Tag: MDP

Vaikaradhoo Council blocks Sheikh Ilyas’s ‘young women only’ sermon

Vaikaradhoo Island Council has denied permission to prominent Adhaalath Party scholar Sheikh Ilyas Hussain to conduct a sermon on the island, exclusively for “young girls between the ages of 18-30’’.

The sermon was due to be held on the island today, according to Island Council President Ahmed Waheed.

Speaking to Minivan News, Waheed said that the council’s decision was made “in the best interest of the islanders”. The council had decided that  if Sheikh Ilyas was to preach on the island it might “disrupt the island’s peace and create unrest.”

“It is the responsibility of the council to control any unrest as we do not have any police on the island, and we are certain that we could not control the unrest that might be created if Sheikh Ilyas is allowed to preach here,” Waheed said.

“The sermon is to be held as a part of a religious workshop currently going on in the island for females, and is only for young women aged 18-30 – no men are allowed inside,’’ he said.

“The Adhaalath Party Wing on this island requested permission and the council had a meeting regarding the issue,” he explained.

Minivan News spoke to Waheed around 2:00pm this afternoon. Sheikh Ilyas was at that moment waiting in the Vaikaradhoo lagoon as islanders protested against him on the jetty.

“There are lots of citizens at the jetty raising their voice against him,’’ said Waheed. “This island has a population of 1700 people.”

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Vaikaradhoo Wing Vice President and Vaikaradhoo Council Member Ali Amir told Minivan News that about 50 or 60 MDP supporters had gathered at the harbor to express their opinion on the Sheikh’s arrival.

“Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran is on board the same vessel with Sheikh Ilyas, and MDP supporters are shouting ‘traitor’ at them,’’ Amir said. “The police have arrived to the island but they are just waiting at the moment.”

He said that the islanders were not happy with Sheikh Ilyas delivering a sermon to females only, and said it was politicised.

“We still do not know why they are waiting on the vessel, may be they are feeling guilty about something they have done,’’ he suggested.

Speaking from the boat, Sheikh Ilyas told Minivan News that he had attended the island to deliver a sermon organised by the islanders of Vaikaradhoo, but when he arrived MDP activists had gathered at the harbour and used foul language at him. Minivan News heard people shouting “traitor” in the background.

‘’Maybe that is what [former President] Mohamed Nasheed has taught them it,’’ Sheikh Ilyas suggested. “He has said that MDP is an ideology that cannot be wiped out.”

A group of people said to be MDP supporters disrupted a sermon held by Sheikh Ilyas at Masjid-al-Furqan in Male’ last Friday night, after Male’ City Council declared that it the sermon was unauthorised.

Newly-appointed Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed declared in April that all mosques in the country would be taken away from local councils and brought under the authority of the Ministry,.

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Police send names of 108 persons involved in Thinadhoo arson attacks to PG

Police say they have concluded investigation into the arson attacks against government offices and the police station on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll on February 8, a day which saw protests erupt across the country after a brutal police crackdown on a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest against the party’s controversial ousting from power the previous day.

According to a statement from police, the names of 108 people involved in the arson attacks were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office, to be forwarded to the Criminal Court for prosecution.

The police station, island court and atoll council office were burnt to the ground by angry protesters in Thinadhoo. Similar scenes erupted in Addu Atoll, the second most populated area in the Maldives after the capital.

In March, spokesperson for new President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, Abbas Adil Riza, said “the government will not negotiate in releasing those arrested and charged for terrorism, and will not let them be considered political prisoners,” in reference to MDP protesters held in custody following the riots.

In May the MDP claimed that the Prosecutor General (PG) had  filed charges against 60 MDP members for obstruction of police duty during the party’s three-month series of protests. If charges are proved, the accused may be jailed for six months or fined up to Rf 12,000 (US$800) each.

Some of the MDP supporters charged during that time have been summoned to the Criminal Court, and trials are ongoing.

Meanwhile, the MDP has been continuing its calls for the government to release  MDP supporters charged for their participation in MDP rallies.

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Civil Court postpones MDP Raalhugandu trial until further notice from High Court

The Civil Court has decided to postpone the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s suit against police until further notice from the High Court, following the dismantling of the party’s protest campsite at ‘Raalhugandu’ on March 19.

The Civil Court’s decision followed a court order from High Court to postpone the trial until the Court had concluded a case lodged by the state challenging the legitimacy of MDP former President Dr Ibrahim Didi, according to local media outlets.

The State Attorney’s issue was that Dr Didi, who signed the form to file the case in the Civil Court, was elected as the president in accordance to an amended version of the MDP Charter which was not submitted to the Elections Commission (EC). That, the state contended, made the appointment illegitimate and Dr Didi ineligible to present the case to the court on behalf of MDP. As such, the state requested the trial be discontinued.

However, the Civil Court’s presiding judge decided that the laws did not state that the amended articles of the charter would be void if not presented to the Elections Commission, and decided to continue the trial.

The Attorney General (AG)’s Office then appealed the Civil Court’s decision to continue the trial. The High Court ordered the Civil Court to postpone the trial until it reached a conclusion.

A similar issue was raised by the State Attorney at the beginning of the trial of the case in which MDP Acting Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik signed the form to file the case in the Civil Court. The state at the time contended that Acting Chairpersons did not have the authority to file cases in court on behalf of MDP according to the MDP charter, and requested the court discontinue the trial.

The Civil Court then threw the case out of court. Then-President Dr Didi signed the form and resubmitted it to the Civil Court.

The MDP protest campsite at the ‘Raalhugandu’ area inside the Antenna Park, was granted to MDP by Male’ City Council, which  has a substantial MDP majority. The camp was dismantled by the police and military hours after President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik delivered his presidential address to parliament on March 19.

Many MDP supporters who had come to Male’ from the islands after the controversial transfer of power on February 7 had camped in the area.

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Criminal Court declines to issue warrant for police to dismantle MDP campsite at ‘Usgandu’

The Criminal Court has said it cannot issue a warrant to police to dismantle the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest camp site at ‘Usgandu’, after deciding the matter was not within its jurisdiction.

The Criminal Court said it had studied the documents presented by the police along with the court warrant request form, and decided that the warrant was not within its capacity to grant.

Police have said they are now studying the  further to decide what action to take over the ‘Usgandu’ issue. The site, which had been granted to the MDP by Male’ City Council, was recently reclaimed by the Housing Ministry which then ordered police to evict the MDP protesters.

Meanwhile, local media has reported that Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz has sent a letter to MDP Acting Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik asking him to come to the Housing Ministry at 5:00pm on Wednesday  to discuss the issue and find a peaceful solution.

The Housing Minister told the media that ‘Usgandu’ was now under the auspices of the Ministry and that the MDP would have to communicate with the ministry in an matter anything concerning the area.

Police applied for a court warrant on Monday after the Home Ministry police to dismantle the ‘Usgandu’ and return the land to the Housing Ministry, following a cabinet decision.

Moosa Manik subsequently claimed that if police dismantled the MDP protest camp at Usgandu, protests would erupt all across Male’.

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, Male’ City Council allocated the empty area near the tsunami monument to the MDP, which set up a protest camp at the site.

However on March 19, hours after President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik delivered his inaugural speech to the parliament, security forces raided the area, dismantled the camp and painted over anti-government graffiti, removing all trace of the MDP from the area.

Male’ City Council subsequently granted Usgandu to the MDP to conduct their political activities until the end of June. The MDP has meanwhile filed a case in the Civil Court contesting the dismantling of the tsunami monument, a case was today suspended on an order from the High Court.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has recently stated that the government had “better things to do than dismantling MDP protest campsites.”

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All party talks agree on order of agenda

The India-sponsored all party talks will continue later this month at a weekend retreat on Bandos Island Resort and Spa, after delegates on Monday agreed to the order of a six point agenda that will conclude with a date being set for early elections.

Convenor of the all-party talks, Ahmed Mujuthaba, told Minivan News he was “quite hopeful” that the talks could be concluded during the next session, which he expected to last at least two days.

Mujuthaba said that the talks, which were timed to avoid clashing as much as possible with individual delegates’ work time, could be extended for a third day if required.

“We have have to schedule these talks for the following week as various parties were not available this weekend. We did not expect an agreement on this today,” he said.

The talks reconvened yesterday amidst claims of optimism from both government and opposition representatives over the importance of the discussions in resolving political upheavals resulting from February’s controversial transfer of power. The last round of talks ended prematurely on May 6.

Despite delegates having previously agreed on an agenda for the discussions, the talks have ended in stalemate on numerous occasions since first proposed. Recent rounds of discussions stalled over concerns about issues such as the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s parliamentary boycotts and the legality of a recent vote to remove its president and vice president.

The latest round of talks proceeded with consensus of all parties involved, said Mujuthaba.

Mujuthaba said parties had agreed to attend a weekend-long set of talks to try and resolve differences, and had agreed to the agenda for the six areas of discussion. All rounds of the talks have so far been held in two hour blocks.

According to Mujuthaba the order will proceed as follows:

  1. Public order and stability
  2. State budget concerns
  3. Independence of national institutions
  4. Identity and revise any laws
  5. Constitutional amendments
  6. Setting a date for early elections

Both the Commonwealth and European Union support fresh elections being held during 2012. President Mohamed Waheed Hassan has said that under the constitution, the earliest date that presidential polls can be held would be July 2013.

“I hope that we may see a conclusion to the talks,” Mujuthaba said.

Breakthrough claims

One of the two MDP representatives for the talks, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said he believed the most recent session was a “breakthrough” for all participants involved.

“One of the items we wished to see on the agenda was early elections, however other parties like the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) have proposed discussions first on other issues such as political instability, the economy and constitutional amendments,” he claimed. “Our position has always been that they can have any order they want for the agreed agenda.”

Fellow MDP representative Dr Mariyam Zulfa had previously expressed concern that a failure to set a date for elections earlier  into the talks would see significant delays to any decision being made.

Zulfa contended that the MDP  had a “natural interest” in moving the setting of a date for early elections towards the top of the talks’ agenda.

However, Ghafoor said that he remained optimistic over the direction of the talks.

Conceding that “huge problems” lay ahead, Ghafoor said his party was encouraged that any agreement had been reached.

He said that MDP’s protests were likely to be challenged during the talks in the first point on the agenda, political stability. Ghafoor claimed that delegates held varying perceptions on the protests, which the party maintains have been carried out according to its democratic right.

“It is a matter of interpretation over freedom of expressions,” he said. “However, the government do not see it like this.”

Ghafoor also raised concerns about a Housing Ministry request for police to dismantle an MDP protest site at ‘Usfasgandu’ that he claimed raised wider issues over the powers of decentralised government introduced by the former government.

Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) representative Ilham Ahmed, and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) representative Ibrahim Shareef were not responding at time of press.

Government commitments

Speaking to Minivan News prior to the latest round of talks, President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza claimed the government was committed to the talks, insisting that all parties needed to agree on the direction of any resolution to the present political stalemate.

Abbas added that the MDP would be required to guarantee “peace” and “security” if talks were to continue successfully.

“The government is insistent that all parties should agree on certain things for the talks to continue,” he said. “These things include ensuring stability and calm.”

Abbas criticised protests conducted across the capital of Male’ over the weekend that reportedly saw some demonstrators interrupting a mosque service on Majeedhee Magu.  He said that the demonstrations, which led to clashes between demonstrators and the people inside, were a particular concern.

“Some of these protesters are now attacking mosques. This level of fundamentalism that we have seen over the last two nights is not acceptable,” he claimed.

Clashes between the protesters and some of those inside the mosque led to the arrest of five people, according to police. The unrest is said by an eyewitness to have begun when MDP supporters attempted to disrupt a sermon which Male’ City Council had said was unauthorised.

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DRP deputy criticises capability of certain government officials

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef has criticised certain elements within the present government to local media for not making “adequate efforts” to address the country’s recent economic and political upheavals.

Shareef claimed in local newspaper Haveeru that some top officials in the present coalition government – of which the DRP is one of several parties represented – had not shown themselves to be “capable” or “proficient”.

According to the report, Shareef expressed particular concern over the conduct of the Foreign Ministry, which he alleged had not sufficiently detailed the current situation in the Maldives since the government came to power.  The opposition Madivian Democratic Party (MDP) has claimed that it was replaced by the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan in a “coup d’etat” on February 7.  The government has denied the accusations.

Shareef also reportedly raised concerns over previous Foreign Ministry accusations that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) had sided with the now opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – a claim he did not agree with.

Shareef told local media that despite the “major achievement” of the coalition remaining in power for its first 100 days, it had been difficult for the DRP to “execute it policies and beliefs” in line with other parties.

He claimed that he was confident that several ministries overseen by DRP representatives, which include areas such as finance and tourism, were functioning “efficiently”.

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Police request court warrant to dismantle MDP protest site at Usgandu

Police have sought a warrant from the Criminal Court to dismantle the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest site at ‘Usgandu’, following a request made by the Home Ministry.

In a statement, police said the request was made to the court yesterday afternoon at 1:00pm.

Police said the Home Ministry had requested police implement a decision made by cabinet to reclaim the land from the MDP-dominated Male’ City Council, and give it to the Housing Ministry.

On May 9, the Housing Ministry wrote to Male’ City Council requesting it hand over ‘Usgandu’ to the ministry, however the Council declined to do so, police noted.

The statement said the land was given to Male’ City Council according to laws that placed state land under the jurisdiction of local councils.

MDP Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik yesterday claimed that if police dismantled the MDP protest camp at Usgandu, protests would erupt all across Male’.

Moosa said that if their camp was dismantled, MDP supporters would gather near the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) – the same area the then-opposition aligned parties held a series of protests against former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Moosa added that the Uagandu was given by Male’ City Council to MDP according to the law, and that security forces had no right to restrict citizens from claiming a fundamental right such as freedom of assembly.

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, Male’ City Council allocated the empty area near the tsunami monument to the MDP, which set up a protest camp.

However on March 19, hours after President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik delivered his inaugural speech to the parliament, security forces raided the area, dismantled the camp and painted over anti-government graffiti, removing all trace of MDP from the area.

Male’ City Council subsequently granted Usgandu to MDP to conduct their political activities until the end of June. The MDP meanwhile filed a case against the dismantling of the tsunami monument site in the Civil Court, which is ongoing.

Police Spokesperson Hassan Haneef today told Minivan News that there were no updates on the story as of yet, adding that he had not been informed whether the court had issued the warrant.

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Home Ministry ask police to take over Usfasgandu area

Minister of State for Home Affairs Mohamed Fayaz has told Sun Online that the Police have been asked to take over the Usfasgandu area following the non-compliance of Male’ City Council (MCC) in handing the area over to the Ministry of Housing and Environment.

He is reported as saying that the police have been requested to do this as soon as possible, although discussions are said to be ongoing.

The raised area behind the Dharubaaruge convention centre is currently being used as the base for the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) protests. Most recently, weekly marches around Male’ originate and terminate at Usfasgandu.

The jurisdiction of the area has been under question for weeks, with the Housing Ministry first making clear its intentions to claim the area April 9. The ministry informed the MCC by letter that it had three days to remove the MDP from the area.

The Ministry argues that leasing the area to a group for political purposes contravenes the deregulation act under which the land was granted to the MCC.

In a precursor to this issue, the previous area at Lonuziyaaraiy Kolhu used for the staging of the MDP’s operations, dubbed ‘Justice Square’, was dismantled by police and the MNDF on March 19. The subsequent court case was dismissed on a technicality and, after being re-submitted, has recently been delayed once again following for a similar reason.

The MCC has remained defiant, last week writing to the Police, the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) and the Housing Ministry, arguing that the area was fulfilling a pressing need for large numbers of people to conduct political activities without inconveniencing residents of Male’ City. It also dismissed the legal right of the government to claim the area.

Just last week Sun reported the police’s denial that they would take over the area, following rumours that their arrival was imminent.

The Housing Ministry has also recently removed Sultan Park and the artificial beach area from the council’s jurisdiction.

“Maldives Police Service believes that such SMS’s can create fear in the society; there is no truth in the stories being spread that the Police are planning to take over Usfasgandu. Police are not making any preparation in this regard,” Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef told Sun.

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Adhaalath Party condemns MDP for disrupting Sheikh Ilyas’s sermon

The Adhaalath Party, led by Sheikh Imran Mohamed, has condemned the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after a group of people said to be MDP supporters obstructed a sermon held by prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ilyas Hussain at Masjid-al-Furqan on Friday night.

In a statement, the party said the Maldives was a 100 percent Islamic nation and that no one should be given the opportunity to obstruct religious views, and called on authorities to give harsh penalties to people involved in such un-Islamic activities.

The Adhaalath Party said that such people were mentioned in the Quran and cited verse 114;1 ‘’And who is more unjust that he who forbids that in places for the worship of Allah, Allah’s named should be celebrated? –whose zeal is (in fact) to ruin them? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter them except in fear. For them there is nothing but disgrace in this world, and in the world to come, an exceeding torment.’’

The party also said that people “who use their brain” should “realise that MDP is a cult that revolves around former President Mohamed Nasheed.”

The Adhaalath Party called on all citizens of the Maldives “to stop supporting these people who do not love the religion or the citizens even a little bit.”

Last Friday a group of people said to be MDP supporters gathered outside Furqan Mosque while Sheikh Ilyas was delivering a sermon inside, and shouted at him saying he was a traitor.

A group of people came out of the mosque and clashed with the group outside, before riot police arrived in the area and restored order.

According to police, five men were arrested following the unrest and brought before court.

The court released three of them and extended the detention period of the other two.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef today told Minivan News that Male’ City Council on Friday night requested police stop a sermon at the Furqan Mosque, just as it was beginning.

‘’We did not think it was appropriate to stop it because it was a religious thing and not a criminal offence, so we decided to solve it through dialogue,’’ Haneef said. ‘’But when police went to the area people were gathered and there was unrest.’’

He confirmed that two of the five men arrested were still under police charge while the other three had been released.

Sheikh Ilyas is a member of Adhaalath Party’s religious council and has been very critical of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Adhaalath Party is one of the parties aligned with the current government. Current Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed is also a member of the party.

Tonight there is another sermon by Sheikh Ilyas due to be held at the same mosque, on the topic ‘Death’.

MDP Secretary General Ahmed Shah referred Minivan News to MDP  Spokesperson and MP Imtiyaz Fahmy ‘Inthi’, who did not respond at time of press.

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