Tag: maldives news

Supreme Court celebrates third anniversary

The Supreme Court held a function at Dharubaaruge last night to celebrate its third anniversary.

According to local media reports, Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz said that citizens would accept judgments and rulings by the courts “if the person making the decision is someone who lives in a way that is acceptable to them.”

The Chief Justice vowed that he would not allow judicial independence to be compromised: “I accept that there will be challenges. I accept that there will be criticism. Nonetheless our direction will be forward with the independence assured by the constitution,” he said.

Justice Faiz also launched a book containing the rulings and judgments of the Supreme Court.

Newspaper Haveeru meanwhile reported that a number of judges from the Civil Court, Family Court and Criminal Court as well as some judges from the High Court did not attend last night’s ceremony.

An unnamed judge from a superior court told Haveeru that a lot of judges were unhappy with the decisions of the Supreme Court.

“I’m not at all satisfied with the way the Supreme Court has been acting so far,” another judge told the local daily. “There is dissatisfaction among judges about the rulings of the Supreme Court. That is why I didn’t attend last night. But I can’t say why some other judges did go.”

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Yellow paint at ICU prompts complaints from Hithadhoo citizens

Citizens of Hithadhoo in Addu City have “heavily criticised” the decision to paint the walls of the newly-built four-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Hithadhoo Regional Hospital yellow, the color of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), according to Sun Online.

The ICU was constructed under the budget for the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Addu City.

Unnamed residents of Hithadhoo told Sun Online that “the hospital should not cater to people of a certain color” and that yellow paint was not suited to an ICU.

Southern Health Corporation Managing Director Noorullah Saeed however denied that the decision was political.

Saeed revealed that the yellow was going to be painted over and a new color will be chosen after consulting with the hospital’s doctors and nurses.

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DRP leader urges Foreign Minister to support UN recognition of Palestinian statehood

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader and MP for Kendhoo constituency Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has sent a letter to Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem, urging him to support UN recognition of Palestine as a state at the UN.

Thasmeen asked the Minister to fully participate in all the discussions held at the UN concerning the issue, and to vote in favor of Palestine in all votes regarding the issue.

Ending the letter, Thasmeen urged Minister Naseem to seek the support of friendly countries, saying it was “what the citizens of the Maldives would want to see.”

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has stated that the Maldives strongly supports UN recognition of Palestinian statehood, with Naseem advocating the position before the UN Human Rights Council following the announcement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he will apply to the UN Security Council for full UN membership.

“Let us be clear, the Palestinian people have, like everyone else, the right to self determination – the right to a state of their own. They have waited long enough for that most basic of rights. When the Palestinians present their case to the UN, the Maldives will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them, and we call on all others to do likewise,’’ Naseem told the UN Human Rights Council.

Naseem has said the Maldives does not believe that UN recognition of Palestinian statehood will would narrow the chances of a negotiated peace.

‘’We believe that rather it will help those chances by creating a situation in which two state partners can negotiate as equals,” Naseem said. “We hope the US will maintain its historical support for the right of all peoples to self-determination and we believe that the recognition of Palestinian statehood will help secure a negotiated peace in the future.”

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Comment: Maldivian government endorses Deobandi Islam, the religion of the Taliban

The Religious Unity Regulations have provided the clearest indication yet of the official direction religion in the Maldives is taking: towards Deobandi Islam, the religion of the Taliban.

Among 36 institutions of Islamic learning approved by the regulations is the ultra-orthodox Jamia Darul Uloom in Deoband, India and at least six affiliated madrassas.

Established in 1867 to bring together Muslims who were hostile to British rule, the Deoband madrassa, created the so-called ‘Deobandi Tradition’ committed to a literal and austere interpretation of Islam. For the last 200 years, the Deobandi Tradition has argued that the reason Islamic societies have fallen behind the West on all spheres of endeavour is because they have been seduced by the amoral West, and have deviated from the original teachings of Prophet Mohammed.

It is the fundamentalist Deobad Da-ul-Uloom brand of Islam that inspired the Taliban movement. Many of the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and in Pakistan are graduates of the Deobandi-influenced seminaries in Pakistan. Mullah Omar, for example, attended the Deobandi Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa in Peshawar.

The Kabul Centre for Strategic Studies has reported that so many of the Taliban leaders were educated at the school that its head cleric, Maulana Sami ul-Haq is regarded the father of the Taliban. The Deobandi Tradition is highly critical of Islam as practised in modern societies, feeling that the established religious order had made too many compromises with its foreign environment.

The mission of the Deoband is to cleanse Islam of all Western influences, and to propagate their teachings with missionary zeal. Increasingly, the Deobandi movement has been funded by the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia, leading to the former being co-opted by the latter.

Without a clear indication – such as ‘Darul Uloom’ appearing in the name of the institution – it cannot be said with certainty how many of the total of 10 listed Pakistani institutions in the regulations  are categorically Deobandi.

Available facts suggest, however, that more than just the two Darul Ulooms listed in the Regulations are Deobandi. It is the Deobandi that has the largest number of religious seminaries in Pakistan – of 20,000 registered seminaries in Pakistan, 12,000 are run by Deobandi scholars; and 6,000 by the Barlevi, with whom the Deobandi have many disputes.

Among the 10 Pakistani institutions approved by the regulations is also Jamia Salafia, a seminary whose alumni include several leaders in Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the organisation behind the Mumbai terror attacks in which a Maldivian is alleged to have participated. It is also the leading supplier of Salafi neo-conservatism in the Maldives.

Even when the approved list of institutions in the regulations’ list goes beyond South Asian borders, it gravitates towards the Deobandi movement. The list includes, for example, the Dhaarul Uloom Zakariya in South Africa. The only institute in Britain the regulations approve of is the Islamic Da’wa Academy, a place which produces the Muslim equivalent of a missionary. Why is there such an acute need to proselytise in a country where the population already believes in Islam except to propagate a particular view?

The Deoband HQ has recently sought to distance itself from violent extremism. For the powers that be in the War on Terror, what matters is the graduation from extremism to violence. But, for societies such as the Maldives, and for the people who have to live under its precincts, what matters more is the oppression that extremism imposes on daily life. This is the reality that a Maldivian people living under the Religious Unity Regulations will have to face.

The application of the Deobandi school of thought on Maldivian women is a frightening prospect that is not too far in the distant future. The Taliban’s stance on women is a clear indication of the scale of the potential problem. An example of the Deobandi’s take on women is the 24 April 2010 Fatwa by the seminary in Deoband that declared it ‘haraam’ and illegal according to Sharia for a family to accept a women’s earnings.

‘It is unlawful for Muslim women to do job in government or private institutions where men and women work together and women have to talk with men frankly and without veil.’

Embarrassed by the angry reaction in the Indian media and among women’s groups, the Deoband madrassa denied it banned women from the work place and only insisted that working women be ‘properly covered’. As analysts have pointed out, however, what the Fatwa suggests is that women can only work in such places where they can fully veil themselves and where they cannot ‘frankly’ talk to men, whatever that means. The Fatwa effectively banned Muslim women from the workplace in India.

The Religious Unity Regulations stipulate that no one should propagate their particular ideology of Islam as the ‘right Islam’. This stipulation looks good in writing, and is perhaps what has allowed the government to spin the document as ‘a crack-down on extremism’.

It is true the regulations prohibit the promotion of a particular ideology of Islam as the ‘true Islam’. But by regulating what truth about Islam would be considered as legitimate in the first place, a pre-selected knowledge of the ‘right Islam’ – what looks like Deobandi Islam – is being imposed on the people that pre-empts the regulations themselves. It is clear from the staggering changes that have occurred in Maldivian faith in the last decade that the Deobandi movement has been a resounding success in the country. Now it has the chance to flourish further, with no conflicting opinions to be allowed in.

Clamping down on other forms of Islam is, in fact, a defining characteristic of the Deobandi Tradition. Although from a global perspective the Deobandis are only one of many religious expressions of Islam, from the Deobandi point of view, theirs is the only true Islam.

The Deobandi regard all other forms of Islam as heretical, leading to continued tension and long-term violence between the Deobandi and other Muslims. In Pakistan, where the Deobandi is known to have played a crucial role in establishing an Islamic state, the Deobandi Taliban have carried out many acts of violence against followers of the Berlevi tradition, which many Pakistan’s Muslims follow.

The Religious Unity Regulations have already created tensions among those who have claimed the mantle of ‘religious scholar’ in the Maldives. The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives is arguing against the Regulations on the basis that the requirement of a first degree as a prerequisite for the Preachers License is unconstitutional. It is also fighting for the religious right to describe Jews as ‘evil people and liars’.

The Adhaalath Party, meanwhile, has objected to the regulations because the President and his advisors apparently watered down the purity of their contributions to the draft Regulations by contaminating it with “provisions from English law…not suited to a 100 percent Muslim country”, echoing the founding principles of the Deobandi Tradition.

‘Compared to the first draft’, President’s advisor on the Regulations, Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail, said, “the regulations do not impinge on freedom of expression”.

What matters is not whether, comparatively speaking, the first draft is a veritable Magna Carta. What matters is the final draft that has been gazetted. And it severely restricts the freedom of the Maldivian people in the name of the ‘right Islam’ – Deobandi Islam. To spin the document as something that “will allow liberal-minded thinkers to convince people of the middle ground” is deliberately misleading if not an outright lie. This document does the exact opposite.

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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MP “Redwave” Saleem and Ilyas Ibrahim sign with Gayoom’s PPM

Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem and former minister Ilyas Ibrahim have signed for newly-formed Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), reports Sun Online.

Ilyas Ibrahim, brother-in-law of PPM figurehead former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and long-serving cabinet minister, was among the first to sign for the party, according to spokesperson MP Ahmed Mahlouf.

Saleem meanwhile resigned as leader of his Labour Party, stating that efforts within a larger opposition party would be more effective. People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen has also joined the party in similar fashion.

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New religious unity regulations crack down on extremist preaching in Maldives

New religious unity regulations have been published in the government’s gazette cracking down on extremist and unlicensed preaching of Islam in the Maldives.

The regulations reflect the enforcement of the Religious Unity Act and were originally put forward by the Islamic Ministry, but have undergone numerous drafts and revisions over the past year. The penalty for violating the regulations under the Act is 2-5 years imprisonment, banishment or house arrest.

Under the regulations – the government’s interpretation of the Act – scholars foreign or local must be licensed to preach in the Maldives by the Islamic Ministry, and have received at least a first degree at one of 36 listed universities.

None of these are Maldivian institutions, although the regulations stipulate that new institutions would be evaluated on a case by case basis, and the list reviewed every three months.

The regulations contain general principles for the delivery of religious sermons. These include an emphasis on specifically referencing the Quran when statements are made, and clarifying the authenticity of Hadith.

Preachers are instructed not to express anything “against general agreement” reached among Islamic scholars, or provide any information “ about issues disputed among Islamic scholars that serves to create disunity among the people and result in internal conflicts.”

The regulations also require preachers to refrain “from passing off as Islam one’s personal stand – that may result in obstruction of human progress and development and hinder modern findings and intellectual advancements.”

Controversially, preachers are also asked not to preach in a manner that flaunts human dignity, that may be interpreted as racial and gender discrimination, prevent people from education or health services in the name of Islam, or demeans the character or creates hatred towards people of any other religion.

Foreign scholars preaching in the Maldives “should not talk against Maldives’ social norms, nor should they criticise Maldives’ domestic policies and laws,” the regulations state.

It remains illegal to propagate any other religion other than Islam, and to carry or display in public books on religions other than Islam, “and the translation into Dhivehi language such books and writings on other religions.” Proselytising by foreigners remains punishable by deportation.

Articles involving comparisons between Islam and other religions, “and description of sayings and expressions about Islam by people of other religions, and dissemination of Muslim expressions on other religions”, are exempt, according to the regulations.

Media is banned from producing or publicising programs, talking about or disseminating audio “that humiliates Allah or his prophets or the holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet (Mohamed) or the Islamic faith.”

“This also includes the broadcasting of material (on other religions) produced by others and recording of such programs by the local broadcaster, and broadcasting such material by the unilateral decision of the local broadcaster,” the regulations stipulate.

Reaction

At a press conference today, the Islamic Foundation of Maldives (IFM) contended that the regulations conflicted with both the Maldivian constitution and the Quran.

In February this year, the IFM filed a case at the High Court requesting that outdated provisions in the Protection of Religious Unity Act of 1994 be abolished.

Article 2(b) of the Act states that permission to preach or offer instruction in religious matters must be sought in writing with the President.

Islamic Foundation Lawyer Shaheem Ahmed argued today that the Act conflicted with article 27 of the constitution, which states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and the freedom to communicate opinions and expressions in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam.”

“Sadly however no hearings have been conducted in this case so far. We don’t know why this is so,” he said.

In addition, Shaheem argued, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs did not have the legal authority to enact regulations that restricts or limits fundamental rights and freedoms enumerated in chapter two of the constitution.

Article 16 states that the rights and freedoms contained in the chapter could be restricted “only to such reasonable limits prescribed by a law enacted by the People’s Majlis”.

“After this regulation was approved, from this day onward no one without a degree could teach Islam in any school in the country,” he said, adding that imparting knowledge of Islam by a person without a degree would also be illegal.

As provision 5(l) of the regulations prohibits speech that could “incite hatred among the public, demean or undermine the human dignity of followers of another religion,” Shaheem noted that the Quran described Jews as “evil people and liars” and cautioned against “taking Jews as your friends.”

“Would expressing something like this from the Quran incite hatred or love towards us from Jews?” he asked. “The people who formulated this regulation should consider that the basis of Islam is the Quran.”

Quran 2:120 states that, “Never will the Jews or Christians be pleased with you till you follow their religion” while 5:51 reads, “Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliya’ (friends, protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but Auliya’ to one another. And if any amongst you takes them as Auliya’, then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers and unjust).”

Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed meanwhile called on Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Bari to “repent” for approving a regulation that conflicted with the Quran.

“[The regulations] obstruct the freedom granted by Almighty God to spread Islam. It is therefore completely void,” he claimed.

Fareed called on the government to review the regulations and reconsider enforcing the new rules, urging Islamic Minister Bari to consult religious scholars who were not Adhaalath party members and “not make such decisions on your own.”

“We urge very respectfully and with affection, to reconsider this and change [the regulations] so that it does not conflict with the Quran,” he said. “And don’t try to narrow Islamic matters in the country.”

IFM President Ibrahim Fauzee meanwhile revealed that the foundation was preparing to mount a legal challenge to the regulations at the Supreme Court.

Adhaalath Party condemns regulations

The Adhaalath Party, which controls the Islamic Ministry, issued a press statement today criticising the removal of “very important principles” from the original draft, and distanced the party’s religious scholars from the regulations.

The statement notes that the regulations were drafted by a legal team from police and 11 prominent religious scholars and approved by three Attorney Generals.

“We would like to inform the beloved Maldivian people that the party condemns [the changes] in the harshest terms and the party’s religious scholars and members renounces the gazetted regulations,” it reads.

“We note that provisions from English law have been added that were not in the regulations before and are not suited to a 100 percent Islamic community. We also note that other dangerous changes have been made to the regulations,” reads the statement signed by Sheikh Ilyas Hussein, vice-president of Adhaalath party’s council of religious scholars.

“While the Minister of Islamic Affairs [Dr Bari, president of the religious scholars council] was requested to not agree to publishing the regulations in the gazette without consultation with the party’s
scholars, we want to reveal that the regulations were brought out in the form it is in the gazette without any discussion at all with Adhaalath party’s council of religious scholars.”

Among the clauses that were removed were provisions outlining criteria for issuing preaching licenses, and prohibitions on broadcasting “un-Islamic” material.

These included provisions that preachers must be Sunni, and according to the Adhaalath Party, a provision requiring that religious fatwas (edicts or rulings) must be issued in accordance with the Sunni sect
was also removed, and so-called ‘blasphemy’ laws appeared to be toned down.

Laws forbidding independent prayer congregations were also scrapped.

The amendment regulations published in the government gazette yesterday was made up of 12 provisions, whereas previous drafts contained 40 provisions and a number of sub-clauses.

A more ‘academic’ approach

Former member of the Special Majlis and the new Constitution’s drafting committee, Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail, who was involved in redrafting the regulations, told Minivan News that they set out a more “academic” approach to preaching Islam in the Maldives, and were targeted at curbing the spread of extremism.

“[The regulations] do not impinge on freedom of expression, compared to the first draft, and I believe we have taken out those elements,” Ibra said.

“We have observed in this country and elsewhere that there are people who misquote the Quran and twist it around to propagate their agenda. These provisions curb that,” he explained.

“What in effect we are ensuring is that preachers should not say whatever comes to their mind. We say that if those preaching religion must refer to sources – the Quran and the Prophet’s sayings – so someone can independently verify if they wish.

“Where scholars deliver sources on areas and issues that are in dispute, these regulations require that they should state that,” he said.

“We put in a provision that prohibits hate speech, such as no one should propagate xenophobia or negative sentiments towards other religious.”

The criminalisation of those who violated the Act was not stipulated by the regulations, but in law, he explained.

“Currently the parliament is reviewing the relevant legislation (the Religous Unity Act), what we are doing is simply setting out how this can be enforced,” Ibra said, confirming that 2-5 years sentences was “more or less” what was in the Act.

Enforcement would ultimately be a court decision, he explained, with the Islamic Ministry only having the right to temporarily suspend preaching license pending the outcome of the court decision.

Ibra suggested that religious groups active in the Maldives – such as the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives and Jamiyyath-al-Salaf – should welcome the regulations, “as until now there has been a move by some people to silence them. These regulations do not silence them, but ask them to engage and follow procedures in their work. There are no ramifications for any particular group – again this different to what was originally proposed.”

He disputed that outlawing extremist preaching would drive the practice underground, and lead to a repeat of the 2007 Himandhoo incident, in which islanders donned red motorcycle helmets and armed themselves with batons and knives to defend the Dhar al Khuir mosque from a police crackdown.

In the ensuing skirmish, a policeman was taken captive and another’s hand was severed. Shortly afterwards a video discovered on an Al Qaeda forum was found to contain footage taken inside the Dhar-al-khuir mosque moments before it was raided by police.

“Himandhoo  was not based on religion – those where highly politicised times,” Ibra said. “What I believe is that this will allow liberal-minded thinkers to convince people of the middle ground. Initially there may be some reactions, but I’m optimistic.”

Download an unofficial translation of the new regulations (English)

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Kaashidhoo MP requests EC delay by-elections pending court appeal

President of the Elections Commission (EC) Fuad Thaufeeq has said that the commission does not believe that the Kaashidhoo seat in parliament is vacant following the Criminal Court’s sentencing of Kaashidhoo MP Ismail Abdul Hameed for corruption, as it had been notified by Hameed that he would appeal the decision at the High Court and would wait until the judicial procedure was concluded.

‘’The Commission does not believe that the Kaashidhoo constituency seat in parliament is vacant because MP Ismail Abdul Hameed has sent a letter to the parliament saying that he will appeal at the High Court,’’ Fuad told Minivan News. ‘’He requested the commission delay the by-elections until the judicial procedure was over.’’

On August 29, the Criminal Court sentenced Independent MP Ismail Abdul Hameed to one year and six months banishment after he was found guilty of corruption.

The Prosecutor General pressed corruption charges against Hameed alleging that he had abused his authority as the former Director of Waste Management at the Male’ municipality to financially benefit a Singaporean company named Island Logistics in a deal to purchase a barge.

Under article 73(c)(3) of the constitution, MPs found guilty of a criminal offence “and sentenced to a term of more than twelve months” are to be stripped of their seat.

Meanwhile, the Elections Commission has asked the Parliament to inform the commission if any seat of the parliament was vacant, as the commission required confirmation from parliament before holding a by-election.

In a statement the commission said that it had asked the parliament to send a stamped official document mentioning why the seat became vacant, and if it was due to a court verdict, to submit the court verdict as well.

Fuad told Minivan News that the statement was not issued following the verdict against MP Ismail, but was rather a general statement to inform society that there was  “no official way we can confirm that a seat is vacant unless the concerned institution informs the commission.”

‘’It was not in connection to the court ruling on MP Ismail Abdul Hameed, it was a general statement,” he said. “We have also informed island councils and atoll councils to tell us if any seat in the council becomes vacant.’’

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PPM to submit more than 3000 forms to EC in next two days

“Surprisingly more people than expected” have signed up to the former President’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), the party’s spokesperson and MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News today, adding that the required number of 3000 had been reached.

The PPM has been conducted a recruitment drive to obtain the 3000 signatures needed to officially form the party before the Elections Commission. Signatories are legally required to withdraw their membership from other political parties, such as the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP), for the new membership to be valid.

“Currently we are doing the work of arranging the forms in order, re-checking the filled forms to see whether all the forms are filled correctly and entering the data and filing the forms in our office,’’ Nihan said. ‘’It will not take long before we submit the forms to the Elections Commission (EC), but because the commission will dismiss any form filled incorrectly or forms with missing information, we are just double checking and preparing them for submission.”

Nihan said the party expected to submit the forms tomorrow or Tuesday.

“On the 8th of this month the commission authorised us to commence work to find the 3000 signatures, and the next day was supposed to be the day we officially began recruitment,” he explained, “but then the Hiriya incident occurred and we took four days to mourn and postponed all the work.’’

Nihan said the number of people signing up for the PPM was so many “because there are figures in the party who have gained the confidence of citizens.”

“We have former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and other senior figures of the former government who have served the nation for 30 years, and they have brought much development to the country and there are many people who love them,” he said, adding that all such people were joining PPM.

Nihan said that PPM’s policy was to allow youth to progress, and to “always give high priority to the voice of the citizens.”

“In this battle we will bring forward the citizens and all we will give opportunities for the young persons in our party to progress,’’ he said. ‘’We are knocking on the doors of people who think it is time to bring a change in their lives.’’

When former President Gayoom announced that he was about to register a new party in the name of Progressive Party of the Maldives, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that he would doubted whether Gayoom’s party would attracted enough people form a Friday prayer group – minimum of 40.

Seven MPs in the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) resigned to form the new party after claiming disillusionment with the party’s leadership.

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Concerned citizens seek court order against committee allowance

A group of concerned citizens protesting a controversial Rf20,000-a-month (US$1,290) committee allowance, approved by MPs for themselves in December 2010, have filed a case at Civil Court seeking a court order to stop the Finance Ministry from releasing the funds to parliament.

A loose association of concerned citizens and members of civil society organisations launched a campaign last month after parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided to issue a lump sum of Rf140,000 (US$9,000) as committee allowance back pay for January through July this year.

Speaking to press outside the court building, lawyer Mohamed Shafaz explained that the grounds for the claim were constitutional provisions on non-discrimination (article 17) and equal protection and benefit of the law (article 20).

“For example, the reduced amount from civil servant’s salaries was in the 2010 budget [to be paid back] and in the 2011 budget as well if you look at it properly,” he said, arguing that Finance Ministry could not release funds for MPs’ committee allowance, which was approved in December 2010, without paying back civil servants.

“The money is coming from the same place,” Shafaz continued. “If something the civil servants have not received is going to be given to others, which was approved much later, the chance of civil servants receiving the reduced amount will be very slim.”

A court order was sought to halt the release of the funds until a court of law delivers a ruling on the issue, Shafaz said.

Shafaz also referred to article 43 of the constitution, which states that “Everyone has the right to administrative action that is lawful, procedurally fair, and expeditious.”

Austerity or bust

In October 2009 – almost a year into the new administration – unpopular pay cuts of up to 15 percent for civil servants were enforced as part of austerity measures to alleviate the country’s ballooning budget deficit – among the highest in the world at 26 percent of GDP in 2009 (the International Monetary Fund had refused financing to Sri Lanka because the country’s fiscal deficit reached 10.5 percent).

However the austerity measures were met with a severe political backlash. In December 2009, the opposition-controlled parliament added Rf800 million (US$62 million) to the 2010 state budget, including the restoration of civil servant salaries to previous levels and subsidies for sectors ranging from fishing and agriculture to private media.

“One of the primary drivers of the large fiscal deficit has been government spending on public wages, which has more than doubled between 2007 and 2009, and is now one of the highest in the world relative to the size of the economy,” Rodrigo Cubero, IMF mission chief for the Maldives, said in January 2010.

“Measures that would substantially raise the budget deficit, such as a reversal of previously announced wage adjustments, would also put the [IMF-backed structural adjustment] programme off track, jeopardising prospects for multilateral and bilateral international financing,” Cubero warned at the time.

After weeks of legal wrangling over restoring civil servants salaries, the Ministry of Finance accused the Civil Service Commission (CSC) of hiding “a political agenda”, and in February 2010 filed a case with the police asking them to investigate it on suspicion of trying to topple the government “and plunge the Maldives into chaos.”

At the height of the dispute in early 2010, permanent secretaries were ordered to submit different wage sheets by both the Finance Ministry and the CSC.

In April 2010, the Civil Court ruled that Finance Ministry did not have the legal authority to overrule the CSC. Although the government contested the ruling and refused to restore salaries to previous levels, the High Court upheld the lower court ruling in May this year.

Consequently in November 2010, the IMF delayed its third disbursement under the US$92.5 million programme, citing “fiscal slippages” caused by insufficient progress towards reducing the wage bill and passing tax legislation.

In March this year, Cubero told Minivan News that the IMF saw “bringing the fiscal deficit down as the key macroeconomic priority for the Maldives.”

“A large fiscal deficit pushes up interest rates, thereby undermining private investment and growth, and also drives up imports, putting pressure on the exchange rate and inflation, all of which hurts the Maldivian people, particularly the poor,” he said.

“With the government borrowing at the rate it has [to plug the deficit], it reduces the amount of credit available to the private sector, and that constrains the ability of the private sector to provide jobs and employment,” Cubero explained. “That then constrains economic growth. Furthermore, by spending more than it earns, the government is putting pressure on imports and the exchange rate.”

An internal report by the World Bank obtained by Minivan News observed that the Maldives was “facing the most challenging macroeconomic situation of any democratic transitions that has occurred since 1956.”

Civic action

Volunteers for the civic campaign meanwhile distributed information leaflets at bus stops in Male’ yesterday.

“Two of our group went on the bus and talked to passengers,” said Badr Naseer, a senior activist in the effort. “Ninety-nine percent of people support [the cause].”

Badr said he had personally filed a complaint at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) requesting an inquiry into claims by some MPs that they functioned as “welfare officers” for their constituents.

Earlier this month, Transparency Maldives (TM) condemned remarks by MPs justifying the inflated allowance, noting that “such actions fall under article 3 of of the anti-corruption law and article 13 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act regarding bribery.”

Badr revealed that the group had met MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, parliamentary group leader of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) as part of diplomatic efforts alongside the street activism.

He added that the citizens group also hoped to meet former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – who is in the process of forming a new party with a number of MPs previously in the DRP – to discuss the committee allowance issue.

The awareness raising campaign is set to continue from 4:30pm to 6:00pm today at bus stops and ferry terminals in Male’.

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