Tag: maldives

Adhaalath Party will terminate coalition agreement if Israeli airline allowed to operate in Maldives

The Adhaalath Party has said the party has decided to terminate the coalition agreement with the ruling Maldiivan Democratic Parrty (MDP) should the government permit an Israeli airline to operate in the Maldives.

Transport Minister Adil Saleem told Minivan News last Thursday that relevant authorities were currently processing a license for Sun d’Or International Airlines, a subsidiary of Israeli national carrier El Al, with a view to it operating flights to the Maldives.

Saleem claimed such a move would create opportunities for both Israeli tourists to visit the country as well as facilitate pilgrimages for Maldivians to mosques around Jerusalem and other parts of the country.

However the Adhaalath Party, which has significant influence in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and is led by State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, issued a statement claiming that the majority of Islamic countries had not permitted the Israeli national carrier to operate.

“There are only two Islamic countries that have permitted El Al Airlines to operate: Egypt and Jordan,” the party said in a statement. “The other Islamic countries that allowed El Al Airlines to operate in their countries have withdrawn their permission. And it is to be noted that this Sun d’Or Airlines which is to commence operation in the Maldives is not an airline that any Islamic country so far permitted to operate.”

The party claimed there “were reasons” why out of the 50 Islamic countries, 48 had declined permission for El Al to operate.

“It is because Israel is the biggest enemy of the whole Muslim community, a country that has stolen the holy lands of Muslims, a country that is committing violence against the people of Palestine and as Israeli flights are targets of terrorist organisations, it raises security concerns,” the party said.

The Adhaalath Party added that it “regretted” that the current government had restored diplomatic relations with Israel, “ignoring the feelings of the citizens.”

The Adhaalath Party’s President Sheikh Hussein Rasheed told Minivan News that the decision was an official decision made by the party and that he had no further comment on the matter.

Adil Saleem acknowledged to Minivan News last week that “some Maldivians see Israel as controversial over the issue of Palestine. Yet Palestine accepts Israel as a state, benchmarking the point that I don’t see why we should not allow these flights.”

He also said that the license process for the operation of Sun d’Or was almost completed and that flights were expected to commence operating in Maldives in October this year.

President of religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf, Ahmed Bin Mohamed Ibrahim, meanwhile added that the organisation strongly opposed any move that would strengthens the relationship between Israel and the Maldives.

“It will cause more harm than benefit,’’ said Abdulla. “Damage was caused after diplomatic ties with Israel were restored.”

Abdulla said the education system of the Maldives “was ruined” as co-education was also introduced after ties were restored.

“All these issues were raised at the same time as the government restored diplomatic relations with Israel. Later came these doctors who first attempted to work in the Maldives without permission from the authorities,” he said. “They have already committed violence against Muslims in different areas of the world, so why should we expect any better?”

Visiting Israeli eye surgeons from the ‘Eyes from Zion’ NGO were in November met with protests and the burning of the Israeli flag in Male’s Republic Square. The Islamic Foundation NGO contested at the time that Israeli surgeons “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Afrashim Ali claimed that Israelis and other foreign elements that “should not be allowed to enter a 100 percent Muslim country”, and would gain a foothold in the Maldives as a result of handing over management of the Male’ International Airport to Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

“[The airport deal with GMR] will open a big doorway for the people of Israel, who are brutalising Palestinians without any justification, to come to the Maldives and take over,” Afrashim said during the protests.

The debate over allowing Sun d’Or to operate in the Maldives could be moot after the airline’s license was revoked on April 1 by the Israel Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). El Al flights had reportedly been operating charter flights under different airline names – despite using the same aircraft and crew – in an effort to circumvent backlash from ultra-orthodox Israeli groups over its operating flights on the Sabbath and religious holidays. The airline has since stated that it would continue to not run flights on Sabbath days despite the loss of revenue, while Sun d’Or remains a charter brand under the national carrier.

“Sun d’Or operates as a designated carrier to European destinations, and carries out flights for El Al on the Saturdays and holidays. This enabled El Al to keep its 30-year plus status-quo with religious and haredi (ultra-orthodox) passengers by not flying on the Sabbath,” reported business magazine Globes.

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Maldives’ oil spend spikes in line with world oil prices

Saudi Arabian oil exporter Aramco has expressed unease about the global economy as oil prices have continued to rise, as unrest drops the rate of production in Africa and the Middle East.

Prices reached US$124 a barrel yesterday, after peaking earlier this month at US$127. Worldwide output fell 700,000 barrels in March amid ongoing political turmoil in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.

CEO of Aramco Khalid al-Falih told an industry gathering in South Korea that “We are not comfortable with oil prices where they are today… I am concerned about the impact it could have on the global economy.”

The Maldivian economy is dependent on oil to such an extent that is spends a quarter of its GDP on it – US$245 million – the vast majority on marine diesel, making imported energy one of the single largest drains on the country’s economy.

Customs documents obtained by Minivan News in January showed that Maldives was spending almost US$100,000 more per day more on fossil fuels than it was in the summer of 2010. At that time, oil was US$86 a barrel.

By the same calculations but with today’s oil price, the Maldives is paying an additional US$450,000 per day for oil compared to summer prices last year.

In Male’, the increase in price has compelled the State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) to increase the fuel surcharge component of its electricity prices, with Haveeru reporting a STELCO official as acknowledging an increase in complaints about the cost of their bills price. The fuel surcharge reached Rf 1.41 per kilowatt hour in March, dropping slightly to Rf 1.27 in April.
“The rise in fuel prices leads to an increase in the fuel surcharge, which eventually push the electricity charges up,” the official said.
The Maldives has meanwhile pledged to become carbon neutral by 2020, but little has been done to wean the country from the growing financial burden of its oil addiction.

In a previous interview with Minivan News, President Nasheed’s Energy Advisor Mike Mason suggested that spiralling oil costs could prove to be a strong argument for a return to sailing.

“I think there is a huge opportunity to take a knowledge of sail, wind and current – the thinking that has served the Maldives well for 2000 years – and apply modern technology such as solar to create a new transport paradigm. A sailing vessel with a modern hull, utilising modern technology can reach 30-40 knots, and would greatly reduce the reliance on diesel,” Mason said at the time.

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Visit to Fares-Maathoda shows challenge of decentralised development

In the final part of a special report from the island of Fares-Maathoda, Minivan News looks at the challenges for communities developing beyond Male’s glance as they attempt to switch to decentralised governance and overcome their natural vulnerabilities.

Sitting in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, the conjoined landmasses making up the island of Fares-Maathoda present an environment that has seen little of the economic and infrastructure changes witnessed in the population hubs in North Male’ atoll.

Yet like everywhere else in the Maldives, the formation of island and Atoll councils following nationwide local elections in February 2011 has raised new challenges to bring about change on a more decentralised basis.

However, some opposition politicians believe that the government was “not fully prepared” in its plans to devolve power locally, and that has caused friction between the government and local councils over what exactly their roles and responsibilities are in relation to overseeing potential changes.

For the residents of Fares-Maathoda and the five-member council elected to serve them, these changes include a proposal to use aid funds from Denmark to try and offset continued flooding resulting from drainage and waste management issues as part of wider development aims.

Ibarahim Shareef, spokesperson and deputy leader for the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) told Minivan News that he believed a combination of a lack of experience among elected councillors and obstruction by central government was limiting the roles of individually elected councils to oversee and deal with projects such as development.

“There is disagreement over the role of councils and what duties are being issued to them. Our country is disintegrating around us,” Shareef claimed, accepting that divisions between the present and previous leaderships of his own party had added to the partisan atmosphere of the country’s political backdrop.

“We should get all the parties including the government and opposition groups to stick together and try and resolve the differences like this issue.”

Speaking earlier this month during a visit to Fares-Maathoda, two islands that were linked together in the 1990s by reclaiming area between them – a move that exacerbated flooding problems – UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox said he believed that environmental and development facing the country required cooperation from all stakeholders in light of decentralised government.

“What seems to be the case at the moment is that the decentralised structures [island and Atoll councils] are developing and that’s fine. But what that means at the moment is that until things become clearer in some of the areas where we need to work, we need to stay closely connected with everybody. Yet we appreciate the need for strong coordination,” he said.

“In the end, you need the right environment if you are going to attract large-scale funding. In actual fact for the money to come to the Maldives there needs to be a favourable environment for that and even more so there needs to be a good investment environment, because that’s the way that you are going to do large-scale projects.”

Cox was on Fares-Maathoda alongside representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Ministry of Housing and Environment, the National Office and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to meet with local councillors and outline how Danish donor aid for funding climate change adaptation would be allocated on the island.

Pointing to a sea-wall development riddled with flags, displaying the yellow of the MDP on one side and the blue of the DRP on the other, Cox suggested that was a powerful reflection of the country’s partisan political functioning and the challenges it created for decentralising aid distribution.

“You have the blue on one side and the yellow on the right, which typifies the Maldives more than anything else,” he added.

However, Cox claimed that rather than acting as a test for the viability of other collaborations with recently appointed local councillors in delivering aid, Fares-Maathoda represented the need for “development best practice” and how best to try and mitigate detrimental environment and economic factors over partisan thinking.

“In the end, people involved in a project need to be involved in its decision making. That’s the bottom line, so frankly I think if you succeed, you succeed and it’s good for development and everyone who is involved can take credit,” he said. “But if you fail, it’s important to know why you failed. Then you try and reflect that back when you expand an approach outwards than you better find a way of taken advantage of that knowledge and understanding and don’t do it again.”

However, Ibarahim Shareef said he believed that in opting to decentralise power following February’s elections, President Mohamed Nasheed and his fellow MDP members had been “shocked” by the number of island councils seats that fell to opposition parties like the DRP.

Shareef claimed that he believed the government was now aiming to try and centralise power in an apparent reversal of its original intentions.

“Local people have been in a long struggle for democracy, yet some are now questioning the wisdom of supporting democratic reform,” he said. “They have not got empowerment at the level they expected.”

Shareef said that despite these uncertainties regarding the exact role of local councils, everyone involved in the process of decentralisation needed to work together to set out what powers councillors did and did not have in order to function properly.

“It is in everyone’s interests to ensure they are working properly,” he claimed.

In a bid to try and help coordinate the development projects undertaken by local councils such as those bought forward by UN aid, the President’s Office announced the formation of seven national offices back in March that it claimed were not related between some isolated disputes with local councils.

Speaking from Fares-Maathoda during the UN visit, Mohamed Shareef, Deputy Minister of State for the Upper South Province national office, claimed that government coordination remained vital to ensure all councillors are sufficiently trained to oversee development and aid in the future.

Speaking to Minivan News, Mohamed Shareef said he believed that criticism of the national offices stemmed from incorrect presumptions that the government was acting against its own decentralisation plans by giving the president more power over the country.

To try and offset these criticisms the national office has said it is offering training programmes across the country in places like Thinadoo and Addu City that aim to provide information to councillors and outline their responsibilities.

“Councillors have come from many different walks of life, but many haven’t been in administration or management, so they are very new to these procedures and understanding them,” said Shareef. “They keep saying that there are no procedures, but it is just a matter of understanding what the procedures are. So we have to keep on running training programmes. The government has a very extensive programme to try and make the councillors and the public aware of the system.”

With the councils now in place, Shareef said that these training programmes would be vital to try and ensure the success of decentralisation. However, he accepted that there was a notable difference of opinion between whether more details and information should have been given to candidates and the public before electing councillors or whether the system should be fleshed out afterwards.

Despite criticisms that more education for the public and councillors on the exact purpose of decentralisation in the Maldives should have been in place before voting began, the national office claimed that it believed the best way – as has happened – was to start the programme and learn along the way.

“I think if we had earlier tried to make people understand what [the government] were trying to do, it would have been a difficult process. On the other hand, if you have bought the system and make everyone learn by experience it might have been easier for us – it could be debated either way,” Shareef said. “We were in need of immediate change that was for sure. So we wanted a change to be implemented and it was done very quick.”

In terms of main challenges facing national offices like those in the Upper South Province, Shareef said that the cost of running five member councils across the country was definately a concern.

“We have a very poor income and the country is very small in terms of people and resources. We can discover new resources in terms of tourism but the challenge lies in the expense of bring about these changes [local councils]. It is an expensive process.”

Shareef claimed that the national councils would ultimately like to see more responsibility being taken by local councillors in dealing directly with donor agencies such as the UN over development and aid projects, while it held a light coordination role in instead.

“This would allow the direct impact [of these funds] to be felt more closely by the councils. Otherwise we should have a major role. It’s not very easy for the government agencies,” he said. “In terms of being more responsible, I think the councils can very much have a role in making the maximum use of aid coming in.”

Mohamed Shareef added that the belief of the national councils was that training projects would be at the heart of granting more development roles to local councillors in the future.

“The vision of the government is that we are going to have a very big leap in terms of development by having decentralisation. So the councils need to be very responsible and capable if they want to take up these challenges,” he said. “It all depends on how capable the councils are. In one way it’s a big relief for the government that there are councils and governors who are interested in dealing with them. For the government, it doesn’t make it very easy, but it’s the way they want to go forward I guess.”

Ultimately, Shareef said that the main plan in the long-term for each council would be to have them become more technical and development orientated rather than trying to serve a particular party political interest.
“That was the stand with which the councils came into their position, but still we have some way to go to get the councils to realise they are a technical and development body and not a political body.”

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President meets with Deputy Islamic Minister of Saudi Arabia

President Mohamed Nasheed met yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Ammar.

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, National Security Advisor Ameen Faisal, Advisor on Political Affairs Mohamed Shihab and Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari also attended the meeting.

Nasheed highlighted the close brotherly relations between the Maldives and Saudi Arabia, and thanked the visiting deputy minister for Saudi Arabia’s continued development assistance to the Maldives.

Dr Al-Ammar said Saudi Arabia has a special relationship with the Maldives, and the Saudi government attached a particular importance to enhancing the relations between the Maldives and Saudi Arabia.

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Debate between contenders for the MDP’s top post canceled

A debate due to be televised between candidates running for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s top post has been cancelled, along with a debate between candidates for the vice-presidency.

MDP’s official website said the debate was cancelled after former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi, a candidate running for MDP presidency, decided to boycott the debate citing “concerning issues”.

Dr Didi sent a letter to the Chairperson of MDP and MP Mariya Ahmed Didi saying that he would not participate in the debate as he was experiencing “issues” related to the debate, according to the MDP Official website.

Debate between candidates for the vice-presidency was also cancelled after MP Alhan Fahmy decided to boycott the event, alleging undue influence.

The debate was canceled after Alhan also sent a letter to Chairperson Mariya Didi raising “issues” with the advertised debate.

Alhan wrote that he did not wish to publicly reveal his objections to the debate as disunity or discord within the party was not his intention, adding that he did not want members to lose confidence in a cabinet minister.

Last night, speaking to the media, Alhan said that he was unsure whether his opponent was unaware of the questions that might be asked during the debate, in which case he said his opponent would be sure to win.

Both Alhan and Dr Didi have not yet revealed the details of the issues concerning the debate.

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Man sentenced to six months imprisonment for skinny dipping in Artificial Beach

The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to six months imprisonment after he was found guilty of ‘skinny dipping’ (swimming naked) in the Artificial Beach in Male’.

The Court said that Ali Niushad, of Henveiru Saarokuge’, had confessed to the crime and found him guilty of “objecting to order”.

In the Court, Niushad confessed that on February 26 he removed all of his clothes and went skinny dipping at 5:30am that morning.

The Criminal Court said his action violated article 88[a] of the Penal Code.

In February this year, the religious Adhaalath Party complained that tourists had been wearing improper clothing and consuming alcohol on Hulhumale’ beach in public, and that the area was becoming “a place where Maldivian families cannot visit.”

“People who own beach front houses have developed guest houses in the area, and as a result tourists coming to the guest houses have started to use the Hulhumale’ beach they would aresort beach,’’ said the Adhaalath Party in statement. “They have been in the beach wearing clothes that do not properly cover their body, and are swimming likewise.’’

The Adhaalath Party then cited “a reliable source” as claiming that tourists have been “putting up umbrellas and consuming alcohol under them on Hulhumale’ beach.”

Signs warning visitors not to wear bikinis have since been erected.

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Fisheries ministry accepts need for regional collaboration in changing marketplace

Maldivian authorities say they are ready to join the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) despite initial reluctance, as a changing agricultural situation within local waters requires a more active role in outlining possible quotas and regulations.

Hussain Rasheed Hassan, Minister of State for Fisheries and Agriculture told Minivan News that with the Maldives currently responsible for fishing between a quarter to a fifth of the Indian Ocean’s skipjack tuna catch, the country was now waiting for parliamentary approval to join the tuna commission, which serves as an intergovernmental agricultural organisation.

Having spent two years collaborating with the IOTC regarding possible membership into the group, Hassan claimed that the move was not in contradiction to planned aims of selling more sustainable fish supplies or outlawing harvesting species such as sharks. Instead he claimed it reflected wider aims to work under guidelines set out in an EU initiative to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).

“In the past, we have been very reluctant to become a member of the IOTC, I guess for a number of reasons,” he said. “One [reason] is that we were afraid that by becoming a member, the IOTC will dictate how much fish [the Maldives] can harvest.

As a major stakeholder in supplying skipjack tuna from the Indian Ocean, the state minister claimed that there had in the past been fears that becoming a full IOTC would allow other to enforce quotas on the size of the Maldives’ catch of the fish leading to some hesitation by government in acting in this way.

However, Hassan claimed that the situation has changed very much of late in regards to capturing Indian Ocean tuna, particularly in terms of species such as yellowfin that he said were considered to be at stake throughout the region.

“Our hand line fishermen are targeting these fish. But in the Indian Ocean as a whole, these species are considered overexploited. There was talk that we should have a fish quota for that and we want to be included in these discussions and decision making,” he said. “If we are outside this process we will not be able to say what we want and we will not be able to influence the decision making process of the IOTC. That is not a very good position for the Maldives.”

Hassan claimed that the obtaining membership to the IOTC was also a key requirement of meeting the European IUU regulations, which he said were being sought by major import markets for tuna like the EU and demand cooperation with regional fisheries management organisations.

“It is a market demand really. A lot of our buyers are telling us that we are a major player and should become a member of the IOTC,” he added. “They want us to ensure management measures are put in place and they want us to have a more proactive role in the organisation.”

Just last year, the Maldives government had courted threats from some conservation groups that the country’s fisheries faced being boycotted by certain major UK retailers over a decision to adopt long line fishing alongside the perceived environmentally friendly, yet lower yield, pole and line methods.

The use of the long line system has itself continued to divide opinion with groups like the Maldives Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claiming last March that there were both “good and bad implications” to adopting the practice.

“It is obvious that long line fishing will definitely catch some un-targeted fishes, like sharks and turtles,” EPA director Ibrahim Naeem said at the time.

By the end of March last year, the Cabinet opted to allow long line fishing of yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna for Maldivian vessels after discussing a paper submitted by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture claiming such a move would improve yields from the fisheries sector, which has worsened significantly since 2006.

Senior Research Officer at the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Hussein Sinan, said at the time that long line fishing was “far better for targeting yellowfin and bigeye tuna.”

Hassan claimed that a key interest of the government in looking to long line methods was to try and ensure that the 15,000 to 16,000 people estimated to be employed directly within the fisheries sector remained employed.  The state minister added that it was therefore vital to ensure that effective management was put in place around the region to ensure sustainable prospects for fishing.

“We have been a pole and line fishing nation for at least a thousand years, so we cannot afford to give up our interest in this fishing and our culture. So we have got to maintain this for the foreseeable future,” he said. “Unless we can provide alternative and better employment opportunities for people we must remain a significant fishing nation.”

In order to provide the best price from fishermen, Hassan said that adding value to fish being caught in the country was not just linked to processing, but also in the quality of the produce from the way it has been caught.

“There may be an environmental value that you can add to it. I believe that having a sustainable pole and line fishery we are adding value [to the sector],” he said. “There is a huge demand for pole and line fish in the European market, especially the UK. For canned tuna there is a huge demand for pole and line fish and the reason is that the UK buyers have seen how sustainable and environmentally friendly the way we are catching it is. It is small scale and has very insignificant impact on the environment.”

Hassan said that although the government was limited in the amount of financial support it could offer fishermen to help try and manage more sustainable and added value fishing, the Maldives was at the same time working to introduce long line fishing through licensing agreements.

According to the state minister, these agreements have already led to foreign long line fishing in the Maldives being stopped last April.

While Hassan said that there was after this point no legal foreign fishing using long line methods in the country, he added there had also been a loss of opportunity for local business, where fish was being caught on licence and then processed and exported.

“What we are trying to do – and it is in the government manifesto – is to try and encourage the private sector to establish a local long line fleet. So the government is not buying vessels and supplying them, but we are encouraging private parties to acquire oats and start a long line operation,” he said.

Foreigners would therefore continue to be allowed to work on fishing vessels in the country under contract, but the boats themselves would required to be Maldivian owned and managed.

As part of this wider long line pledge, Hassan claimed that authorities were calling on a number of measures to try and prevent creatures that are not allowed to be caught and harvested such as sharks being taken from the seas by accident.

The state minister said that long line fishermen were purposefully being made to aim below 60 metres under the water where sharks and other outlawed creatures were not so abundant and would ensure that the practices were being monitored as required under international standards.

“We are very confident that this will mitigate the by catch issues and we will change regulations if necisary based on the outcomes and results of our long line fishing,” he said. “we are a relatively resource poor country. There is a huge potential under the [60 metre] thermaclime, which is yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna that right now we are not targeting through hand and line fishing.”

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Criminal Court sentences Kinanath for possession of “self defense” knife

The Criminal Court has sentenced Kinanath Ahmed (King, Tug) of Henveiru Loby to one year imprisonment after the court found him guilty of possession of a sharp weapon in public.

Police were informed on January 13 that a person in possession of a knife was near the Finance Ministry. During a police patrol of the area, Kinanath was found in front of Abvillage in Mahchangolhi ward carrying a foot-long knife, according to the Criminal Court.

The Criminal Court said police then handcuffed and took Kinanath to Atholhuvehi police custodial and searched his person, finding the sheath for a bayonet underneath his t-shirt. When police searched Kinanath’s vehicle they discovered an eight-inch knife underneath the seat.

The Court said Kinanath had confessed to the ownership of one of the knives, and had told police that he used it for self defense.

Recently enacted laws prohibiting gang violence and possession of weapons does not allow for the use of weapons in self-defense, the Criminal Court noted.

Police have recently listed Kinanath as one of the most dangerous gangsters in Male’, and have warned that these persons were threats to society.

Police also said that Kinanath had been arrested 15 times on different charge, and had four cases pending in the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Kinanath is a member of the ‘Masodi’ gang, according to police.

Along with Kinanath, Inspector Abdulla Nawaz revealed the names of Asil Ismail, H. Agi, arrested ten times; Mohamed Sufyan, Gaaf Alif Gahdoo, arrested six times; Maadhih Mohamed, Laamu Gan, arrested seven times; Mohamed Rimah, Seenu Maradhoo, arrested 19 times; Ibrahim Ihusan Rasheed, Gaaf Dhaal Vaadhoo, arrested eight times; and Athif Rasheed, Ma. Scenery View, arrested ten times.

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MDP VP candidate Alhan Fahmy pulls out of tonight’s debate

Tonight’s debate between candidates for the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) vice-presidency has been cancelled after MP Alhan Fahmy decided to boycott the event alleging undue influence.

According to the MDP website, the debate was canceled after Alhan sent a letter to Chairwoman Mariya Didi raising “issues” with the advertised debate.

MDP Secretary General Ahmed Shah said that although there were three candidates including Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam and Hussein Adam [Adambe], the latter has “showed no interest” in either the debate or campaigning for the post.

However the debate between contenders for the party’s top post – Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussein Zaki and former Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi – is set to go ahead as planned.

Meanwhile in his letter of protest, Alhan wrote that he did not wish to publicly reveal his objections to the debate as disunity or discord within the party was not his intention, adding that he did not want members to lose confidence in a cabinet minister.

Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam did not respond to Minivan News at time of press while Alhan was in a meeting and unavailable for a comment.

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