Tag: maldives

Raajje TV’s report on Supreme Court not a national security threat: MBC

Opposition aligned broadcaster Raajje TV’s report criticizing the judiciary does not threaten national security, the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) has told Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz.

In October, the Supreme Court requested the MBC to investigate Raajje TV after it broadcast a report comparing the apex court to the the corrupt judges from Koranic city of Sodom.

The report, titled “Magey Report” (My report), especially highlighted the case of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed whose alleged appearance a sex-tape is currently under investigation. Ali Hameed is still a sitting judge on the Supreme Court bench.

“While you have mentioned in the letter referred here that “Magey Report” broadcasted on Rajje Tv in the evening of 19 October 2013 contained content that is a threat to national security, this commission did not notice any such content during our investigation”  read the MBC’s letter sent on Thursday.

However, the commission ruled that the content of the report violated several codes of the Broadcasting Code of Practice. The commission has ordered Raajje TV not to broadcast the report again without amending it and has asked the station to broadcast an apology message.

According to the commission, Raajje TV had used language and references against socially accepted standards, broadcast content that could insult or reduce the sanctity, honor and dignity of a person or persons, and broadcast the report in a manner that could violate rights of children.

MBC noted the Supreme Court had asked for the investigation to be completed within ten days even though the Broadcasting Act allows a 60 day investigation period.

The Supreme Court had also ordered Maldives Police Service to investigate the report, in response to which MPS conducted a criminal investigation and sent the case to Prosecutor General’s Office late November.

During the investigation, the Channel’s Deputy CEO Yaameen Rasheed and News Head Ibrahim ‘Asward’ Waheed were summoned by the Police. Raajje TV has chosen to remain silent

The Maldives Media Council and MBC expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s order describing it as “obstruction of press freedom”.

The MBC requested the Supreme Court to repeal the court order, however the request was denied. Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain threatened to take action against “those who spread false information about judges without respecting the sanctity of the court” saying contempt of court will not be allowed.

Serious concerns about the Maldives judiciary have been raised by various International institutions and experts, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul, International Commission of Jurists and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

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Voluntary repatriation program announced for undocumented workers

The Department of Immigration and Emigration has announced a special repatriation program offering leniency for undocumented migrant workers who wish to return to their home countries voluntarily on their own expenses.

The program is set to begin tomorrow (December 23) and will allow migrant workers to return to the Maldives within six months of departure. However, if workers are deported, they are not allowed to come back to the Maldives for ten years.

According to the Immigration department, the purpose of the new program is to register and regulate undocumented migrant workers.

The likelihood of repatriated workers returning to the Maldives to work illegally will be slim due to increased monitoring, Deputy CEO of Immigration Abdulla Munaz told local newspaper Haveeru

Munaz said that, even if a thousand workers are sent off each month, it would take the government 35 months to send off all undocumented workers.

While there is no  official data available on undocumented migrant workers, estimates have put it as high as 44,000.

The current program’s target is to repatriate 5,000 – 10,000 workers.

Registration will take place from 23 – 31 December 2013 and 5- 6 January 2014, on all working days between 0900hrs – 1700 hrs at Dharumavantha School, Male’. Workers are to be sent home within two days of registration.

On December 5, Immigration Controller Hassan Ali announced that the institution’s biggest focus in the first 100 days of Yameen’s government would be to address the issue of illegal immigrants.

The Maldives has been on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for four consecutive years. The US says the Maldives is a destination country for human trafficking, including sex trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage.

The Immigration department’s 100 day plan includes offering illegal immigrants a chance to change employees, and increasing the number of illegal immigrants who will be deported in 2014.

The immigration controller also revealed plans to re-register undocumented workers, establish an online system of obtaining work visas from Kulhudhuhfushi Island in northern Maldives and forming a single office to deal with all work related to migrant workers.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has previously expressed concern over a mass repatriation program this year. The commission said the state should provide such workers with their due wages and compensation before sending them off.

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Maldives hosts 7th SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians Conference

The Maldives is hosting the 7th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians (ASSP) at Bandos Island Resort and Spa.

President Abdulla Yameen inaugurated the three-day conference yesterday evening, and reiterated the Maldives’ commitment to furthering regional cooperation.

Calling on SAARC to be more relevant and responsive, Yameen said: “To keep abreast with the expectations of our peoples, we need to increase the relevance of SAARC, both as a tool for multilateral cooperation among our Member States, as well as in global politics and in international trade.”

Speakers from Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the secretary of Afghanistan’s parliament are in the Maldives for the conference.

Parliamentary delegations of Bangladesh and Nepal were unable to attend as Nepal had only held new parliamentary elections in November while Bangladesh’s parliament has been dissolved with new general elections set for January.

According to the people’s Majlis, the themes -“Strengthening democracy through institution building” and “Democracy and Inclusive Development – achieving SAARC  MDGs” – will be discussed at the conference.

The ASSP was established in 1992, with the aim of exchanging ideas and information on parliamentary procedures and information among parliaments and to strengthen South Asia as a stable and independent region.

The association’s work stagnated in the late 90’s due to political turmoil in the region, and was revived recently on the initiative of India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the People’s Majlis secretariat have said.

Welcoming the delegations, Maldives Speaker Abdulla Shahid noted all South Asian countries are now led by civilian governments.

Shahid noted the current parliament in the Maldives is the first fully elected parliament, but MPs have faced and overcome “almost every conceivable constitutional challenge.”

Further, the rights guaranteed to the parliament had constantly been tested by the executive and legislative branches of government.

Meanwhile, Kumar stressed the importance of parliaments and parliamentarians as democracy advances in the region and said SAARC parliaments can learn a great deal from each other’s parliamentary experiences.

Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said South Asia consists of one-fourth of the world’s population, but continues to be the largest concentration of impoverished people.

South Asia is currently at a crossroads, of breaking with its past and possibly becoming the second largest economic powerhouse after China and East Asia, Sadiq said.

Meanwhile, female parliamentarians and the secretaries general of SAARC parliaments met on Saturday morning to discuss the opportunities and challenges for women’s political participation in South Asia and the methods to ensure a cost effective secretariat respectively.

The Women’s Committee has pledged affirmative action to increase women’s political participation whilst the secretaries generals proposed amending the charter of ASSP to constitute a Young Parliamentarians forum.

The Association’s General Assembly is to take place at Bandos Island Resort and Spa today and tomorrow (December 22 and 23).

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EC to seek AG advice on following Supreme Court guidelines

The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to seek advice from the Attorney General on whether the commission must follow the Supreme Court’s 16 point electoral guideline in the upcoming local council and parliamentary elections.

The Supreme Court had issued the guidelines in October in its verdict annulling the first round of presidential polls held on September 7. EC President Fuwad Thowfeek has previously slammed the guidelines as “restrictions”

EC member Ali Mohamed Manik told local media the commission is abiding by the Supreme Court’s guidelines in preparations for the upcoming elections. However, the EC may face the same challenges if the commission were to follow the Supreme Court’s requirements, Manik said.

The guidelines effectively give candidates veto power over polls as they state the EC must obtain the signature of all candidates on the voter registry and mandates the commission ensure that reports on the voting process are compiled in the presence of candidates’ representatives.

The EC has previously said obtaining the signatures of the 4000 candidates contesting local council elections will be “impossible.”

“While some of the points in the guideline state it applies to all elections, we can see that the complete guideline is actually intended for presidential elections when we look at it in its entirety. Most of what is in the full verdict is also about the presidential election. Furthermore, it will be very difficult to follow some of the points in it in other elections,” Manik said.

The Supreme Court’s requirements caused major delays in this year’s presidential elections with three contestants. The parliamentary election will have hundreds of contestants for the 85 constituencies, while the local council election will have over 4000 of contestants running for 1118 seats in island, atoll and city councils in 20 atolls.

LGA and MMA call to merge elections

The Local Government Authority (LGA) – chaired by Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim – has on Thursday announced it will work with the government to organize simultaneous polls for the local council and parliament.

LGA has also requested the government to include the proposal in the planned amendments to the Decentralisation Act.

“When all the elections are held together, it will decrease the economical cost caused by holding separate elections, while also lessening the tearing up of the national social fabric, which happens as a result of elections”, a statement from the LGA reads, as reported by local media Haveeru.

The statement further said that the funds spent on councils cannot be used productively unless the councils are developed and strengthened. The authority said the proposed amendments to the Decentralisation Act  will assist in cutting costs.

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has meanwhile recommended combining presidential, parliamentary and local council elections in order to reduce state expenditure and improve governance.

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Albino turtle stolen from Sri Lanka was to be used for “black magic on a Maldivian politician”

A Sri Lankan residing in Maldives offered more than US$ 26,000 to buy an albino turtle to use it in a black magic ritual on a Maldivian politician, popular Sri Lankan singer Amal Perera has told Sri Lankan Police.

The rare albino turtle had disappeared from the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Sanctuary on December 18. According to Sri Lankan media, the police questioned Perera for three hours after the sanctuary’s owner alleged Perera’s involvement in the turtle’s disappearance.

‘Ceylon Today‘ quotes Perera as saying: “I went to the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Sanctuary in July with a person called ‘Supun’ who had come to the country representing a Maldivian national.”

Amal denied any involvement in the turtle’s disappearance and said there was no exchange of money during the July visit.

Police are now looking for Supun who is believed to be in Sri Lanka at present. Sri Lankan Wildlife Resources Conservation Minister Vijith Vijithamuni Soyza told media last week that he believed the turtle could have been smuggled into the Maldives.

The belief and use of traditional “Fanditha” magic for various purposes – ranging from courting and divorce to sports and politics – is fairly common in the Maldivian culture. A surge in suspected use of Black magic for political reasons was witnessed  following the controversial power transfer in February 2011 and in the run up to presidential elections.

Maldives Police Service have investigated a number of cases including the case of a Black magic doll at a polling station and a cursed coconut in September 2013.

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President appoints new Financial Controller

President Abdulla Yameen has on Saturday appointed Khadheeja Hussain as the new Financial Controller.

The Financial Controller’s post is equivalent to that of a deputy minister. Khadheeja most recently held the position of Internal Auditor at the Parliament. Local media reports that she has years of experience in the financial sector.

Khadheeja was appointed to the post after the former Financial Controller Ahmed Mohamed – who has served in the post in the past three administrations under Presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed Nasheed and Mohamed Waheed Hassan – was removed from his post on November 19, two days after President Yameen was sworn in.

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Public Accounts Committee considers conducting “special audit” of state companies

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee is to deliberate on conducting “special audits” of all state share-owned public companies. The committee has scheduled debates on the matter for Sunday.

According to the Committee’s Chair Abdulla Jabir, the objectives are to have all state companies operating under the same umbrella group and to find means of liquidating companies that fail to make profit.

“We proposed the audit to bring down costs and strengthen the management of public companies. Members of the committee believe that the audit should study company performances in the past five years,” Jabir is quoted as saying in local media.

“We will be looking into whether there is a feasible way of conducting a “special audit” of such companies. Today, state companies need to be restructured and rebranded. We want to liquidate all companies that do not make any profit, and to place all other companies under a holding company that will then be established,” he continued.

Public Accounts Committee has further decided to summon Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim and Attorney General Mohamed Anil to Sunday’s meeting.

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National debt set to rise to MVR92,196 per head warns MMA

The Maldives Monetary Authority – the country’s central bank and banking regulator – has published its professional opinion on the 2014 budget, painting a dark outlook and proposing urgent measures to prevent the economy from plunging further into debt.

The document was prepared upon an official request from the People’s Majlis, which is set to consider the spending plans when they emerge from committee on Saturday (December 21).

In the document, the MMA warned that the national debt is estimated to rise from MVR27.7 billion in 2013 to MVR31.5 billion in 2014 – equating to MVR92,196 per head.

Forecast GDP growth rate for 2014 is 4.5% – lower than the average of past ten years.

Inflation can be sustained at 4%, but this will depend on changes in the world market, stated the authority

Despite pledges to reduce state expenditure, the government returned a record MVR17.5 billion budget for consideration by the Majlis this month.

Subsequent recommendations in committee have seen the likely figure to rise to MVR18 billion.

Reducing government expenditure

Rising government expenditure was cited as the biggest challenge for the country right now. The agency advised the government to reduce recurrent expenditure to MVR10.2billion from its current level or MVR12billion, offering the following recommendations to do so:

  • Ensuring government subsidies are carefully targeted to the rightful persons.
  • Downsizing the state apparatus to one that’s appropriate for the Maldives’ size and income – including downsizing of parliament, councils, and independent institutions.
  • Finding ways of reducing recurrent expenditure and improving governance – suggesting the combination of local, parliamentary, and presidential elections was suggested.
  • Stop spending on government-run companies from the budget,  or dissolve such companies.
  • Don t proceed with projects (e.g. in contractor finance basis) unless funds have been secured or guaranteed.
  • Reduce debt, turn existing short-term debts in to long-term ones – for instance, by selling long-term foreign bonds at a small interest rate rather than depending on the domestic market for financing debt.
  • Prepare to implement the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2014.

Finding better ways of financing the deficit

The document stated that the government had been financing the budget deficit mainly by taking short-term loans, selling treasury bills and treasury bonds, and by the MMA itself printing money. Instead of managing this deficit through a market mechanism, the government has resorted to dealing with it mainly through printing cash.

Overdrawing from the state’s Public Bank Account (PBA) to accommodate government spending has significantly increased the flow of the rufiyaa in the economy. The authority stated that this has reduced the foreign exchange reserves to dangerous levels – just two months of imports by the end of October 2013.

It was also noted that the increased flow makes it difficult to stabilise the foreign exchange rate.

According to the authority the PBA overdraft facility was misused by the government, using it to finance long term budget deficit even though it was intended to manage cash flow within a short period of time (a few weeks).

The amount overdrawn from PBA started increasing in October 2012 and reached MVR2.5 billion by 9 December 2013.

The MMA advised the state to pay all due treasury bills, treasury bonds and PBA overdrawing debts to the authority, whilst also noting that the MVR945 million required to pay for this had not been included in the proposed budget.

New revenue raising measures and legal changes

One of the key points highlighted throughout the document was the importance of implementing the new revenue raising measures – most of which is hoped to come from advance payments from resort lease extensions – which account for 23% of the total revenue in the budget.

If these measures are not implemented, the budget cannot cater for the recurrent expenditure and the estimated budget deficit for 2014 will increase from MVR886.6 million to 4.4 billion (11% of GDP), the MMA warned.

The MMA requested the state to proceed with amending the laws necessary for implementing new revenue increasing measures as soon as possible, and asked to find ways to generate an income from various industries instead of depending only on tourism for revenue.

Another notable recommendation was the reduction of the number of foreigners working in the country in order to create a more favorable balance of payments situation.

Read the full document (dhivehi) here.

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Rare albino turtle stolen from Sri Lanka may be in Maldives

A rare albino turtle stolen in Sri Lanka could have been smuggled in to Maldives, Sri Lankan media has reported.

The five year old turtle, weighing 9.5 kg, 60cm in length and 35cm in width was reportedly stolen from a private turtle conservation center in Kosgoda. It was reported as missing on Sunday night, and is said to be worth USD250,000 – 300,000.

Sri Lankan news website “Hiru News” quoted Wildlife Resources Conservation Minister Vijith Vijithamuni Soyza as saying that he believed the stolen turtle could have been smuggled into the Maldives.

Owner of the conservation center Chandrasiri Aabru suspects involvement of a Sri Lankan vocalist Amal Perera. According to Chandrasiri, Amal had shown an interest in buying it, visiting the turtle with a Maldivian friend to whom he requested it to be sold.

Sri Lankan police have summoned and questioned Amal on this matter. The Wildlife Conservation Department says Interpol help will be sought if it was in fact smuggled out of the country.

Catching, killing, importing and the sale of turtles and turtle products have been banned in the Maldives since mid-nineties. However, the implementation of these bans is weak.

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