Tag: maldives

Mahlouf resubmits resolution cutting Rf20K committee allowance, after MDP forces Mariya to withdraw it

MDP MP and Party Chairperson Maryia Ahmed Didi today withdrew a resolution to cut the controversial Rf20,000 (US$1550) committee allowance from the MP Privileges Bill.

Mariya told Minivan News today that she withdrew the resolution following a vote by the MDP Parliamentary Group.

“I was not at that meeting,” she said, “but I bowed to the party’s rules and took it out. However I told parliament that I did not want the Rf20,000 committee allowance myself and urged group members not to take the committee allowance. That got a good reaction from quite a few MPs.”

Mariya acknowledged that there was strong public sentiment against MPs receiving the committee allowance, including among the party’s own member base, which on top of their Rf 62,500 (US$4860) salaries would place Maldivian MP income on par with that of Sweden.

“The Rf 20,000 committee allowance was in the small print of a report from the monetary committee on the salary of all institutions,” Mariya noted.

Leader of MDP Parliamentary Group ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik was not responding to calls at time of press.

Following Mariya’s withdrawal of the resolution opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf resubmitted it.

“I was the first one to raise it before Mariya, but the Speaker [DRP MP] Abdulla Shahid went with Mariya’s changes, perhaps because of the factional fight [the opposition] is having. When Mariya withdrew it today I resubmitted it.”

Mahlouf’s submission means the resolution will go to committee stage which will debate the matter before submitting it to the floor for a vote.

Increasing MP salaries by Rf 20,000 would be a huge blow to parliament’s credibility, Mahlouf said, “as the public do not believe we are working to their expectations.”

He said he believed Mariya had been pressured by the MDP Parliamentary Group to withdraw the resolution.

“I decided this by myself. Nobody pressures me any more because I don’t follow DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen in parliament,” said Mahlouf, who has sided with the party’s dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and its Honorary Leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, against Thasmeen’s faction.

The core issue regarding the salary increase, he explained, was the number of people petitioning MPs for money and assistance. This, he said, was the reason he had initially voted in favour in favour of the increase.

It was, he said, “very normal” for him to give away US$2000 (Rf 25,700) of his salary every month, “not only to constituents, but people from other parts of the country. People who are very poor come forward and ask me to please help them, and get very mad at me if I don’t.”

“At first I voted in favour [of the increase] because so many people were coming to me for help. This was something that was done for a long time back, and people now expect aid from parliamentarians. I was not a rich person before I was elected and I can’t give all my salary away, so that was the main reason I voted [in favour]. But maybe the next time somebody asks I can [justify] myself. When the general public are asking us not to do this, we should stop doing it.”

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CSC says Shakir retirement not linked to Facebook sex photo scandal

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has said that its decision to retire a former Director General of Male’ Municipality on his request was not linked to his suspension over a police investigation into his alleged appearance in the Facebook blackmail images.

CSC Director General Abdulla Saeed said that despite the suspension of Adam Shakir in relation to his alleged inclusion in graphic images obtained by a suspected online blackmail ring, the decision had been taken to grant his retirement and all related benefits as he had not been found guilty.

“Shakir requested to the commission (CSC) that he retire at his current age of 58 and according to the Maldivian Civil Service Act he was eligible to do so,” he said. “When the CSC got the request we decided to retire him.”

The Director General position at Male’ Municipality has since been changed to the title of secretariat for Male’ City Council.

Pointing to the Civil Service Act that outlines regulation for public sector employees, Saeed said that it was possible to retire staff once they reached 55 years of age. He added that Shakir’s suspension in relation to an ongoing police investigation had not impacted on this decision to grant retirement or his right to receive benefits as a result.

A number of high profile government and public figures are reportedly suspected of being depicted in the images already thought to be circulating the internet, although the CSC claimed it would not be acting on allegations alone.

“There is no relation between the suspension and the retirement decision. Shakir was suspended on information we had received but this has not gone to court yet and does not mean that he is guilty [of the allegations],” the CSC director general added. “Normally after a police investigation, it is for the court to decide whether a suspect is guilty.”

Newspaper Haveeru yesterday claimed that retirement had been granted on the grounds of the suspended civil servant’s health.

Although the investigation over the legitimacy of the alleged indecent images was continuing, Saeed said that Shakir was no longer a civil servant following his retirement and that there would not be a review of the decision to grant retirement benefits following the outcome of any potential trial in the future.

Blackmail investigation

The investigation into the alleged Facebook blackmail scandal has not yet led to any arrests regarding those alleged to have obtained or appeared in the images, though police have stressed that they are continuing to look into the case.

Police Sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today that officers were unable to confirm the identity of any individuals under investigation on suspicion of involvement or inclusion in the videos and images due to the “complex nature” of the potential crimes. However, Shiyam confirmed that the CSC has sent information to the police that is was currently looking into as part of its investigations.

On Saturday, the Maldives Police Service confirmed that it was now holding four individuals in custody over their suspected involvement in the alleged plot to blackmail high profile figures with graphic images obtained via social network site Facebook after releasing another three suspects as part of its investigation.

The case first came to light in February, when police revealed that 14 individuals including a minor had been arrested on suspicion of obtaining hundreds of nude pictures and videos that were stored on computers and external hard drives. It was alleged that these images had been obtained through fake Facebook profiles that used the identical image of a young woman.

Police said at the time that two profiles with the names of ‘Lyshiaa Limanom’ and ‘Angelic Sharrown’ respectively were used by the suspects to gather files of individuals pictured in some cases performing explicit acts in the presence of minors. Investigators stated that they would also be investigating people pictured in the files to verify if any crimes had actually been committed within the images themselves.

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Maldives dismisses Gaddafi’s government as illegitimate, backs rebels

The President’s Office has issued a statement refuting the legitimacy of the Libyan government, and recognising the rebels as the country’s official representatives.

“The Maldives has decided to recognise the Libyan National Transition Council (LNTC) as the sole legitimate representative body of the Libyan people,” the President’s Office said.

The decision followed Qatar’s decision on March 28 to recognise the LNTC, a body given legitimacy on March 10 by France following a meeting with rebel leaders in Paris.

“The Maldives will always support people who stand up against human rights violations,” said President Nasheed. “The Libyan National Transition Council has become the sole legitimate representative of Libya and its people.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem said that Muammar Gaddafi’s government had lost legitimacy through “gross and systemic human rights violations, which appear to amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The rebel advances made in the wake of NATO airstrikes after Gaddafi’s tank columns came within miles of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have stalled. Both sides have entered a push-pull statemate over key towns such as Brega

Al Jazeera journalist Hoda Abdel-Hamid, present in Ajdabiya, reported that the rebels were only advancing when Gaddafi’s forces retreated and lacked the discipline to hold ground when pushed back, or coordinate with NATO.

In once instance of friendly-fire, rebels confessed that an air-strike that killed 13 fighters near Brega on Sunday was triggered during a celebratory firing of an anti-aircraft gun while NATO aircraft were operating in the area.

“If you compare where we are today to where we were a few weeks ago, then we are in the exact same position,” Abdel-Hamid said.

Western powers are seeking a diplomatic end to the civil war by persuading Gaddafi to give up his rule of the country, while US President Barack Obama signed an order authorising the use of covert action in Libya, obstentiously providing training and possibly weapons to the rebel fighters.

However Western – and Maldivian – support of the LNTC is likely to be complicated by the complex tribal power struggles in the country once the rebels reach Tripoli.

Veteran war correspondent Robert Fisk, writing for the UK’s Independent newspaper, previously observed that the West has largely ignored that the powerful tribal group leading the rebellion in Libya, the Senoussi, were overthrown in 1969 when Gaddafi deposed their King Idris, and the red, black and green ‘rebel’ flag – the old flag of pre-revolutionary Libya – is in fact the Idris flag, a Senoussi flag.

“Now let’s suppose [the rebels] get to Tripoli. Are they going to be welcomed there? Yes, there were protests in the capital, but many of those brave demonstrators themselves originally came from Benghazi. What will Gaddafi’s supporters do? ‘Melt away’? Suddenly find that they hated Gaddafi after all and join the revolution? Or continue the civil war?”

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Parliament “failing” both constitutional and public expectations, NGO claims

Local NGO Transparency Maldives has said that recent claims by parliamentary speaker Abdulla Shahid that the Majlis has failed to meet the expectations of the public were not critical enough, and that the institution was also failing to meet its constitutional obligations.

The NGO’s comments followed a Minivan News interview with Shahid last week where he praised the Majlis for significantly increasing its work rate and increasing the amount of legislation being passed, despite accepting that it had fallen short of the “high expectations” of a public new to democratic reform in the country.

The speaker said that despite overcoming the challenges created by partisan political interests, official statistics had shown that 42 bills had been passed out of a total of 52 submitted to the Majlis last year compared to 2005, where 17 bills were proposed and only five were completed.

Aiman Rasheed, Projects Coordinator for Transparency Maldives told Minivan News that although it shared some of Shahid’s sentiments that there had been improvements within the effectiveness of the Majlis regarding the amount of legislation passed, the NGO was concerned that parliament had failed to work independently and pass vital bills such as a national Penal Code.

“Shahid is right when he says that parliament has failed to meet public expectations,” he claimed. “It is not just in meeting public expectations that is has failed, but constitutional expectations as well.”

Rasheed said that although parliament was holding the president and the executive accountable for their actions, he believed that there was a failure to review legislation in terms of financial and political impacts before it was being being passed from parliamentary committees back to the Majlis.

Rasheed said that the NGO had spoken with 15 MPs from across a number of political parties including the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) as part of a project called Parliament Watch designed to try and put a spotlights on governance and political decision making. From these discussions, Rasheed claimed that the NGO had uncovered a wide consensus of concerns over parliaments ability to review and research the legislative process.

“All the parliamentarians that we have spoken to said that they believed that the current set up is not sufficient for parliament to meet its constitutional requirements,” he said. “There is no proper system of review mechanisms [within parliament].”

Rasheed said that although there was a common practice to send bills to committee for review, the members were themselves MPs and authorities rarely sought to bring in outside assistance to help in the formation of new legislation.

“New regulations were adopted [by parliament] in May 2010 that would allow for external experts to be brought in to be used to help form legislation on certain uses,” he said. “MPs could do this. But they don’t.”

Rasheed claimed that independence was definitely an area parliament “could improve on”. Among other notable concerns raised by Transparency Maldives regarding parliament, the NGO project coordinator said that despite having passed a number of important regulations, the Majlis had still failed to prioritise passing vital regulations such as a Penal Code that has remained in parliament for two years.

“There is constant criticism of the judiciary when MPs know that the legal framework is not sufficient for the laws currently going to courts,” he said.

In addition to calling for greater use of independent review mechanisms within the legislative workings of parliament, Rasheed added that Transparency Maldives was preparing to launch the Parliament Watch project that he claimed is aimed at raising scrutiny and try and external assistance for bills in parliament.

“The aim of Parliament Watch will be to try and make sure bills are up to standard by speaking with MPs and the committees that review them and also try to offer assistance from international NGOs to help overcome any difficulties,” he said.

Speaker’s view

Speaker Abdulla Shahid last week accepted that bills such as outlining a clear and clarified Penal Code, as well as an Evidence Bill to outline judicial reform and policing, had been set back by partisan behaviour between rival parties within the Majlis that had potentially created the impression that there was no interest in having such bills passed.

In order to facilitate a faster moving reform of criminal legislation, Shahid claimed that talks had been opened between the various political stakeholders required to finalise any agreements.

“I met with party leaders and also the chair of all the committees yesterday. There is the general desire amongst the leadership to find ways of increasing the productivity rate of the house. We feel even though we continue to do work ahead of what any other parliament had done, still we are far behind in meeting the public’s expectations,” he said. “The reality is that we need to meet these public expectations. The committee chairs have given me an agreement that they will try and finds ways of fast tracking many of the bills, while political parties supplied an agreement that on issues on which they may disagree, they will endeavour to deal with the technical and more mundane bills faster.”

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Authorities investigate arrival of self-proclaimed ‘Messenger of Allah’

The arrival of a Canadian man in the Maldives claiming to be a messenger of Allah was “a false alarm”, said Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam.

”According to information we have received we have been unable to confirm that it is true,” Shiyam said.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the President’s Office was also informed of the man’s arrival.

”The Islamic Ministry requested police investigate the matter,” he said earlier today.

Local media reported that Hussein Iqbal, a Pakistani national who lives in Canada and claims to be a messenger of God, arrived in the Maldives on the invitation of Maldivians who follow him. A group was reportedly scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage.

Ibrahim Fauzy, President of local religious NGO the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM), told Minivan News that there were “hundreds” of Maldivians who followed Iqbal.

”I met last night with some of his followers in Male’,” Fauzy told Minivan News. “I learned that his call first reached the Maldives seven years ago and since then people have been joining him.”

Fauzy said that he also understood that Iqbal preached against the Sunnah and Hadith and encouraged his followers to believe solely in the Quran.

”Their original call comes from a person called Khaleefa Rashad who dismissed the Hadith and Sunnah,” Fauzy said.

He said Iqbal and his followers used verse 30 and 31 of the Surah Mudhassir to support their argument and try to convince others they were right.

”They use a mathematical formula and subtract some numbers from 19, and claim that the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was the last Prophet but not last messenger,” he said.

Verse 30 of the Surah Mudhassir reads ”over it are nineteen” and 31 reads ”And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers, in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith, and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, “What symbol doth Allah intend by this ?” Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”

Fauzy said that those following Iqbal were only praying three times a day. He also said that one of Iqbal’s followers  had a divorce case pending in the Family Court, contesting that his wife was a disbeliever, “which raises many complicated legal issues.”

Khalifa Rashad was an Egyptian-born, US-educated biochemist who claimed that the Archangel Gabriel had “most assertively” told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Quran referred specifically to him. He was stabbed to death in 1990 at an Islamic school in Arizona and his body drenched in xylol, a flammable printing solvent.

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UN staff in Afghanistan killed by mob in protest over Quran burning by US pastor

Afghanistan has seen its worst violence in months after almost 20 people were killed over the weekend in protests over the burning of the Quran by fundamentalist US pastor Terry Jones.

The dead included seven staff at a UN mission in the normally quiet city of Mazar-i-Sharif, who were killed on Friday when several thousand demonstrators stormed the compound after prayers.

Four Nepalese guards at the entrance were killed while three Europeans from Sweden, Romania and Norway were shot after unsuccessfully attempting to barricade themselves in a secure room. Reports in the UK press claimed that two of the victims were also beheaded, while the third had his throat cut.

AFP meanwhile reported that the Russian head of the UN office survived by speaking in the local dialect and pretending to be Muslim.

Ten protesters were killed in a demonstration the following day in Kandahar, and 53 were injured.

Speaking to Reuters, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the insurgents were involved in the attack on the UN.

“The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims,” Mujahid said. “The foreigners brought the wrath of the Afghans on themselves by burning the Quran.”

Jones, who leads a small congregation in Florida, became the centre of a global media storm in September 2010 after threatening to burn the Quran in opposition to plans to construct an Islamic centre near the former site of the World Trade Centre. He was eventually persuaded to refrain from burning the Quran after phone calls from the US State Department, and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

However on March 20, 2010, receiving little attention from the US media, Jones proceeded with the burning and uploaded the footage to the Internet, with Arabic subtitles.

The Washington Post reported Jones as admitting he had reneged on his promise not to burn the Quran: “If you want to be technical,” he told the newspaper, “I guess we broke our word.”

News of the burning later erupted across Afghanistan after President Hamid Karzai condemned Jones’ burning of the Quran ahead of Friday prayers.

The US is already grappling with the fallout of a recent article in Rolling Stone magazine and German newspaper Der Spiegel, concerning a rogue army unit in Afghanistan accused of killing three Afghan civilians for sport and cutting off their fingers as trophies. Five soldiers have been charged with murder and are being tried in a military court.

In the wake of events this weekend, US President Barack Obama said that “The desecration of any holy text, including the Quran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity.”

The UN’s Envoy to Afghanisatan, Staffan de Mistura, described the burning as an “insane and totally despicable gesture”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile condemned the killing of the UN staff as “an outrageous and cowardly attack which cannot be justified under any circumstances.”

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that in the wake of publicity surrounding the Quran burning Jones’ had been ostracised by his community, his congregation and income had plummeted, and both his Internet service provider and insurance company had cancelled their services.

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Invigilators suspended as police investigate Milandhoo exam fraud

Three exam monitors at Milandhoo School in Shaviyani Atoll have been suspended pending a police investigation into exam fraud, after the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) annulled the grades of students in the latest O’Level maths examination.

CIE markers raised concerns about the similarity of students’ answers in the exam, and a lack of working (mathematics exams typically award partial marks for correct working even if the final answer is incorrect). As a result, the 38 students who sat the exam will receive no grade in the O-Level maths exam.

Milandhoo Council’s President Mohamed Yasir confirmed that police have commenced questioning students that sat the exams.

”Police have declined to provide further information to the council as well, until the investigation is closed,” Yasir said, adding that the three exam invigilators – two aged over 30 and another 23 – were suspended temporarily.

A student who sat for the examinations told local newspaper Haveeru that the students “were tricked as someone changed the contents of the papers [after completion].”

“We can say again and again that we never cheated in the examination. Someone changed the papers after we did the examination.”

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said that the affected students should be able to resit “the next available exam. I don’t think there are any restrictions.”

He said the Education Ministry had pledged to investigate the matter “as thoroughly as possible”, and take action if malpractice was identified.

The investigation was nearly complete, he said: “We are in close contact with CIE and they are waiting for the police report.”

Milandhoo school was ranked second in the Maldives last year in the O’Level exam results. Dr Nazeer said the Ministry did not have suspicions that any alleged exam fraud had been ongoing.

“[CIE] has always commended the Maldives for taking high security precautions when conducting examinations,” he said. As well as staff training, police were present in every exam hall and the safes containing the exam papers only had one key. Further measures, he said, such as the construction of a safe room for the papers, “would be very expensive for the Ministry.”

Former Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy, now the Chancellor of the new Maldives National University, expressed deep concern about the incident and its potential impact on the reputation of the country’s education system.

”If it happened that invigilators assisted the students, or if they are found to be at fault, then it is a much more serious issue,” said Dr Musthafa. ”They are supposed to be setting an example for the students.”

Dr Musthafa also warned that while the incident could shake CIE’s confidence in the Maldives’ conduct of examinations, ”I do not think they would discontinue providing examinations for the Maldives,” he said.

He added that strict actions should be taken against the culprits to avoid a repeat of the incident, which had ultimately impacted the students.

”It is truly a regrettable incident,” he said. ”Cambridge will not take action against the invigilators or school staff, but they can take action against the students.”

Head of Milandhoo School Ahmed Zaheen had not responded to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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Hyatt Hotels enters Maldives resort market

International hospitality group the Hyatt Hotels Corporation has this month entered the Maldives tourist market for the first time with the rebranding of a resort property on Hadahaa Island in Gaafu Alifu Atoll under its name.

The company has said that as of April 1 this year, an affiliate of the company had entered into an agreement with Driftwood Maldives Private Ltd to operate the resort as the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.

According to the resort’s operators, since opening back in 2009 as Alila Villas Hadahaa, the property has the been first destination in the country to work towards Earth Check certification standards that aim to outline more sustainable practices for hospitality groups.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa contains 50 villas replete with private decks, as well as boasting bedrooms with living areas.  The company has claimed that 14 of these properties are also situated directly over the country’s much lauded-waters.

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Bhutanese PM meets with President Nasheed

Visiting Prime Minister of Bhutan Leonchen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley, also the Chairman of SAARC, and President Mohamed Nasheed met last week to discuss the upcoming SAARC summit, as well as further cooperation in tourism and economic development.

Maldives hosting of the SAARC Summit will be the first to be held in the Southern hemisphere. The 16th SAARC Summit was held last year in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Thinley noted that both countries shared many similarities and the hopes and aspirations of both peoples were the same, and that both Bhutan and the Maldives could learn from each others’ experiences.

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