Tag: maldives news

Parliament stalled by contradicting proposals to amend Armed Forces Act

Two contradicting amendments to the Armed Forces Act of Maldives were proposed at the People’s Majlis yesterday.

In May last year, Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed submitted two bills to amend the Armed Forces Act and Police Act, respectively.

If passed, the president would need approval from the parliamentary committee on security services before appointing or dismissing the heads of both the army and police.

During the final reading of the bill yesterday, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP for Hanimaadhoo Ahmed Mujthaz proposed an amendment which would require parliamentary approval for the appointment of the army chief.

Currently, only President Mohamed Nasheed has the power to appoint or dismiss high-ranking military officials.

If the bill is passed with the amendment, a Majlis committee will review the president’s nominee, and he or she will be approved by a majority vote on the floor. If the president wants to dismiss the army chief, the same committee will evaluate the reasons and present a report to the floor before a vote.

After the vote on the amendment was tied at 35 on each side, Speaker Abdullah Shahid cast the tie-breaking vote, siding with DRP’s proposal to make parliamentary approval mandatory.

Another amendment to the bill was proposed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mariya Didi which would counteract the DRP amendment.

Didi proposed that the power to appoint and dismiss the army chief should remain solely under the president’s discretion. This amendment passed at 35-33 votes.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said “the president should have the discretion to choose the army chief”, adding that the bill was only passed because “the speaker took their side—he belongs to DRP.”

He said the president’s point of view was that “it is dangerous to politicise the defense forces,” and he hoped the “Majlis will come around to that [same] view.”

Zuhair noted that in a “worst-case scenario, the President will send [the bill] back for reconsideration.”

State Minister of Defense, Muiz Adnan, said “the president is the Commander-in-Chief and according to the Constitution he should have the power to make decisions.”

When asked why this amendment had been proposed in the first place, DRP MP Rozaina Adam said “if the president was treating everybody fairly, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

She said it became an issue “because we don’t trust the government to protect everyone’s rights.”

MDP MP Sameer said his party is not making any comments since the amendments are still being considered by the speaker. But in his own opinion, “the president should have the power.”

He said the speaker is “supporting the parliament having the power”, support he called “a conflict of interest” because “we know he is picking sides when he is meant to be impartial.”

The sitting was stopped when numerous MPs raised points of order after the conflicting amendments were passed.

Parliament will renew the issues on Monday, when the speaker will decide if there will be another vote or if he has made a decision on the issue.

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President sends condolences after passing of Sheikh Tantawi in Egypt

Hearing of the passing of the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar Mosque and head of the al-Azhar University in Cairo, President Mohamed Nasheed sent a message of condolence to Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

The president said he was deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, 81, who was “a strong voice for the universal Islamic values of peace and tolerance.”

President Nasheed said Tantawi’s death was a great loss to “all those moderate voices in Islam.”

He sent sincere sympathies on the behalf of the people and government of the Maldives to the president, government and people of Egypt, as well as Sheikh Tantawi’s family.

Sheikh Tantawi passed away in Riyadh on Wednesday 10 March. He was buried in Madinah at Jannatul Baqee cemetery after funeral prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque.

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President Nasheed attends opening ceremony of ITB

President Mohamed Nasheed attended the official opening ceremony for the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) 2010 travel fair in Berlin on Tuesday night.

The ITB is the world’s leading travel trade show, with as many as 11,127 exhibitors gathering for this year’s show. Travel destinations, tour operators, booking systems, carriers, hotels and other service providers and suppliers were represented at the fair.

The Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) and other tourism operators from the Maldives participated at the ITB.

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President Nasheed meets with German Minister of State

President Mohamed Nasheed met yesterday with German Minister of State Dr Wener Hoyer.

The meeting was held at the Federal Foreign Office on 9 March. The president and the minister discussed the importance of a binding global climate treaty.

President Nasheed said the Maldives is communicating with other countries, including members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to ensure a common understanding is reached before COP16 climate summit in Mexico later this year.

Dr Hoyer said Germany is also working with other EU members to reach an understanding on climate change.

President Nasheed discussed other areas of possible cooperation between the two nations, mainly the strengthening of the Maldivian legal and judicial sectors. He sought German assistance to improve the institutional capacity of these sectors.

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Special Envoy of the President meets with Japanese officials

Special Envoy of the President, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, is on an official visit to Japan.

Zaki’s visit is mainly focused on meeting with Japanese officials and discussing bilateral relations between the two countries. He will also be promoting the upcoming Maldives Partnership Forum, or Donor’s Conference, to be held at the end of March.

Zaki met with Japanese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Environment, Director General of International Corporation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Secretary General of Japan-Maldives Parliamentary League and the Japanese Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

He also met with officials from the Japanese Democratic Party and Liberal Democratic Party.

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Alhan Fahmy criticises Adhaalath Party for “use of Islam as a political tool”

MP of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Alhan Fahmy has demanded the resignation of Adhaalath Party members from cabinet posts should the party continue “to take advantage of the political situation by using Islam as a tool.”

Fahmy’s comments, made at a recent MDP rally in Hulhumale’, came in response to claims made earlier this week by Adhaalath Party’s Vice President Asim Mohamed, suggesting that no political party in the Maldives would be able to run the government without the party’s support.

Asim furthermore stated that the party would cooperate with whichever major party ran the government, and that the Adhaalath Party’s religious knowledge and cooperation was very important for the country.

The party recently spearheaded protests against regulations licensing the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims at establishments on inhabited islands, together with Islamic NGO Jammiyyathu Salaf and others.

The leading role taken by Adhaalath Party member Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, also the State Minister of Islamic Affairs, was considered by some to be an act of political defiance. Shaheem claimed at the time that other senior members of the Islamic were also prepared to resign from the government over the issue.

“I don’t think that would have been a bad outcome,” said Fahmy, speaking to Minivan News, “however the president is more mature on this [subject].”

Fahmy said that if the Adhaalath Party was willing to be in coalition with government, “it should not be working against it and threatening it by saying no government can exist without the support of the Adhaalath Party.”

He observed that the large crowd of protesters had gathered over the issue of liquor regulations, and not necessarily in support of the Adhaalath Party.

“They were rallying against the cultivation of alcohol in areas where they lived. That’s different,” he said.

“Adhaalath are a political party, and the objective of any political party is to overtake the current government. But they are playing a very damaging game by being part of the government and using Islam as a tool [for political support].”

Fahmy said he was concerned about “extremist” elements in the Adhaalath Party and its attempts to dictate government policy, but noted it also had a moderate side.

“Shaheem is generally thought of as moderate,” Fahmy said. “He was my room mate when I studied at the Islamic University in Medina, which some people used to call a ‘terrorist training institute’. I know about the whole idea of the Maldives becoming a democratic country so as to remove the legal barriers for scholars to preach their ideas.”

“But I feel using Islam to leverage grassroots support against the government is dangerous for the country,” he said.

Spokesman for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that “while I have publically stated that the president has full confidence in the scholars of the Islamic Ministry, as a politician and a member of a political party Alhan may be voicing the sentiment of grassroots elements in the party.”

Zuhair said at the time of his election the president had promised he would leave religious matters in the hands of qualified religious scholars, “and the Adhaalath Party was the only party that showed interest in political administration and the only suitable political partner that was available.”

President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed Ahmed claimed that Alhan Fahmy “is an agent sent from the DRP infiltrate the MDP”, observing that the former DRP politician had been “fed and grown by the DRP” and “has not yet given a valid reason for leaving the party.”

Sheikh Hussein also noted that the MDP was sharing the government with the Adhaalath Party, and explained that it would not have come to administration without Adhaalath’s support.

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Government spending on tourism marketing comes under scrutiny

A tour operator has claimed that the government should not spend so much money marketing multi-million dollar resorts, particularly since it receives such limited revenue from the industry in return.

Ahmed Firaq, chairman of tour operator Inner Maldives, said the government should not be so much money on tourism advertisement marketing resorts as many had their own marketing campaigns.

Firaq told newspaper Miadhu that the “amount of money being spent on tourism advertising is the same money which could go into the development of social services”.

Government tourism advertising

State Minister of Tourism Thoyyib Mohamed Waheed said the government’s budget for tourism, including marketing, is planned each year in advance.

“The money [for marketing] comes from both stakeholders and the government,” Waheed said, mentioning that the industry adds to the budget if it is asked by the government.

“If there is not enough funding, we approach the industry,” he said.

Waheed said the “industry is quite cooperative” but added the government “does needs more help and support from it.”

Secretary General for the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) Mohamed Maleeh Jamal said after the 2004 Tsunami the marketing budget “drastically increased” to about US$9 million per year.

This number remained unchanged until the 2008 economic depression, when the budget decreased to its current amount of US$2.5 million, used mainly for destination marketing.

Sim Mohamed from Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said the government has “very little money to play around with. When this government took over, [the country] was broke.”

Sim said marketing was essential in times of crisis, particularly following events such as the 2004 tsunami or the financial depression, as “you need to let people know you are still here.”

Jamal noted that MATATO’s main concern “is the total number of rooms is increasing and the [marketing] budget is down. If it is reduced further, in the long run we will be disadvantaged.”

Jamal estimated this year’s spend on tourism marketing across the Maldives to be around US$30 million. The industry, he said, was providing around US$20 million for specific product marketing.

He said in a time when the tourism industry is being “expanded north to south” the government should at least maintain the previous budget, if not increase it.

With the new tourism taxation bill being considered in parliament, (a bill that will phase out the ‘bed tax’ which currently stands at US$8 per night) the government will be getting an additional six percent in revenue from the tourism industry, “but they are still reducing the marketing budget,” Jamal claimed.

Marketing the Maldives as a tourist destination

Sim agreed that “the government should get out of [marketing] all together” and “business should be left to businesses.”

But he expressed his appreciation for the government’s efforts to help the industry, saying “we like what the government is trying to do.”

Sim believes “the government should regulate and set national and industry standards” and not focus so much on advertising.

“It is tour operators who sell the Maldives,” Sim said, and “they are doing a good job at it. We should keep them happy.”

He added that “the tourism industry is not about resorts alone, but also employment, transport and aviation.”

He also questioned on whether the government should be spending any money on marketing the Maldives as a tourist destination, saying “it sells itself.”

And although there are other similar products on the market, Sim says the Maldives offers “unique features” and not a lot of money is needed to market it as a travel destination.

However Jamal said competition in the region is a major concern. He noted that the Sri Lankan government has allocated US$50 million to tourism marketing this year, a significant amount compared to how much the Maldivian government is spending.

“We need to maintain occupancy,” Jamal said, adding that the Pacific islands, the Middle East and African countries like Mozambique were quickly becoming major competitors.

One of the main marketing strategies for the Maldives, according to Jamal, is “destination branding”. This brings another major concern for MATATO to the surface.

Jamal said tour operators “now say the Maldives is sinking”, and asked why travel agencies would send their customers to a “sinking” destination.

Other traditional marketing strategies for the Maldives have been road shows and travel fairs. Jamal says road shows in China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East have been cancelled for this year, and that the Maldives is attending eight fewer travel fairs than it did last year.

“We don’t see much [advertising] in magazines,” Jamal said, adding that existing advertising contracts with television channels BBC, National Geographic and CNN will expire this June “and there is not enough budget to renew them.”

“The success of the tourism industry in the Maldives depends on whether or not we maintain advertising,” he said.

On his return from Copenhagen President Mohamed Nasheed said the Maldives’ growing significance on the world stage as an icon of climate change – and the associated free publicity – was worth far more than the government could ever spend on paid advertising.

Tourism Revenue

One of Firaq’s complaints was that the government should be spending this money on development for social services and not on tourism advertising.

When asked about Firaq’s statement that the revenue from the tourism industry should be spent on developing social services and not on marketing, Waheed noted that the money “doesn’t come straight to the ministry, but it goes to the Treasury.”

The Treasury then decides how the money is allocated; some of it goes to social services and some goes back to the tourism industry.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said “there is no direct relationship between tourism revenue and social service development.”

He added that the expenses of tourism marketing are jointly assumed by MATI, the Tourism Ministry and the Tourism Board.

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Total shark ban to imposed on 1 July decides cabinet

The long-expected ban on shark trade and export of shark products will come into effect on 1 July 2010.

The decision to impose the ban, which was meant to come into effect on 1 March 2010, was made yesterday in a cabinet meeting chaired by Vice President Mohamed Waheed.

At the meeting yesterday, the cabinet also decided the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture would assist shark fishermen to find alternative livelihoods.

The cabinet also decided to ratify the Agreement on the Establishment of South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO).

One of the main objectives of this agreement is to develop standards for the region, and to facilitate intra-regional trade.

Cabinet members noted that with the ratification of this agreement, ‘consumer confidence on Maldivian local products will improve’.

The Maldives will also benefit from SARSO assistance in formulating national standards for products.

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President talks climate with German Minister for Environment

President Mohamed Nasheed met yesterday with German Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Dr Norbert Röttgen, at the Federal Ministry for Environment.

President Nasheed thanked Minister Röttgen and Germany’s constructive role at COP15 last year. He asked the EU for support in implementing the Copenhagen Accord.

President Nasheed also sought German assistance for adaptation and mitigation projects. He also discussed the importance of reaching a legally binding treaty in COP16, the next international climate summit to be held in Mexico later this year.

Dr Röttgen praised the president for his role in the Copenhagen Summit and said Germany would continue to support the Maldives in its efforts to tackle climate change.

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