Tag: MDP

Police in row with opposition MP over tweet

Police have accused opposition MP Rozaina Adam of posting a photo of a police officer on Twitter to intimidate security personnel.

Rozaina had accused the officer in question of obstructing her car on Wednesday night while she was heading to the parliament for a committee meeting.

The MDP said in a statement today that police officers had refused to remove a barricade set up near Dharumavantha School to allow Rozaina’s car through.

When one officer tried to let the car pass, another officer insisted that they must seek permission from a superior officer, the party said.

However, he removed the barricade after talking on a handheld transceiver.

Rozaina posted a tweet with a photo of the officer, her account of the incident, and an article from the parliamentary privileges law, urging police to “keep officers near barricades after teaching them the law.”

“If we are stopped on the way to Majlis, police will have the opportunity to stop us on the road until a vote is taken,” she argued.

However, police said a fire evacuation drill was ongoing at a nearby school at the time and said the officer had informed the senior officer in charge that a car will be passing through as the students were preparing to rush out.

Police criticized Rozaina for posting the photo of the officer, saying her intent was to intimidate, undermine public confidence in police, and bring the institution into disrepute.

The MDP said the police statement was symptomatic of the politicisation of the institution and its senior officers, whom it accused of bearing personal animosity towards opposition MPs.

The opposition party advised senior officers against exerting “political influence” over junior officers and against encouraging illegal actions.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Penal code delayed amid opposition MPs’ protest

Parliament has approved a three-month delay for the implementation of the new penal code amid vociferous protests by opposition MPs on the People’s Majlis floor.

The new penal code was ratified a year ago and was due to come into force tomorrow, but the ruling Progressive Party of Madives (PPM) claims more time is needed to raise awareness among the public.

However, both the attorney general and prosecutor general have said there is no reason to delay enforcement. The government has trained some 1,100 individuals including state prosecutors, police officers, customs staff, lawyers and journalists on the new law.

Critics say the existing penal code adopted in 1966 is outdated, draconian and not in line with international human rights conventions the Maldives is signatory to.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) contends that the postponement is a “politically motivated attempt to continue using the current penal code as a means to harass and intimidate the opposition.”

Hundreds of protesters face harsher punishment for ‘disobedience to order,’ a charge MDP argues the government uses to suppress rights to expression and assembly.

While similar offences are included in the new penal code, the punishment for protesters who do not have a criminal record would have been less severe as judges are required to take mitigating factors into consideration under sentencing procedures.

Show of hands

The government-sponsored amendment bill to the penal code was passed with 43 votes in favour and one against at an extraordinary sitting of parliament held today.

Prior to voting, MDP MPs took over the speaker’s chair and the secretariat desk and protested with megaphones and sirens, leaving Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed unable to use the electronic voting system and forcing secretariat staff to vacate their chairs.

In a scuffle between pro-government and opposition MPs, PPM MP Ahmed Assad grabbed and smashed one of the megaphones.

Pro-government MPs meanwhile surrounded Speaker Maseeh as he used a megaphone to ask for a show of hands. The secretary-general walked around the chamber and took the count.

Adhaalath Party MP Anara Naeem voted against the legislation.

MDP MPs have said the voting took place in violation of parliamentary rules as there was disorder in the chamber.

“During this time of increased political opposition to the [Abdulla] Yameen government, the MDP condemns the government’s use of their political majority to cripple the criminal justice system and restrict the rights of all Maldivians,” the party said in a statement.

However, majority leader Ahmed Nihan said former Speaker Abdulla Shahid had called a vote under similar circumstances in 2011, which can be considered a precedent under the standing orders.

Human rights NGO Maldivian Democracy Network has called on President Yameen not to ratify the amendments as the current law “is widely understood as draconian and unreflective of the democratisation process that was introduced to the Maldives through the constitution ratified in August 2008.”

Preparations

Speaking at a symposium about the new penal code yesterday, Attorney General Mohamed Anil said the country should bid farewell to the existing law “without any fear” as it was unsuited to the present day.

Former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem told Minivan News today that 98 percent of police investigators have been provided extensive training as part of preparations for implementing the penal code.

Shameem has been involved in the training as a senior legal consultant at the Legal Sector Resource Centre established by the attorney general’s office with assistance from the UNDP to train and sensitise stakeholders.

A phone application for the penal code was launched yesterday and 12 information papers were published on the penal code website, he added.

Shameem noted that the website features an ‘ask us’ interactive function, marking the first time questions can be posed to experts regarding a Maldivian law.

“So the government is ready. The public are ready as all this information has been provided through the media as well. The documents and phone application are available. We have never been more prepared for a law than this,” he said.

Majority leader Nihan meanwhile told reporters that the PPM parliamentary group did not consult the attorney general’s office before today’s vote.

Nihan said ruling party MPs did not believe the public was adequately prepared, adding that the state broadcaster should show educational television programmes.

Revisions based on issues raised by religious NGOs can also be incorporated during the next three months, he said.

NGO Salaf said today that the new penal code is contrary to the principles of Islamic Sharia.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Police to break up “unauthorised” protests

Police have announced they will break up protests which have not received authorisation in advance, in an apparent attempt to clamp down on daily demonstrations over the jailing of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed.

The opposition said its daily protests would continue, while decrying the move as a violation of the right to peaceful assembly guaranteed in the constitution. A member of the human rights commission also said the police plan was unconstitutional.

Police said last night that regular protests using “unusually loud” sound systems have been disrupting schools, businesses and are not in the public interest.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and allied parties have been holding daily protests throughout the country to demand the release of Nasheed, who was sentenced last month to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges. Protesters in the capital Malé have been marching through the streets every night, often through its main thoroughfare Majedhee Magu and through its narrow alleys.

Police said that demonstrators must apply for authorisation in advance for any “pre-planned” protests , as required by article 13 of the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Act.

The act was passed in 2013 but police have not so far enforced the authorisation requirement, although hundreds of protesters have been arrested on other charges.

Police last night warned they will break up any unauthorized protests after one warning, and will confiscate loud sound systems.

The police announcement was deemed “unconstitutional” by Human Rights Commission member Ahmed Tholal.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Tholal said that freedom to assemble peacefully without permission from the state is a fundamental right granted by article 32 of the constitution.

“They [police] cannot withhold constitutional rights by referring to a provision in the [assembly] act. If there are problems with regards to the provisions in the act, they should address it without limiting constitutional rights,” said Tholal.

Police have arrested over 100 people at recent opposition protests. While some of them have been released without detention, several were barred by the criminal court from going to further protests for 60 days.

Elsewhere, the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure wrote to the MDP on April 1 saying that the ministry would not be able to provide any plot of land for political activity because of the political situation in the country.

However, Minivan News understands that ruling Progressive Party of Maldives will be holding a rally at the artificial beach tonight (April 9).

MDP MP Eva Abdulla described the government actions as an attempt to “harass the opposition by attempting to obstruct peaceful assembly.”

“This is a coordinated attack by the government on our constitutionally stipulated rights to freedom of assembly and yet another example of how far this regime is willing to go in its harassment and persecution of the opposition,” Eva said.

“There is no longer any pretence of the government upholding our laws and our constitution,” she continued.

Minivan News was unable to obtain any comment from the Housing Ministry about the letter at the time of going to press.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President seeks changes to law barring Nasheed from MDP

President Abdulla Yameen has vetoed changes to the prison and parole law that would have stripped ex-president Mohamed Nasheed of his membership and leadership position in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

However, the changes are expected to pass through parliament in an adjusted form that would still bar Nasheed from leading the MDP.

President Yameen reportedly advised parliament to adjust the planned changes so that convicts can remain members of political parties and associations, but did not recommend removing a clause barring them from leadership posts.

Critics of the government believe that clause is aimed specifically at Nasheed, who was jailed last month for 13 years on terrorism charges.

The president returned the bill to parliament for reconsideration yesterday and recommended revisions in light of issues raised by the attorney general, the President’s Office said.

Government-sponsored amendments to the Prisons and Parole Act had been passed on March 30 with 42 ruling coalition MPs voting in favour.

Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism last month over the detention of the criminal court chief judge in January 2012 and jailed for 13 years. The MDP contends that the charges were politically motivated, while the trial was widely criticised by the international community for its apparent lack of due process.

President’s Office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali and Majority Leader Ahmed Nihan were not responding to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Muaz told online news outlet CNM yesterday that the bill was unclear as to whether inmates could remain members of political parties, because of the ambiguous phrasing of the clause.

Muaz said the president believes the clause conflicts with the constitutional right to establish and participate in political parties.

Stripping convicts of political party membership would pose challenges to the Elections Commission in processing membership forms and maintaining registries of political parties, Muaz said.

President Yameen suggested rephrasing the clause to allow convicts to remain members of political parties and private associations, said Muaz, and to exempt detainees who have not been convicted of a crime.

Muaz noted that according to the constitution, fundamental rights and freedoms can only be limited to any extent “only if demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”.

Speaking at a rally last week, MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed claimed Attorney General Mohamed Anil had advised parliament that the amendment was unconstitutional.

The chairman of the committee that was reviewing the legislation – ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP Ibrahim Riza – kept the attorney general’s letter secret from other MPs, Waheed alleged.

Waheed declared that Nasheed remains the party’s leader and its presidential candidate for elections scheduled in 2018.

Voting on the bill meanwhile took place while MDP MPs were protesting inside the parliament chamber.

MDP MP Eva Abdulla told Minivan News at the time that the party would not accept the government using the People’s Majlis as “an extension of its tyranny to strip us of our democratic rights.”

“No amount of backtracking can strip him of the fact he formed the first political party in the country and became its first democratically elected leader. Or the fact that those who vote for this amendment today would not be in a political party if not for the hard work of this man to win them that freedom,” she said.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MDP launches petition for Nasheed release

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has begun collecting signatures on a petition calling for the release of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The party said the petition will be submitted to President Abdulla Yameen, who is empowered by clemency laws and the constitution to grant pardons.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has set up tables outside its main office on Sosun Magu and in the market area in Male’.

The party also plans to send out teams across the country to collect signatures, and a copy of the petition is available on its website.

Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism last month and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The parliament subsequently voted through an amendment to the Prisons and Parole Act that stripped Nasheed of his leadership position in the MDP.

The amendment said inmates could not fill leadership posts in political parties for the period of their incarceration.

Speaking at a rally on Thursday night, MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed claimed Attorney General Mohamed Anil advised parliament that the amendment was unconstitutional.

The chairman of the committee that was reviewing the legislation – ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP Ibrahim Riza – kept the attorney general’s letter secret from other MPs, Waheed alleged.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Opposition anger over release of protest ‘attacker’

A 28-year-old man arrested for disrupting an opposition protest last week will be released tomorrow, sparking outrage among opposition supporters.

Mohamed Nasheed Abdulla, an activist for the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives, was arrested after protesters accused him of charging into a crowd of demonstrators on a motorcycle on April 1 in Malé. He did not cause serious injuries.

The next day the Criminal Court transferred him to house arrest for five days, which is set to expire today.

A spokesperson for the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, Imthiyaz Fahmy, condemned the criminal court’s “double standards”, noting that opposition supporters arrested at protests were frequently detained for ten to 15 days in police custody.

Unlike Abdulla, the opposition supporters are also being released on condition they stay away from protests for a set period of time.

“These people who attack us, they are the dangerous people, not elected MPs,” said Fahmy, in reference to a court’s Friday decision to hold independent MP Ahmed Mahloof in police custody for an extra 15 days.

Mahloof has been held without charge since he was first arrested from a protest on March 25.

Fahmy also accused the police of failing to take action against individuals who he says continue to attack opposition protesters and vandalise speaker systems and trucks used in protests.

Several individuals the opposition say are gangsters have been caught on camera assaulting protesters and journalists and dousing protesters with crude oil and petrol. Some protesters say they have also been threatened with knives.

The police say they have arrested several people, but that only the court has the authority to detain suspects for longer.

Meanwhile, the release of protesters on condition they stay away from demonstrations for a set period has met with criticism from legal experts and the prosecutor general.

“Releasing a person suspected of a crime with conditions other than ensuring the person’s return to the court maybe unconstitutional,” the prosecutor general wrote in a letter to the chief judge of the criminal court.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Soldier to be punished over Facebook support for ex-minister

A soldier who expressed support online for imprisoned former defence minister Mohamed Nazim is to be punished by the army.

Hassan Firaz, stationed in Addu City in the south, on March 26 wrote a Facebook post that went viral, reading: “We are with you, Nazim sir”.

He made the comment, which was widely reproduced on Twitter, after the ex-minister was found guilty of smuggling weapons and sentenced to 11 years in jail.

A source close to Firaz told Minivan News the lance corporal was accused of making political statements and flown to Malé on Saturday.

He now faces demotion or relocation to a remote outpost, the source said.

A spokesperson for the Maldives National Defence Forces declined to comment on “internal matters”.

Nazim, who had served in the army for 25 years and held the post of defence minister for three years, commands widespread support in the army, two soldiers who asked to remain anonymous told Minivan News.

“People are unhappy about what has happened but they are too afraid to speak out,” one of the soldiers said.

The ex-minister’s brother Adam Azim in a tweet on March 29 claimed many police and army officers are loyal to Nazim.

President Abdulla Yameen dismissed Nazim from the cabinet after police discovered a pistol and three bullets at his home during a controversial midnight raid.

The ex-minister says rogue police officers planted the weapons on the orders of tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, a claim the police and Adeeb deny.

Nazim’s family meanwhile said the trial was a conspiracy “in which powerful forces within the Maldivian government have sought to destroy him and thus prevent him from contesting for the leadership of the ruling party.”

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party said Nazim was unfairly sentenced, condemning the Criminal Court’s refusal to call a majority of defence witnesses.

Some nine high-ranking officers were dismissed for “sowing discord within the army” during the political turmoil of the contested presidential polls of 2013, which ended with a victory by president Yameen. Nazim was the defence minister at the time.

Ten aviation security command officers, who also report to the defence ministry, were also dismissed at that time. They were told they were being made redundant because of budgetary constraints.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

IPU to send ‘urgent’ mission over MP death threats, arrests

The Inter-Parliamentary Union will send an urgent mission to the Maldives during the upcoming months to investigate death threats, attacks and arrests of MPs in the country.

The union, which represents parliaments around the world, said they are investigating reports that 30 former and current MPs have been victims of human rights abuses, including one MP who was murdered and another who was stabbed.

After the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly this week in Hanoi, the organization said political polarisation and heightened tensions in the Maldives “necessitated an urgent on-site mission” by the IPU’s human rights wing to gather first-hand information.

“The organisation is deeply concerned by the serious and repeated death threats allegedly made against opposition MPs in the Maldives since last year,” an IPU statement said.

Tensions are high across the country after the conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges this month, with opposition parties holding daily protests.

IPU also called on law enforcement agencies to show restraint, and to abide by international and national human rights laws and standards when handling protests.

Meanwhile, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) complains that the speaker of parliament has been excluding the party from the Maldives’ delegations to IPU.

Mohamed Rasheed, secretary general of the MDP parliamentary group, said the delegation is selected in a “petty” manner without including the main opposition party.

One MDP MP was present in Hanoi, but fellow members of his party said that he was “hand-picked”, whereas in the past, the party has sent two MPs of its choice.

Eva Abdulla, an MDP parliamentarian, has been excluded from recent delegations despite being an elected representative for all female South Asian MPs at the IPU.

Threats

Eva told Minivan News that opposition lawmakers have been receiving death threats “every other day” since the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan last August. Rilwan has still not been found.

She said opposition MPs have been receiving phone calls and text messages, and sometimes stalked.

“We filed complaints at the police and with the Majlis itself. However the speaker has not even condemned the threats in public or privately,” she said.

Threats against opposition parliamentarians have caused the IPU to classify the Maldives as one of the most dangerous countries to be an MP, noted Eva.

Several opposition MPs have been arrested at anti-government protests.

Most recently, MP Ahmed Mahloof, formerly of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, was arrested at a protest last week and detained for five days.

When his detention ended, the criminal court placed him on further five days of house arrest after he refused the court’s condition to not participate in further protests for 60 days.

Similarly, MDP MP Ismail Fayyaz was given 15 days’ detention after he refused to accept release under the same conditions.

Eva said police had been slow to investigate a forced entry into Mahloof’s apartment last month, although they were handed CCTV footage of the incident.

The IPU’s list of Maldivian cases includes that of the late PPM MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, who was murdered outside of his home in October 2012, and the stabbing last year of MP Alhan Fahmy, who narrowly avoided paralysis as a result.

PPM MPs and the speaker of parliament had not responded to requests for comment at the time of going to press.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldivians believe MPs switch parties for corrupt reasons

Most Maldivians are worried that MPs frequently switch parties in parliament because of corruption, a survey has found.

Eighty percent of people see party switching as connected to corruption, a report from Transparency Maldives indicates, showing that floor crossing is perceived to have a negative impact.

Another survey by Transparency last year showed that Maldivians had low levels of confidence in parliament.

In the latest survey, eighty-four percent of respondents said they believe floor crossing happens because money or some sort of gain is offered to parliamentarians in exchange for voting against their own party line or defecting.

Eighty-seven per cent of respondents believe there should be laws that prevent or restrict switching.

Transparency Maldives said that forcing MPs to reveal detailed financial holdings would help.

“The most necessary option is to implement a correct method of asset declaration, not just for the sake of it but in a manner involving detailed financial statements,” Thoriq Hamid, programme manager at Transparency, told reporters.

“There should also be vetting mechanisms for these statements. That is the role of Maldivian institutions like the anti-corruption commission and possibly the auditor general.”

Eighty-one percent said that floor crossing can undermine democracy and weaken the party system.

Transparency will share the report with parliamentarians and other institutions.

Floor crossing is a common occurrence in the Parliament of the Maldives.

The former MP for Feydhoo , Alhan Fahmy, was initially elected as a Dhivehi Rayyinthunge’ Party (DRP) candidate but he switched to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Later on he left them to join the Jumhooree Party (JP) and then again left the JP to rejoin the MDP.

Another such case is Abdulla Abdul Raheem. The MP who has changed parties the most, he was also elected as DRP candidate and left them to join the MDP. However, he again went back to the DRP within 24 hours. In 2012, he made another switch, this time to the JP, and then again signed to the MDP the very next year. He was expelled from the MDP in December 2013.

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives came to power last year with 33 MPs but another 10 joined them from other parties within four months.

These individuals have not been specifically accused of corruption, but they are among many MPs to have switched parties.

Transparency Maldives interviewed 200 randomly selected Maldivians for the survey.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)