Tag: Maumoon abdul gayoom

DRP too small to take to court: Umar Naseer

Vice President of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer has decided to withdraw the case challenging his dismissal from his former party, reports local media.

Naseer told Sun Online that it did not make sense for the VP of the country’s most popular party to take a smaller party to court – the PPM is currently the second largest party in the Majlis and the third largest in the country by membership.

Naseer’s dismissal from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) in 2010 preceded the eventual split of the party. Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s decision to leave the political party – the country’s first – resulted in the creation of the PPM in 2011.

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‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam claims investors have “lost confidence” in the Maldives

MP for Meedhoo constituency Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam told the People’s Majlis that both local and foreign investors had lost confidence in the Maldives, local media reported.

“This is the result of the persons assigned with the people’s posts and money betraying them and acting without any policies or system,” Haveeru quoted Shiyam.

Shiyam argued that increasing embezzlement and corruption  was a major contributor to what he sees as the country’s impending bankruptcy.

“In order to ensure the progress of the country, everyone needs to be sincere and honorable. The members of the Parliament and the government must adore the people,” he said.

Investor confidence has been much discussed as the government continues to oppose the GMR deal to develop the country’s international airport – the country’s largest.

However, the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) last week claimed that the legal wrangling between the government and India-based developer would not harm confidence in the country’s “challenging” investment climate.

Haveeru also reported comments made today by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom  regarding the GMR deal.

Detailing his recent meeting in India with GMR head G M Rao, Gayoom said that he had told Rao that the deal had been signed under dubious circumstances.

“I told him that we have no issues with India or any Indian company. We have issues with the actions of the previous government,” Gayoom is reported to have said.

“The agreement was signed with GMR in violation of the constitution and the laws. The Parliament was not even informed. The Maldivian people are also not aware of the details of the agreement. So these are the issues we have,” he said.

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Maldives ex-dictator back on Delhi radar: Telegraph India

“South Block is tired of ousted Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed’s ‘maverick’ approach and violent street protests, and is busy reviving its three-decade-long ties with former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,” writes Archis Mohan for India’s Telegraph newspaper.

“Events over the past week reflect a decisive shift in India’s approach towards the eight-month-old political crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago since Nasheed’s resignation under pressure in February.

First, India invited Gayoom to New Delhi. The former dictator, who ruled Maldives for 30 years before losing the country’s first multi-party elections in 2008 to Nasheed, discussed the Maldivian political situation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday for nearly an hour.”

Read more

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The Maldives: Mired in presidential intrigue

“In the end, whether it was a coup or not is academic. The chance to reverse the situation is long gone. Waheed’s government is established,” writes Will Jordan for Al Jazeera.

“But there are two other questions. Was there a conspiracy to cripple Nasheed’s government? And did Gayoom have a hand in bringing Nasheed down?

The evidence is circumstantial.

It centres on what the Danish experts describe as ‘a highly unorthodox meeting’ at the end of January between then Deputy President Waheed and the opposition leaders. Afterwards, opposition figures pledged their allegiance to Waheed.

Two key players in Nasheed’s downfall have also received senior posts. Mohamed Nazim is Defence Minister. Abdulla Riyaz is Minister for State and Home Affairs. They both watched as Nasheed signed his resignation.

Waheed was also fast to reshuffle his government, promoting Gayoom’s son and daughter to the foreign and fisheries ministries respectively.”

Read more.

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Gayoom welcomes prospect of President Waheed standing in PPM primary

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said yesterday that he had not ruled out the possibility of current President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan standing in the next general election as a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate.

“The president, or anyone else, can join PPM if they want, and if they win the [party’s] primary, they will become our presidential candidate,” Gayoom was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

When questioned on elections by Indian newspaper The Hindu during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, President Waheed himself said he was “contemplating” running for “a second term” in office after coming to power in February.  He added at the time that a final decision on the matter would be taken over the next few months.

Waheed is currently leader of the Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP), which has no representation in either the People’ Majlis or local councils and just 898 registered members, according to the latest figures from the Elections Commission (EC).

By comparison, the PPM has 17,298 members with another 1,233 membership forms awaiting processing. The PPM is the minority leading party in the People’s Majlis.  PPM spokesman Ahmed Mahlouf was not responding to calls at the time of press regarding Gayoom’s comments.

Under parliamentary rules of procedure, bills to raise or lower taxes and import duties can only be submitted on behalf of the government by an MP of the president’s party.

The GIP has not been invited to this week’s inter-party talks, which seek to reach consensus on how to proceed following the release of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report on August 30.

President’s Spokesman Masood Imad has said that Waheed will appear at the talks, but in his capacity as leader of the country rather than leader of his party.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Faiz, Deputy CEO of Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) and a GIP council member, told Minivan News today that Waheed’s decision regarding his party affiliation was his own to make.

When asked whether he would follow Waheed to the PPM, should he join the party, Faiz responded:

“I am a supporter of Waheed as an individual. My political path will follow any route Waheed’s career takes.”

When speaking with reporters before leaving for India last night, Gayoom is reported as saying that he had yet to rule out his own candidacy for the PPM primary, for which no date has yet been set.

Back in May, the PPM’s Deputy Leader Umar Naseer said that, although anyone could contest the PPM primaries, he did not expect Waheed to stand for a second term. He added that he would back Gayoom should he decide to stand for the nomination.

The former President of 30 years, Gayoom retired from active politics in 2010, becoming Honorary Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) – the party he founded to contest the country’s first multi-party presidential elections in 2008.

However, after losing the election to Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), divisions within the DRP led Gayoom to form a breakaway party – the PPM.

Following the controversial resignation of Nasheed in February this year – which resulted in former Vice President Waheed taking up the presidency – the MDP have campaigned relentlessly for early elections.

President Waheed maintains that he is bound by the constitution, which mandates that polls be held no earlier than July 2013, as well as stating repeatedly his belief that further legislation is needed to prepare the country for fresh elections.

“We do not have a legal frame work for a coalition government. And, unless we put these basic building blocks of legislation in place, we will face the same problems again,” he told The Hindu last week.

“What’s the point of having an election if you haven’t solved some of these problems?” he asked.

Both the EU and the Commonwealth have urged the current government to schedule elections for this year, although Waheed has expressed his opinion that these institutions have now changed tack.

“Those who have been demanding early elections before the end of the year now realise that it was premature…We have a Constitution. I will uphold that Constitution,” he told The Hindu.

Back in April, the US government pledged US$500,000 (MVR7.7 million) for an elections programme to assist Maldivian institutions in ensuring a free and fair presidential election.

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PPM to propose removing Nasheed nominee from CNI

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has said that it will propose removing Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed from the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) after the nominee of former President Mohamed Nasheed publicly criticised the commission’s draft report yesterday.

Speaking at press conference today, Fonadhoo MP and PPM interim council member, Abdul Raheem Abdulla, condemned Saeed’s remarks as “a serious betrayal of the people and the government” and said that the party planned to send a letter to President Mohamed Waheed requesting his “immediate removal”.

“We believe that it is completely unacceptable for a person on such a commission to give interviews publicly about the report before the final outcome or report is released,” he said.

In a brief statement to media outside Muleeage yesterday, Saeed said that the draft report presented to the commission by co-chair G P Selvam, a retired Singaporean judge, “somewhat refutes or denies what we Maldivians saw and experienced” on February 7, when former President Nasheed resigned after elements of the police and army assaulted civilians, ransacked MDP Haruge (meeting hall) and mutinied at the Republic Square.

“February 7, 2012 was a day that shocked Maldivians – a day when the Maldivian government was changed in a sudden confusion. Now, however, the report that Judge Selvam has written and brought is a draft that somewhat refutes or denies what we Maldivians saw and experienced – or a draft that somewhat confuses things, the way it is now,” Saeed explained.

“While this is happening, for me to stay here, at Muleeage, would I believe be a betrayal of my country and the Maldivian people. I see the draft report as having been written without considering the witness testimony of many, many people to CNI as well as the many scenes we saw.”

Saeed added that he would continue efforts to “include my concerns” in the final report.

In the wake of Saeed’s media statement, government spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza argued in local media that Saeed had violated the agreement with the Commonwealth concerning the reconstituted CNI.

“The Commonwealth agreement Nasheed signed states that a Singaporean Judge will reside in CNI. No one must interfere with the work of the commission and also states that everyone must accept the findings of the commission. But the representative from Nasheed sharing the draft report with the public is an indication that Nasheed does not respect any agreement,” Abbas was quoted as saying in newspaper Haveeru.

Meanwhile, speaking at a PPM rally Saturday night, former President Gayoom assured supporters that there was “no cause for concern” over the CNI outcome.

CNI members were “reputable people with high integrity,” Gayoom said, adding that the report would not contain “anything but the truth.”

However, immediately after giving a statement to CNI on July 30, Gayoom had said he would not accept that Nasheed’s government was toppled in a coup d’etat even if the commission came to that conclusion.

Reconstituted CNI

The first three-member CNI panel was appointed by President Mohamed Waheed to investigate the circumstances that brought him to office with former President Gayoom’s one-time Defence Minister, Ismail Shafeeu, serving as chair.

Facing pressure from the Commonwealth and civil society NGOs regarding the commission’s lack of independence and impartiality, the government eventually agreed to reform the CNI to include a retired Singaporean judge and a nominee from Nasheed.

Nasheed’s representative, Saeed, who was formerly both Principal of ‘Ahmadiyya School’ and Deputy Principal of the British College of Sri Lanka was finally accepted after the government of President Waheed rejected almost 11 names Nasheed proposed to the commission.

In a statement welcoming the government’s acceptance of Nasheed’s nomination of Saeed, Commonwealth Special Envoy to Maldives Sir Donald McKinnon expressed satisfaction with “the resolution on the issue of Mr Nasheed’s nominee.”

“Now that we have agreement on the reconstituted Commission, I look forward to it starting its work and carrying out its important mandate. I hope also that with its enhanced terms of reference and revised composition, the Commission will be a more broadly acceptable mechanism and will allow the country to move forward,” the statement read.

Following Saeed’s criticism of the draft report, the formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) convened an emergency meeting of the party’s National Council and passed a resolution expressing concern in line with Saeed’s reservations.

The resolution stated that the CNI report must be compiled in accordance with the agreement signed between the government and the Commonwealth, which stipulated that instead of relying solely on witness statements, the commission would also accept photos, videos, audios, personal bank statements and phone recordings as evidence.

However, at a press conference on August 2, commission members revealed “difficulties in getting the phone recordings” from the Telecommunications Authority of Maldives (TAM).

Meanwhile, according to local media reports, retired Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi attended the commission at 4:30pm yesterday to provide his statement on February 7, two days before the final report is due to be shared with the authorities.

Didi, who resigned in July, was the Male’ Area Commander of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) at the time of President Nasheed’s resignation.

Prior to attending the commission, Didi told private broadcaster Raajje TV that he had been awaiting an invitation to testify before CNI.

While he did not wish to discuss the events leading up to President Nasheed’s resignation, Didi said “I know how it happened very well. I don’t think there would be any other officer who would know what happened in Male’ on the 6th and 7th [of February] better than I. But I am not ready to share it with the media.”

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MDP to hold mass rally ahead of CNI report, but will “accept findings”

The steering committee of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has decided to stage a mass rally before the publication of the Commission of National Inquiry’s (CNI) report, but has also committed to accepting the commission’s conclusion should it find there was no illegal activity involved in the ousting of former President Mohamed Nasheed on February 7.

A successful resolution proposed that should the CNI conclude February’s transfer of power was illegal, former members of the government should be reinstated, early elections scheduled, and legal proceedings initiated against those implicated.

However, should the CNI conclude that there was no coup in February, the steering committee decided it would wait for constitutionally scheduled presidential elections in 2013.

Deputy Leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer has responded to the MDP’s “amusing” proposals by stating his party’s intention to take the matter to the Supreme Court should the CNI’s findings indict the current government.

Local paper Haveeru reported on August 2 that Naseer, after refusing to testify a second time before the CNI, had argued the reconstituted commission represented an attempt by “foreigners to enter into the country’s internal affairs through the backdoor”.

Following his own statement to the committee last month, the interim leader of the PPM and former President Maumoon Adbul Gayoom told the press that he would not accept that the ousting of Nasheed amounted to a coup, regardless of the CNI’s findings.

Current President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, during an interview with the BBC in June, stated his belief that he would not feel compelled to resign if he was found to have played no role in any alleged coup.

“If [the commission] find out that I had a role in bringing about a coup, then I would definitely resign,” he said. “But if I have no role – if somebody else has done it – it doesn’t mean I have to resign, according to the law of the Maldives.”

In the interview, Waheed argued that premature elections would be far more harmful to the country than his continuing presence in the President’s Office.

The CNI, originally created in February by presidential decree to investigate the events leading up to and including Nasheed’s resignation, was reconstituted in June following concerns, both domestic and international, that the committee lacked independence and impartiality.

The revised commission includes the addition of a Nasheed nominee as well as a retired Singaporean judge as co-chair.

Calm before the storm?

Last week, the MDP announced its decision to suspend its ‘direct action’ protests for the remainder of the Ramazan period in order to foster an atmosphere in which inter-party dialogue might progress.

Prior to this, the party had intensified its anti-government campaign during July, spending consecutive nights demonstrating on Chaandanhee Magu near the political and military headquarters of the capital, Male’.

The concurrent raising of tension in Male’ brought clashes between police and protesters. Injuries on both sides of the barricades brought claim and counter claim of police brutality and violent protests.

High-level parliament-initiated talks were scheduled to take place yesterday morning but appeared to stall after a number of senior party figures failed to attend.

There was apparent confusion regarding the aims of yesterday’s meetings. Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim told local media that the meeting was “meaningless” unless the issue of resuming Majlis sittings was discussed.

The Majlis has not met since the end of July following Speaker Abdulla Shahid’s decision to suspend sittings owing to escalating tensions in the house.

Alternatively, the MDP’s representative at the meeting left the President’s Office yesterday speaking of early elections and the course of action to be taken after the CNI report’s publication.

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“Military counter-coup would be silly,” Nasheed tells US Institute of Peace

Former President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday spoke at the United State Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington DC.

Nasheed spoke on the current political situation in the Maldives as well as the importance of non-violent protest, before taking questions from the audience.

“People loyal to me in the military are talking to me about a counter-coup – I say, ‘Don’t be silly’. We must have early elections soon,” Nasheed said.

When asked about how, if elected, he would avoid problems similar to those that led to his resignation, Nasheed replied: “I will be naive again and will continue to be naive. A purge of police and military may bring some satisfaction but that won’t help us build a better society.”

In an interview given by Nasheed to Time magazine in April, Nasheed explained his commitment to national reconciliation following his 2008 election victory.

“We didn’t want to go on a witch hunt. We didn’t want to purge the military, we didn’t want to purge the police,” he said.

“The lesson is we didn’t deal with Gayoom. That’s the obvious lesson. And my romantic ideas of how to deal with a dictator were wrong. I will agree with that,” he continued, before arguing that the answer was greater international assistance in reforming vital state institutions.

He drew comparisons between former President Gayoom and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying that the pair schooled together and shared the same Baathist ideology.

The USIP is an independent conflict management centre created by the US Congress to study non-violent approaches to conflict resolution.

Before his speech, Nasheed was introduced by the USIP President Dr Richard Soloman, former member of the US National Security Council and former Ambassador to the Phillipines.

Dr Soloman revealed that, whilst in the US, Nasheed would be receiving a James Lawson Award for Nonviolent Achievement at the Fletcher Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict.

The annual event, organised by the International Centre on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), will be hosted by Tufts University in Massachusetts.

The James Lawson Award is named after a leading activist in the American civil rights movement who is best known for devising the Nashville lunch-counter sit ins of the 1960s.

The MDP today released further details of Nasheed’s US visit which has included a briefing given to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a follow up meeting with the  Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia Committee on Foreign Affairs after it sent a team to the Maldives earlier in the year.

Nasheed is also said to have met with State Department Assistant Secretary Robert Blake as well as briefing the International Republic Institute on the political situation in the Maldives.

Nasheed’s speech, given after a short clip of The Island President film was shown, recounted his country’s path to democracy, his torture under the former president, and his efforts to convince Maldivians of the importance of basic freedoms as a way to a better life.

The documentary culminated in Nasheed’s negotiations at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit – negotiations which Nasheed felt were telling in the international community’s response to the new government.

“All those who did not like us in Copenhagen have recognised the regime in Male’. Those who liked us in Copenhagen have not. That’s a fact,” said Nasheed.

The summit resulted in an accord providing $30 billion in short term loans for climate change adaptation, ten percent of which was earmarked for small island and developing nations.

Six countries, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tuvalu opposed the accord.

He spoke of early elections, expressing his bewilderment at the suggestions by certain governments that the Maldives is not ready for fresh presidential elections.

“It doesn’t matter who wins. We don’t want to topple a government, we want an election,” said Nasheed.

“Give us an election and let’s see who wins,” he continued.

Nasheed spoke about the danger of religious extremism under restrictive governments.

“When societies are suppressed, underground movements become far more common. Religious extremists are far more effective at organising themselves underground. The Quran is their manifesto so they are much stronger in suppressed societies,” he said.

Nasheed was also asked about the current President Waheed’s announcement that the Maldives was to become the world’s largest marine reserve.

““I was advised that a reserve would not be a good idea. But we don’t fish for sharks, we don’t purse seine – Maldives is a marine reserve anyway,” he replied.

Nasheed finished his speech with a resolute tone.

“We will give a good fight and hopefully we will win it again. The story is not over. This is a process and it will never end.”

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Pro-government parties exclude DRP from new joint-parliamentary group

Dhivehi Rayithuge Party (DRP) Spokesman Ibrahim Shareef has emphasised that his party had never signed up to any official coalition agreement, after local media reported the formation of a pro-government Joint Parliamentary Group (JPG) excluding his party.

“There has been a slight confusion. No coalition agreement was signed – we are part of a national unity government after having accepted an invitation from President Mohamed Waheed Hassan,” explained Shareef.

“We will support the government in matters that are in the best interest of the nation, rather than of other parties,” he added.

The JPG has been reported as including members of all pro-government parties, with the more prominent positions going to members of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP).

DQP MP Riyaz Rasheed told local newspaper Haveeru that the PPM, the Majlis’s minority leader, will now hold its parliamentary group meetings in conjunction with these other members.

Minivan News was unable to find a PPM member available for comment at the time of press.

Haveeru reported that, when asked why the DRP had not been invited to join the group, Rasheed answered that it was because they had joined the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

“Why invite them to join us. They vote against the government on matters submitted to the parliament against the government. They had and still are conspiring with MDP,” Haveeru quoted Rasheed.

The MDP, the former ruling party, still holds 31 of 77 seats in the Majlis, although it has suffered from a number of defections in recent months. The DRP currently holds 15 seats, while the PPM has 18.

Last weekend, it was reported that MDP MP for Maradhoo constituency, Hassan Adil, was also reconsidering his membership.

The remainder of the seats in the Majlis belong to members of Waheed’s unity government.

Shareef told Minivan News that the JPG was nothing new and had existed prior to the formation of the unity government, stating that the parties concerned were just “twisting” old things to court controversy.

“Riyaz is there to take advantage of being the only DQP member in the parliament, although he acts more like a PPM member. He is a man on his own and we are not worried about his antics,” said Shareef.

Riyaz, whom Shareef described as a “cartoon character”, last week declared his party’s coalition with the DRP to be over, baulking at what he felt was DRP support for a controversial MDP motion in the house.

The motion in question – a debate on police brutality – brought such strong protests in the chamber that the session was prematurely ended.

A DQP statement the next day called on all parties to refrain from actions which might “encourage the efforts of former President Mohamed Nasheed… to bring the two oldest institutions of the country into disrepute and cause loss of public confidence [in the police and military].”

The number of parties in the Majlis may be set to expand after former DRP deputy leader and MP for Meedhoo constituency Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam officially registered his intention to form his own party with the Elections Commission (EC).

The party, to be called the Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA), obtained the signatures of 50 people in support of the party and will be given nine months to gain 3000 members.

Vice President of the EC Ahmed Fayaz confirmed that the new party had received a permit, stating that Shiyam’s signature on the list was accompanied by fellow independent MP Ahmed Amir.

Shiyam was not responding to calls at the time of press.

Shareef admitted that Shiyam’s party would inevitably draw DRP members from his constituency.

“There is no doubt we will lose some members,” he said.

“But we have the wherewithal to withstand all these challenges. Once we are established and have earned peoples trust we will overcome these differences,” he added.

Referring to the DRP’s 2011 split with the PPM, led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Shareef concluded: “We survived Gayoom and Shiyam is no bigger a threat.”

Regardless of this new competition, the DRPs parliamentary numbers are set to be reduced after Maafannu-West MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem announced his intention to leave the party, for the second time, earlier this month.

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