Tag: maldives news

Corruption case against former director of Southern Health Services Corporation

The Anti Corruption Commission has sent for prosecution a corruption case against a former Director of Southern Health Services Corporation (SHSC) Ibrahim Sabry.

The ACC stated that the case against Sabry is for the abuse of power to provide an undue advantage or benefits to a particular group.

The commission stated that it had found Sabry to be guilty of corruption in an investigation they conducted after receiving complaints that the SHSC had employed a group to build eight rooms in the Hithadhoo Regional Hospital without providing any information about the matter.

It detailed that the bid had been received a day after the deadline of August 28, 2011. After the bidders had failed to submit the proposal by the deadline, Sabry had unilaterally extended the deadline by a day. According to the ACC, Sabry admitted to it while providing a statement for their investigation.

The ACC further states that while two of the three parties who had submitted proposals had failed to meet the requirements, the SHSC had proceeded to accept and evaluate them. They stated that Sabry had also admitted to having advised the evaluation committee to score them as they saw fit even though the proposals did not meet with the defined requirements.

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Raajje TV and VTV ordered to apologise for defamation

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) has ordered private broadcasters Raajje TV and Villa TV (VTV) to apologise for defamatory material and ordered the stations to broadcast live events with a delay to minimise future defamation.

The broadcast media regulator said Raajje TV had aired an opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meeting on September 23, 2013, in which an MDP member had defamed the Supreme Court bench.

VTV is said to have aired material defamatory to MDP presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed, MP Rozaina Adam, and Elections Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek during its daily talk show ‘Fasmanzaru’ on September 27, 2013.

MBC has ordered Rajje TV and VTV to broadcast an apology and to allow the wronged party to speak in their defense by January 31. Furthermore, VTV has been ordered to broadcast ‘Fasmanzaru’ with a broadcast delay and Raajje TV has been ordered to broadcast all political events with a broadcast delay.

Speaking to Minivan News, VTV CEO Ibrahim Khaleel said the MBC’s decision “limited the freedom of the press”, and that the station did not see any reason to air an apology.

According to Khaleel, MBC ordered VTV to apologise for comments made on air by MP Ilham Ahmed and MP ‘Redwave’ Ahmed Saleem.

“The constitution guarantees freedom of expression within the tenets of Islam and we, as a TV station, gave airtime to politicians to express their opinions. No one has said anything contrary to a tenet of Islam,” Khaleel argued.

If any party feels they have been wronged, then the laws allow them to pursue defamation charges or to seek compensation through other means, he added.

Deputy CEO of Raajje TV Yamin Rasheed also condemned the MBC’s decision as “discriminatory”.

“It is not fair when MBC only orders specific TV channels to air specific programmes or events with a delay,” Yamin said arguing that other broadcasters must also be ordered to broadcast all political events with a delay.

Yamin also expressed concern over MBC ordering the station to air an apology over an MDP MP’s comments. However, he said Raajje TV would broadcast an apology and would allow the Supreme Court judges an hour to speak in their defense.

MBC has previously ordered Raajje TV, Dhi TV, and Dhi FM to apologise for defamatory material.

Raajje TV was ordered to apologise in December 2013 for airing a report defaming the Supreme Court, but MBC said the report does not constitute a national security threat as alleged by the apex court.

Furthermore, in July 2012, MBC ordered Raajje TV to apologise for airing a report alleging that a policeman had stolen petrol from a motorbike, and in August 2012 the station was ordered to issue an apology on three consecutive nights for publicising Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim’s text messages

In March 2012, Dhi FM was similarly reprimanded for content aired following the overthrow of Nasheed’s administration on February 8, 2012.

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Nasheed threatens impeachment after MDP wins in Addu, Malé cities

Following the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) win in Malé and Addu cities, former President Mohamed Nasheed has predicted an MDP majority in parliamentary elections scheduled for March and threatened to impeach President Abdulla Yameen.

MDP appears to have won all six of the local government seats in Addu City and eight of the 11 Malé City seats. Results for the remaining 1083 island and atoll council seats are rolling in.

Speaking at a press conference tonight, Nasheed predicted the MDP will win approximately 700 of the 1100 local government seats and said he believed the Maldivian citizens continued to hope for an MDP administration.

“The Maldivian citizens still want an MDP government, and for Maldives to be ruled according to MDP’s philosophy. I would like to tell the Maldivian public, do not be disheartened. God willing, without much delay, we will take over the government,” he said.

Nasheed had lost November’s controversial presidential elections narrowly, winning 48.61 percent of the vote (105,181) to Yameen’s 51.39 percent (111,203) – a difference of just 6,022 votes.

The 2013 presidential elections were marred with repeated and controversial delays after the Supreme Court annulled a widely commended first round of polls.

The apex court then imposed a 16-point electoral guidelines on the Elections Commission (EC), which critics say limit the independent commission’s authority to administer elections and allow political parties and candidates to veto elections.

Nasheed’s threat of impeachment comes after allegations of electoral fraud involving fake national identity cards in the presidential polls.

Elaborating further tonight, Nasheed said: “There are many ways to legally change a government. One of them is through the People’s Majlis. I believe the local council elections indicate the direction the People’s Majlis will go. I believe Maldivians want an MDP majority in the country, and an MDP government in the country.”

“The laws state two methods for changing a government. That is through an election or through a no confidence vote followed by an election. If the Maldivian citizens give us a majority in parliament, then we will be forced to take that no confidence vote,” he continued.

Earlier today, Nasheed said the non-existent voters had been added to the voter registry as part of “efforts to rig the election through the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court’s guideline included a clause ordering the EC to discard its voter registry and compile a new list based on the Home Ministry’s Department of National Registration’s (DNR) database.

Speaking to the media this afternoon, Nasheed said the DNR’s list contained hundreds of eligible voters without photos.

“We suspect very strongly that those without photos are non-existent people. However, they voted in the presidential election,” Nasheed said.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee on Thursday (January 16) that the first list with ID card photos provided by the DNR was missing photos of more than 5,400 people.

However, the DNR provided photos of about 4,000 voters two weeks ago, Thowfeek told MPs, which left the final voter lists without the photos of 1,176 people.

Asked if photos could have been repeated in the DNR list, Thowfeek said the EC could not check and verify the information.

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MDP suspects electoral fraud in presidential election, says Nasheed

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) suspects electoral fraud using fake national identity cards in last year’s presidential election, former President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Speaking to reporters after voting in today’s local council election, Nasheed referred to the Elections Commission (EC) including ID card photos in voter lists used at polling stations.

“We now have photos of all eligible voters. [But] we can see people without photos in the eligible voters list. We suspect very strongly that those without photos are non-existent people. However, they voted in the presidential election,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed explained that all candidates were sent the marked voters registry after the election, which identifies those who voted.

“So we are very certain now that there was serious fraud in the presidential election,” he said, adding that there were discrepancies between the voter registry used in the presidential election and the one used today.

Nasheed said he believes that non-existent people were added to the database at the Department of National Registration (DNR) as part of “efforts to rig the election through the Supreme Court.”

On October 7, the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election on September 7 based on a secret police forensic report despite international and domestic praise of a free and fair vote.

Subsequent attempts to conduct the polls were obstructed by the police after the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Jumhooree Party (JP) refused to sign the voters registry – a requirement from a 16-point guideline imposed by the apex court judgment.

Nasheed was narrowly defeated by PPM candidate Abdulla Yameen in the second round of the presidential election that eventually took place on November 16.

Yameen received 51.39 percent of the vote (111,203) whilst Nasheed polled 48.61 percent (105,181) – a difference of just 6,022 votes.

Total voter turnout was 91.41 percent (218,621), the highest since 2008, up five percent from 208,504 (86 percent) in the first round.

Nasheed meanwhile told the press today that discussions were taking place within the MDP on a course of action concerning the suspected electoral fraud.

“I believe we have to go to court, too. We have to raise our voices about this. We have to clearly find out what happened with this vote. We always suspected there was fraud committed through the Supreme Court. Now, God willing, we will be able to confirm with this information,” the MDP presidential candidate said.

He added that the party could not accept the results of the presidential election if allegations of fraud were substantiated.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee on Thursday (January 16) that the first list with ID card photos provided by the DNR was missing photos of more than 5,400 people.

However, the DNR provided photos of about 4,000 voters two weeks ago, Thowfeek told MPs, which left the final voter lists without the photos of 1,176 people.

Asked if photos could have been repeated in the DNR list, Thowfeek said the EC could not check and verify the information.

Speaking to press following the closing of polls today, EC member Ali Mohamed Manik addressed the allegations of phantom voters on the DNR list.

Manik said he personally did not believe that the DNR “as the institution responsible maintaining information of all Maldivian citizens” would provide fraudulent lists to the EC.

He added that the EC has not attempted to verify the authenticity of the photos provided by the DNR.

Thowfeek noted that the commission was legally responsible for compiling the eligible voters registry prior to the annulled presidential polls on September 7 last year.

However, the Supreme Court ordered the EC to consider the DNR list as the only source in compiling the registry, Thowfeek explained.

He added that the EC was forced to consider the DNR list as legitimate despite errors, such as citizens deemed deceased while alive.

“So it has become difficult for us to say anything about the validity of the list,” he said.

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Voter lists put up at polling stations with ID card photos

Voter lists for today’s council elections have been placed at polling stations for the first time with national identity card photos, prompting complaints from women with face veils.

Speaking at an Elections Commission (EC) press conference this afternoon, EC President Fuwad Thowfeek said photos were included in the eligible voters registry placed outside each polling station as a safeguard to prevent fraud.

“Even though this is something new that we introduced, in most countries, photos of voters are included in the voters list,” Thowfeek said.

Photos of all eligible voters were provided by the Department of National Registration (DNR) from its identity card database with the exception of 1,170 photos, Thowfeek said.

The voters list used in previous elections only included name, address, ID card number and date of birth.

EC member Ali Mohamed Manik said the EC decided to make the lists with ID card photos in the interest of ensuring transparency.

“There are a lot of foreigners living in the country. As there could be a chance for foreigners to vote using ID cards, this was done to prevent that and facilitate the right to vote for Maldivians,” he said.

Manik said the commission has officially received two complaints so far from women in cases where the ID card photos were taken before they wore face veils.

The official in charge of the Elections Complaints Bureau noted that a number of women who wear the hijab were also phoning in complaints about their photos being made public.

“Concerning these complaints, we brought it to the attention of the commission’s members and informed [polling stations] to cover with a piece of paper the photos of people who insist on taking it down,” he said.

He added that voters had an “individual responsibility” to update photos at the DNR after wearing the hijab.

Local media outlet CNM has meanwhile reported that some religious scholars have objected to the photos of women with face veils made public by the EC.

NGO Salaf preacher Sheikh Adam Shameem told the news website that making the photos public was demeaning to the women in question and called to punish those responsible.

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla also contended that the practice was contrary to Islamic principles and infringed on the rights of veiled women.

Among other complaints submitted to the EC included two cases where marked ballot papers were displayed, complaints regarding pens with fading ink and complaints over the conduct of election officials.

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One-third of electorate deprived of true representation: TM

The current local government system deprives one-third of the electorate of true representation, governance NGO Transparency Maldives (TM) has said.

One-third of the electorate base their living in the capital city Malé or in other islands, however, they are only allowed to vote in their permanent or registered constituency, TM noted in a position paper on today’s local government elections.

Hence, the current system “deprives” one-third of the electorate of true representation and “defeats” the purpose of a decentralised administrative system.

“The only way to achieve true representation would be to pave the way for people to vote in the constituencies where they actually live. This is the basic tenet of decentralisation, and it empowers people to hold local councils accountable for decisions that directly affect their lives,” the NGO recommended.

The position paper also called attention to three additional issues in the current electoral system – application of the Supreme Court’s 16-point electoral guideline, the electoral dispute resolution mechanism and ensuring secrecy of the ballot.

Supreme Court’s guidelines

TM said it does not believe the Supreme Court’s guideline improves the existing legal framework on electoral administration.

The Supreme Court issued the guideline in its verdict annulling the first round of presidential polls held in September 2013. The guidelines mandate candidate signatures on the voter registry, use of the Home Ministry’s Department of National Registration’s (DNR) database to compile a new registry, and police oversight on transport of ballot papers and boxes.

In October 2013, the Maldives Police Service obstructed polls at the eleventh hour after the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) and the Jumhooree Party (JP) refused to sign the voter lists.

Transparency Maldives has expressed concern over the opportunity provided by the guideline for political parties and candidates to obstruct the electoral process and said the guideline undermines the independence of the EC in organising and administering elections free from undue external influences.

“The People’s Majlis is mandated with making and amending laws, and hence the Majlis must immediately review the Supreme Court’s 16-point guideline and authorities should revert to using the existing legal electoral framework,” the NGO recommended.

The Commonwealth Observer Group who monitored the presidential polls has also called upon the Majlis to examine the consistency and workability of the guideline.

The guideline “appeared to undermine the authority of the Election Commission, were inconsistent with or contrary to electoral law, and were at odds with the constitution,” the Observer Group said in its final report.

In addition, TM has also called for greater cooperation between the EC, the Maldives Police Services, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC), the Prosecutor General, and the Majlis in establishing accountability mechanisms to address transparency in political financing, bribery, vote buying, misuse of state resources for campaigning, and violations of the code of conduct on campaigning.

Secrecy of the ballot is not ensured in the local government and parliamentary elections, in situations where one of a few individuals have to register to vote in polling stations other than their constituencies, such as in resorts and industrial islands, TM said.

Transparency Maldives has recommended the setting up of a mechanism to ensure secrecy of the ballot for all citizens who have to vote away from their constituencies.

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Supreme Court disqualifies island council candidate

The Supreme Court on Friday night disqualified a candidate for the island council of Thaa Kandoodhoo over a drug conviction in 2002.

The apex court ruled that Hassan Areef of Maafolheyge in Kandoodhoo did not meet the criteria for contesting elections as he had been sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the Criminal Court.

Areef was running for the island council on a Maldivian Democratic Party ticket when a complaint was filed at the Elections Commission complaints bureau.

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President Yameen withdraws nominee for MMA governor

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has withdrawn his nominee for the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) governor.

According to local media, President Yameen withdraw the nomination of Ibthishama Ahmed Saeed, an associate director at the Bank of Maldives Plc Ltd (BML), but has yet to submit a new name to parliament.

Former Governor Dr Fazeel Najeeb stepped down from the post on January 1 after five years at the central bank.

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President Yameen reiterates campaign pledges ahead of local council elections

President Abdulla Yameen reiterated the Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) pledges at a campaign rally in Addu City last night ahead of Saturday’s local council election, urging voters to choose candidates willing to work with the government.

Addressing supporters in Hithadhoo, President Yameen vowed to fulfil the PPM’s pledge to provide MVR10,000 a month to fishermen during lean months, and to raise old age benefits from MVR2,700 to MVR5,000 a month before the end of the year.

“But I said even then [during the presidential election], these things are not done out of the state budget. MVR2,700 a month is given to all persons over the age of 65 from the state’s budget. In addition to money given from the state budget, what I said was that there are large amounts of money in various state funds,” Yameen said.

“If this money is handed over to a fund manager to earn a better income, an adequate profit could be made from it. It is from this that the MVR5,000 I mentioned could be distributed,” he explained.

The old age pension could not have been increased in the state budget as parliament has not approved any of the government’s revenue raising measures, Yameen contended.

The Fisheries Ministry has meanwhile begun registering fishermen, Yameen continued, after which the scheme for providing MVR10,000 a month would be launched.

Fishermen would have to pay about MVR80 to MVR90 a month as a deposit to a fund, he explained, out of which MVR10,000 would be distributed during months when fishing is poor.

“But I should have the opportunity to do this, shouldn’t I? It is the public that gives me the opportunity. The public gives this opportunity through the councillors and members of parliament you elect,” he said, urging voters to choose PPM or government-aligned candidates in the upcoming elections.

Regardless of political affiliation or ideology, he added, the public should ensure that MPs “do not say no to projects that are beneficial to the people,” which was not the case at present with MPs of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Opposition MPs should vote for the budget and enable the executive to enact its economic policies, Yameen contended, as the government was elected by a majority of the public with implicit endorsement of its policies.

Refusing to approve ministerial appointees or pass legislation did not amount to “holding the government accountable,” he argued.

Addu City development

A number of infrastructure projects for the southernmost atoll was included in the 2014 budget, Yameen said, including establishing sewerage systems, providing clean water, and upgrading powerhouses.

Moreover, he added, the Addu International Airport at Gan would become “a seaplane hub” that transports tourists to nearby atolls.

As a foreign company has won the bid for the Herethera Resort, Yameen said further jobs would be created, whilst more tourism projects for Addu City were in the pipeline.

The government has also invited bids for the Equatorial Convention Center – which was at present an “eyesore” that was “not utilised for any purpose” – to be developed as “a city hotel complex,” Yameen said.

“We’re talking about thousands of jobs. We’re talking about economic development. We’re not talking about mariculture in a small lagoon here. We are talking about projects, a vision for economic progress,” he said.

Noting that MVR300 million (US$19 million) was allocated for the youth ministry, Yameen also pledged to establish a sports complex in each ward of Addu City this year.

High youth employment and sports facilities were necessary to reduce crime, he stressed.

If the government’s efforts were not obstructed, Yameen said, the country would undergo an “economic transformation” with GDP per capita doubled in the next five years and tourist arrivals reaching 5 million a year.

“Vote for the scale”

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has meanwhile been campaigning in Male’ for MDP candidates from the capital.

Speaking at a campaign event in Maafanu last week, Nasheed urged the public to “vote for the scale [MDP logo]” to preserve and consolidate democracy.

The choice was between the unjust and oppressive practices of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30-year reign and the “rapid development” and social security of the MDP’s three years in government, Nasheed contended.

“Do you want equality or for the riches of the nation to be left to a wealthy few? Do you want to maintain individual liberty or lose your freedom of expression and freedom of assembly saying it is for the good of the society?” he asked.

“Do you want the path to development becoming clear through political parties and peaceful political activity or do you want an authoritarian family rule?”

Nasheed called on voters to choose MDP to “reform and improve the condition of this country.”

“It is not possible to do it in one election. Outmoded principles and traits entrenched through the ages can only be changed in this country by repeatedly voting for the scale,” he said.

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