Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is once again the political party with most members in the country, reports Miadhu.
Last Tuesday, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) had claimed membership majority with a total of 32,539.
According to Miadhu, the Elections Commission (EC) said MDP reached 33,270 members and had an additional 3,500 forms waiting for verification.
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(0)The Shanghai Daily newspaper has reported that a Chinese national on honeymoon in the Maldives was killed and his wife injured during a robbery last Sunday 14 March.
The English-language daily reported that the man, identified by his surname ‘Dai’, was a software engineer in his 20s who worked for the telecommunications company Alcatel Shanghai Bell. The newspaper attributed the information to a statement issued by the company.
The report said Dai’s body was covered with bruises and cuts, and that the cause of his death had not yet been confirmed by Maldives Police Service.
Dai’s parents arrived in the Maldives after being informed of their son’s death and were initially told he had drowned, the newspaper reported.
Police confirmed to Minivan News today that they received a report at 12:45pm on 14 March that a Chinese national, Rui Dai, died while snorkelling at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort, South Malé Atoll.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said they had found no major injuries on his body and police suspected he had drowned. He said a post-mortem examination was not performed on the body, and there were no reports of Dai’s wife being injured.
A source at Kandooma Resort confirmed a guest by the name of Dai and his wife were honeymooning at the resort, and that Dai had died the day after arriving on the island.
“He drowned while swimming in 5-10 feet of water,” the source said, adding that the body was found in the morning between 10:30am and 12pm by housekeeping staff and a French guest.
There was no bruising on the body, the source noted, adding that Dai’s family had arrived to pick up his body and were staying at the Holiday Inn in Malé.
Management at Kandooma had ordered staff not to divulge any information about the case, the source noted.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they had no information on a foreigner being robbed and killed, but said they had received a police report on Sunday about a man who died in a snorkelling accident. The President’s Office did not know about the murder claims, either.
Minivan News is seeking clarification of the reports from the Shanghai Daily and Dai’s employer, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, who released the report in China.
Dai is the second Chinese national to die in the Maldives this month.
Another Chinese tourist, Yeh Shihwei, drowned while snorkelling, also on his honeymoon, at Chaaya Lagoon Hakurahura Island Resort on 1 March 2010.
The resort manager for Chaaya Lagoon confirmed Shihwei died accidentally while snorkelling.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament was cancelled today because only 18 MPs were present inside the parliament chamber.
MDP MPs had sent a letter to the speaker of the parliament asking him to ensure them that the chamber “was safe for MDP MPs”, after a brawl broke out yesterday between the two major parties.
According to the parliament’s regulations at least 20 MPs must be present inside the chamber to hold a meeting.
MDP MP Rugiyya Mohamed said 89 per cent of MDP MPs attended the parliament ”but did not enter inside the chamber due to what happened yesterday.”
Ruhiyya said that the MDP parliamentry group had sent a letter to the speaker of the parliament to ensure that the chamber would be safe for the MDP MPs, but had not responded.
”I believe that Abdulla Shahid is influenced by Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP),” she claimed. ”He cannot even control the parliament.”
DRP Vice president Umar Naseer said MDP MPs were attempting to prevent a vote regarding the corruption allegations against the Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, as they “are afraid of democracy.”
”Shahid must stand on our side,” Naseer said. ” He was elected to the parliament by our ticket with the vote of our members.”
DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom said he had no idea why the MDP MPs refused to enter the chamber.
”It was a waste of one day for me.” he said. ”I went to parliament with the hope of discussing a national issue.”
He said that it was fine “even if two [MPs] came.”
MDP MP Mohamed Shifaz said the MDP MPs “are not sure that the chamber is safe for them any more.”
Spokesperson for the President Mohamed Zuhair said it was up to the speaker to hold consultations with party leaders and get the MPs back into the chamber.
“The government believes politicans should only defeat their opponents through speech,” he noted.
During a meeting yesterday, DRP MP Ali Waheed said if the vote was not taken tomorrow, the party “will make sure no more votes are taken in this country.”
“It will be the biggest political mistake President Mohamed Nasheed makes,” he warned.
In response, Zuhair accused DRP MP Ali Waheed of pretending to injure himself in video footage of yesterday’s brawl.
“He was at the back of the chamber and clearly takes a dive. But then he is a former footballer so he would know all about that,” Zuhair said.
Waheed did not to respond to Minivan News at time of press.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Clemency Board has begun its work today and the President’s Office has started sending out forms for prisoners to apply for clemency under the new Clemency Law.
The law was passed by Parliament on their last session of 2009. It gives President Mohamed Nasheed the power to grant pardons and commute sentences for prisoners.
It also allows the president to reduce sentences, as well as grant life sentences where death sentences had been previously issued.
The Bill specifies crimes that will not be eligible for pardon, such as murder, terrorism, sexual abuse of children, rape, drug trafficking, offences against Islam, and homosexuality.
According to the government, the Bill is meant to help those prisoners who did not get a fair trial, were wrongfully convicted or were convicted solely on the basis of extracted confessions.
Prisoners must pass two requirements to apply for clemency. They must show they have exhausted all other avenues of appeal, and must have completed at least one third of their original sentence.
It had been previously reported that criminal records of those convicted under the old Constitution would be wiped clean if they were pardoned, but Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said that was not the case.
“There are many provisions for such matters as criminal offences and criminal records, but their records would not be wiped clean.”
“We began issuing forms today to multiple centres around Malé and they are also being sent to Island Offices,” Zuhair said.
He believes implementing the Clemency Board is a good move for the government, as “there are many pending appeals” from prisoners. “There are nearly 2,000 prisoners in the country right now,” Zuhair said.
He added that although “outrage and accusations” about the reasons for the implementation of the board will probably come, “the president is very clear on this issue and has been working on it for a long time.”
On 9 March 2010 President Nasheed appointed the members of the Clemency Board, who are to advise the president regarding the release of prisoners or commuting of sentences.
The Board is chaired by Attorney General Husnu Suood. The other members are Mariyam Suzee Adam (social sector), Nazil Afeef (legal sector), Shifa Mohamed (education sector), Dr Ahmed Razee (health sector), Sh. Mohamed Farooq (religious scholar), Maizaan Ali Maniku (civil society), Ahmed Adil (Parole Board), Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Sodiq, Ahmed Mahloof (legislature) and Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem.
President of the Board Husnu Suood said this law has been passed in accordance with the Constitution and believed the government “has moved a step forward.”
“Under the Constitution there is clemency, and there must be a provision for the president to implement this.”
Suood said under the previous Constitution this power was not implemented often, and when it was, it was usually abused.
“This will not be exercised as a political tool,” Suood assured.
He also hoped people would not see it as the government ‘releasing’ criminals, as there were established criteria under which the law can be applied.
Suood explained the president cannot give pardons for the seven specified categories but he can commute death sentences to life imprisonment.
Deputy PG Hussain Shameem said he thinks the board is a good start, but will “only work with other support systems, such as psychological and social services and a proper prison system.”
Shameem said the Clemency Law is “very tricky, the way it’s drafted,” as it “gives a lot of loopholes.”
For instance, Shameem said, the president can make the ultimate decision on pardons regarding the seven categories which are technically not eligible for pardon.
“There are some contradictions,” he said, but he believes people have to “take it positively.”
Before the Clemency Law, he said “many prisoners did not see the end of the tunnel.”
Under the new law, he believes “if prisoners have faith in the system, and they know they could get out early on good behaviour, they will behave.”
He said the law was open to anyone who had successfully completed one third of their sentence, excluding those convicted for the seven specified crimes.
Shameem added he did not believe “there are people who were wrongfully convicted” in the prison system.
(0)Dislikes(0)It was decided yesterday in the Cabinet meeting that the Maldives should accede to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the New York Convention.
The New York Convention was adopted by the UN in 1958 which deals with international arbitration; a means of alternative dispute resolution in the areas of international trade and commercial transactions.
According to the Constitution, the Cabinet must send the matter to Parliament. The treaty will only come into force if and when it is approved by the People’s Majlis.
Cabinet members noted that the Convention would provide legislative standards for the recognition of arbitration agreements.
It was also suggested that accession to the Convention would create an “investor-friendly environment” in the Maldives.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has established Malé Health Services Corporation Limited, a government-owned company with one hundred percent government shares.
The company was formed to “ensure economic and social development” and to provide “adequate health care” for Maldivians.
The corporation will establish and maintain health care facilities in the Malé region.
(0)Dislikes(0)A former employee of global public relations agency Hill & Knowlton, which was controversially contracted by the former government to improve its international image, continues to work for the government in its Geneva office.
In a previous interview with Minivan News, Independent MP and former Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed said the PR firm was hired to respond to the allegations of human rights abuses promulgated by the MDP.
He also said that while he believed it had whitewashed some of the activities of the former government, its primary agenda was to encourage the government to show a more democratic face.
The PR company was also criticised for editing the statements on the country’s wikipedia entry critical of the former government, after was caught in the act by data-mining tool Wikiscanner.
Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said there “might be one staff member [from Hill & Knowlton] in Geneva who was hired by the former government.”
“Cancelling the contract was more expensive than continuing it,” Zuhair explained.
He added that this person was probably still doing PR work for the government.
Minivan News contacted the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the United Nations in Geneva and spoke to the man in question, Mark Limon.
Limon said he finished his work for H&K nine years ago, but could not give any details of his work with the firm or with the former Maldivian government due to contractual clauses.
“I am helping as a local employee [in the Geneva Mission],” Limon said. He added that the rumours of continued links with the PR firm were “absolutely not true. There are no links or contracts at all [between the Maldivian government and Hill & Knowlton].”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed said the rumours of a Hill & Knowlton employee working for the current government were “total rubbish. There is no one from Hill & Knowlton [under the current government].”
He confirmed that Hill & Knowlton was hired by the former government in 2004 and stopped working for them in 2007, he said, noting that there were currently only two foreign nationals working in Maldivian Missions in Europe – one in Brussels and one in Geneva.
Shaheed dismissed rumours the foreign nationals were receiving an extravagant pay checks of up to ₤80,000 a year, saying that they were being paid “competitive rates, comparable to that of an ambassador.”
State Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem said the MDP had been concerned about Hill & Knowlton’s work with the previous government, and the current government had no one from the firm working for them.
To claim otherwise was “a ridiculous suggestion”, he said.
“There are so many people inherited from the previous government. This doesn’t mean they work for Hill & Knowlton,” he said.
Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, spokesman for the former president, confirmed that the former government had terminated its contract with the firm in 2007. Rumours that a Hill & Knowlton employee was still on the government payroll were incorrect, he said.
“The gentleman in Geneva is a former employee of Hill & Knowlton, but is now working for the government,” Mundhu said.
He said Limon “still has all the skills” from his time in Hill & Knowlton and had been “instrumental” in in setting up the Mission in Geneva.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has again become the political party with the most number of members in the Maldives, after it was eclipsed by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) last month.
Secretary General of the Elections Commission (EC) Ahmed Ali Didi has confirmed that as of yesterday the DRP’s membership stood at 32,539 while the Maldivian Democratic Party’s MDP’s membership stood at 30,848.
DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told a party meeting yesterday that once the completed forms for DRP membership are submitted to the EC, the DRP’s membership could rise as high as 37,000.
Didi explained that forms were received by the EC every day from different parties, and they could only know how many of those were for DRP once they had screened everything. The results would then be published on the EC’s website, he said.
Didi added that sometimes the parties gave out a membership estimate depending on how many forms they have in their office waiting to be sent to the EC for screening.
DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said DRP’s majority was “nothing new”, and said he thought it was “very likely” that the DRP would now maintain membership majority.
“MDP only had majority for a brief time,” he said, accusing the MDP were “forcing” members to change from DRP to MDP with promises of jobs.
“We don’t have the means to pressure members into signing with us,” Shareef said, noting that “many new members of DRP are signing on their own accord.”
MDP Spokesperson Ahmed Haleem said they “are not worried” about DRP’s current majority.
“I think after one month or so MDP will regain majority. There are a lot of forms in our office waiting to be processed.”
He said many DRP members were moving to other parties, “and in about one month they will have maybe 25,000 members.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Minister of Health and Family Dr Aminath Jameel has said there will be no loss to the government if health employees have to work under corporations, reports Haveeru.
The government is planning on managing Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), regional hospitals and health centres, under 100 percent government-owned corporations.
The minister said employees will be protected under the Employment Act and Pension Law.
Dr Aminath said employees would not lose their rights and the Health Ministry would regulate the corporations under its regulatory mechanism.
She added that the health sector framework would be amended and salaries are expected to increase.
The minister added that bringing health services closer to the people under corporations would solve the current problems the health sector is facing.
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