Tag: maldives news

President Nasheed departs to Bhutan for SAARC summit

President Mohamed Nasheed and First Lady Laila Ali departed on an official visit to Bhutan yesterday morning to attend the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.

The Summit of Heads of State and Heads of the Government of SAARC countries will be held in Thimphu, Bhutan on 28 and 29 April.

President Nasheed will also meet other SAARC country leaders to discuss bilateral relations and issues of regional interest.

Before his departure at the official jetty, President Nasheed said SAARC needed to play a more active role in addressing regional issues. He added he would work with other leaders of SAARC to strengthen and expand the role of the organisation in the region.

After their visit to Bhutan, the president and first lady will be going to China on an official visit start 1 May.

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Vice President voices concerns about government at GIP rally

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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MNDF celebrates 118th anniversary with first-ever Commander-in-Chief’s Force and Fleet Review

President Mohamed Nasheed congratulated the valuable services of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) at the first-ever Commander-in-Chief’s Force and Fleet Review yesterday, held at Jumhooree Maidhan in celebration of the 118th anniversary of the MNDF.

President Nasheed said the MNDF have provided their services at every instance of national importance, and particularly noted their support in bringing democratic change to the country.

He said a national force that would act in unity and unconditionally, without political influence, and with the nation’s interest in mind, “did not exist for no reason.”

President Nasheed said to expand and modernise the military services, it was necessary to decentralise the forces. The MNDF has already divided its forces into four regional commands; one in Malé, and three more in the South, North and Central regions.

He added the MNDF was undergoing infrastructural development, resource modernisation, training and capacity building to modernise and expand the military.

As Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, President Nasheed inspected the MNDF Marine Corps and the Coast Guard fleet. There were displays of Air Wing and Special Forces.

President Nasheed presented the colours of the new MNDF Support Service Corps to Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam.

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President Nasheed returns to the Maldives

President Mohamed Nasheed and First Lady Laila Ali have returned to the Maldives after their visit to South Korea for the B4E Business for Environment Summit.

They were greeted by members of the government and a large crowd of people who gathered at jetty number one to congratulate the president on the Champion of the Earth Award he received last week.

He said he was honoured to receive the prize and it was a testament to Maldivians’ efforts to bring the issue of climate change to the global stage.

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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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President Nasheed meets with Chinese delegation

President Mohamed Nasheed has met with the visiting Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegation at the President’s Office, reports Miadhu.

President Nasheed noted the Maldives and China enjoyed close and cordial relations, and said China was making important contributions to the social and economic growth of the Maldives.

He added that both countries share concerns such as climate change, and the two governments should collaborate more on the issue.

Vice Chairman of the CPPCC, Sun Jiazheng, assured the president that China would continue to cooperate with the Maldives, and added climate change is a great concern to his country.

Jiazheng briefed President Nasheed on China’s political system and the government’s efforts to further develop the country and bring prosperity to its people.

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20 year-old dies in speeding motorcycle accident

A 20 year-old man died yesterday afternoon when his speeding motorcycle crashed into a tree in Noonu Kendhikulhudhoo.

The attending doctor at Kendhikulhudhoo Health Centre said the man had died before reaching hospital.

Police reported the motorcycle was completely damaged and Manadhoo police are investigating the accident further.

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Strengthen Islam before introducing comparative religion, say Adhaalath and Salaf

The Adhaalath Party and religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf have said they will not support the study of comparative religion in the Maldives until understanding of the basic principles are strengthened.

The introduction of the subject at a tertiary level was proposed last week by State Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, who said it was taught in many Islamic universities across the world and would help Maldivians “learn how to deal with other philosophies, learn about what others believe, the differences between us and them, and what is the right side.”

“It is my belief that by the end of people should know that Islam is the truth,” he said.

In the lead up to the launch of the course, the Islamic Ministry is preparing to legalise the possession of books concerning other religions, such as the bible, “for educational and research purposes”, Shaheem told Minivan News on Thursday.

However President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed said today that the government should not introduce comparative religion to the country “before the people understand the basic principles of Islam.”

Sheikh Hussein said that before introducing comparative religion the government should teach Islam in more advanced manner.

”People today do not know the basic principles of Islam,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”It is not good to introduce comparative religion before people know all the basic principles of Islam.”

He claimed that Maldivians had moved away from religion over the past thirty years.

“As a result, today there is nobody to respect religion, teachers and leaders,” he said.

He said there were many people who doubted some religious matters, and the study of comparative religion would only increase those doubts.

Sheikh Hussein added that it was good to teach comparative religion at a university level, “but only after making the teaching of Islam more advanced.”

He also noted that there were no qualified teachers to teach comparative religion in the country.

”There might be a scholar who has studied it as a subject, but it does not mean he is qualified to teach it,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”I also studied psychology when I studied, but does not mean I am a psychologist.”

He said that in general principle the study of comparative religion at a university level was a good idea.

However he added that he had information that the government was trying to introduce comparative religion at a secondary level, which ”the Adhaalath Party will try to stop from happening by any means necessary.”

Shaheem emphasised on Thursday that the subject should not be taught at a secondary level “because [students’] minds are not [yet] prepared to deal with these philosophies.”

President of Jamiyyathul Salaf Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Ibrahim today agreed with Sheikh Hussein that people should understand Islam comprehensively before comparative religion was introduced.

Sheikh Abdulla said there were some necessary subjects of Islam many people in the Maldives did not yet understand or were not being taught.

”Only a few people understand the ‘Tafsir’ [exegesis] of Quran,” he said, adding that ”knowledge of other religions is already taught in verses of Quran and Hadith.”

He emphasised that people should be taught more about Islamic theology before it was compared with other religions.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the government would introduce the study of comparative religion “in anyway the Islamic Ministry prefers”, and noted the decision over whether to introduce comparative religion at a secondary or university level was yet to be decided.

”There are no disadvantages to teaching comparative religion in the Maldives,” Zuhair said. ”We will discuss everything [in cabinet] and we are looking forward to introducing the subject for next year.”

President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), Ahmed Saleem, said he thought that introducing the subject of comparative religion was “a good idea.”

“I welcome it. I think it’s a good opportunity for people to really understand Islam,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody else has talked about it [before it was raised by Shaheem]. You have a right to know – these books were all sent by God – even those about Christianity and Judaism.”

Saleem noted that it was technically legal for a Maldivian man to marry a Jewish or a Christian woman, as “they are all people of the book.”

However it was illegal for a Maldivian woman to marry a Christian or a Jewish man, he said.

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Shangri-La ‘PlayStation’ strike dissolves after leaders dismissed

The strike at Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa has ended, according to Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association Maldives (TEAM), Mauroof Zakir.

157 Staffs at the Shangri-La Villingili Resort went on strike last week after four workers were dismissed for reportedly playing on a PlayStation in a vacant villa on the last Sunday. It continued throughout the week until Shangri-La management dismissed the 10 leaders of the strike and four villa host, and invited the remaining staff back to work.

Zakir claimed the strike ended when Shangri-La management sent a letter to the parents of the strikers on Feydhoo.

”They sent a letter signed by the general manager of the resort requesting that the strikers resign or the matter would be handled to the police,” Zakir said.

”Their wives, kids and parents were disappointed with the letter and pressured the staff to stop the strike and go work.”

Zakir said the strikers did not achieve all they had set out to achieve, but “it was a success that only 14 staffs were dismissed. At first they dismissed 65 staffs on the island.”

He said that strikers took a vote on Wednesday to decide if they were going to continue or end the strike.

”Ninety per cent of them voted to continue the strike,” Zakir claimed.

He said TEAM would “still work until we achieve our demands, with the help of international organisations.”

”We will take the case to the tribunal also,” he said. ”We will do as much we can.”

Shangri-La’s Communication Director Leslie Garcia denied management sent a letter to the strike leaders.

”They were dismissed in an agreement proposed by the resort management,” she said. ”They agreed to it.”

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