues such as human rights, governance, rights-based developments and gender equality, according to the UNDP.

Although not related directly to this weekend’s council elections in terms of timing, Cox said that the focus of the local elections to transfer a strong amount of governing responsibility to islands and atolls away from Male’ tied into the grants’ intended purpose of steering country-wide developments.

“The point of today is we can see that civil society organisations and NGOs can play a major role in bringing meaning to this transfer of power from the centre to the local level. Obviously that is not going to happen on every island or even every atoll,” he said.

“But community organisations; working with some of the most disadvantaged and trying to give them poise is a key part of what local democracy is about. What I really want to see coming out of these grants and the ones which come along in the future is more of the same kind of thing.”

Grant beneficiaries

The list of beneficiaries of these grants includes:

• Take Care Addu; received US$20,514.98 to try empowering NGOs to protect and promote human rights on Seenu Atoll and Fuahmulah for seven months

• Maldivian Democracy Network; received 18,815 to monitor political violence for the first local council elections over four months

• Maldives Deaf Association – in collaboration with Care Society; 24,928 over eight months to help create awareness of the United Nation’s convention on rights of people with disabilities

• Raajje Foundation Maldives; US$20,980 on a six month project looking at civil society and democracy to be implemented in two atolls

• Maldives Civil Servants Association (MCA); provided US$21,151 for funding five month projects in Male’ and other atolls

• CHOCO; US$18,400 for six months development of a “masterplan” for Huvadhoo Atoll

• Lhohee Zuvaanunge Club; received US$15,347 for the raising of public awareness of local governance and empowering women in Noonu Atoll

• Billedhoo School Isdharivarunge Jammiyya; provided US$15,634 for protection of women’s rights and their role in political and social spheres for a four month project

• HIRIYA; US$14,340 for a four month project aiming to strengthen the role of women youth leaders

According to Cox, the projects, which were selected by the UNDP’s own Grants Gommittee were geographically focused to try and benefit as wide a group of people as possible.

In terms of monitoring the aid, Cox said that the grants committee had focused on trying to find key long-term areas that future funding could efficiently support in the country without depending on continued foreign aid.

“The applying organisations had to show that this is a way of not just blowing off some cash, but that this might strengthen things in the area they are focusing on,” he said. “We’ll have to see how it goes, but if we see some useful trends coming out of this we will try and steer the remainder of resources towards this.”

When asked whether potential suspicion from some people or groups over the motives of international bodies such as the UN and AusAID in supplying financial aid was a problem, Cox claimed that he had not heard of any such criticisms of the Society Development Project funding.

In addressing prominent concerns in supplying the funding, the UN Resident Coordinator said that ensuring long-term benefits from the aid packages was particularly important due to the high number of NGOs currently operating in the country, which he claimed could not be sustained on current national levels of financial resources.

“In the long run, especially in a country like the Maldives, you can’t have NGOs that are dependent on international funding because it won’t continue forever,” he said. “So the idea of projects like this, at least in theory, is that you can provide funding for very particular activities and you hope that the resources that provides allows for professionalization to help develop stronger management structures.”

One possible solution to concerns over an over dependency on foreign aid according to Cox could be the emergence of a number of “champion” or strong NGOs focusing on a number of “key issues” like reproductive health, drugs and human rights.

“One of the things we try and push NGOs to do – which can be a difficult sell – is to look to their own communities and the people who support them to find the reasons they exist and find ways that resources can be mobilised nationally and locally,” he said. “On a secondary level, you need a number of organisations to hold the government accountable, it happens in the UK, it happens in Sri Lanka and slowly it is happening here.”

In practice though, Cox said that such changes were beginning to be seen in the Maldives, but added that they would still take some time to develop.

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