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Maldives marks 70th National Day

Official speeches, flag hoisting and military events marked the 70th National Day in the Maldives on Sunday, which celebrates Mohammed Thakurufaanu ending the country’s 15-year Portuguese occupation.

Festivities took place on the island of Fonadhoo in Laamu Atoll with speeches by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and Minister of Home Affairs Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed.

President Waheed focused on the migrant worker threat to “Maldivianness, culture and nationhood”, while Ahmed stressed the importance of not complaining or questioning what the country has done for Maldivians, local media reported.

These speeches were accompanied by a flag raising ceremony, ceremonial march by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), stage show and Children’s Evening on Fonadhoo, reported local media. A fireworks display on the same island is planned on Monday night (January 14). The MNDF and Fonadhoo community undertook extensive preparations for the festivities.

Additional flag hoisting ceremonies, including in the capital Male’, were led by the MNDF on various islands nationwide in celebration of Thakurufaanu liberating the Maldives from the Portuguese in 1573.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed also made a National Day statement emphasising the need for an “impartial and honest” security force, and calling for recognition that the Maldivian people were “the true guardians of the system.”

“The nationalism that defended [our] freedom [in the past] should be beneficial to the people and their progress,” Nasheed said.

Not so ancient history

Mohamed Thakurufaanu is hailed as “one of the most illustrious heroes of the nation” for his victory over the Portuguese and his influence is embedded in the heart of Maldivian culture. He coined the traditional title of the State “Ad-Dawlat Al-Mahaldheebiyya” – which can be found on the Maldivian national emblem – and his namesake literally encircles Male’ as “Boduthakurufaanu Magu.”

Originally from a royal family on Utheemu in Haa Alif Atoll (traditionally known as Thiladhunmathi) Thakurufaanu traveled to Male’ with supporters from his island and defeated the Portuguese colonisers on the first day of Rabee ul Awwal, the third month in the Hijree (Islamic) calendar. This date is now commemorated annually as National Day.

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Rising migrant worker population threat to “Maldivianness, culture and nationhood”: President Waheed

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has warned the Maldives will face difficulties in seeking foreign assistance should it descend to Tier 3 of the US State Department’s human-trafficking watch list.

Speaking at a ceremony to celebrate National Day, Waheed stated the Maldives is now “forced” to take measures against changes to the “national character” due to the rising number of migrant workers in the country.

The Maldives has been listed on the tier 2 watch list for human trafficking for three years in a row. Waheed stated that if the country descends to Tier 3, “it would face difficulties, among other issues, in seeking foreign assistance”.

In 2012, the Maldives only narrowly avoided a descent to Tier 3 – the worst category – after presenting a written plan that, “if implemented, would constitute making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.”

In his speech today (January 13), Waheed said the government was taking measures to prevent the country from falling into Tier 3 category of human trafficking, by initiating an awareness campaign underway and a draft bill on anti-trafficking submitted to the People’s Majlis.

Foreign influence threatens “Maldivianness”: President Waheed

In his National Day speech, Waheed also warned that the Maldivian population risks being overtaken by the migrant population in just six years if immigration continues to grow at its current rate.

Waheed stated that this was something “no Maldivian can and will, want to accept”.

“If the number of migrant workers continues to increase, [Maldivian] national character will be lost,” the President was reported as saying on the island of Fonadhoo in Laamu Atoll.

“If the influence of foreigners grows, [the] threat of negative impacts on Maldivianness, culture and nationhood is not unrealistic,” he added.

Border control system crucial in addressing human-trafficking

At the National Day speech, the President was reported as saying that an effective border control system was crucial for addressing trafficking.

Last month, parliament voted unanimously to instruct the government to terminate the border control project agreement with Malaysia-based IT group Nexbis, over allegations of corruption.

Speaking about the BSC project last month, Majlis Finance Committee member Ahmed Hamza told Minivan News at the time there was a “worry” within the immigration department that their own border control system would not be sufficient.

Furthermore, Hamza stated there was a “possibility” that human trafficking could increase should the Nexbis contract be cancelled, and to combat this parliament will need to provide a “sufficient solution to deal with these problems”.

Speaking at National Day, President Waheed claimed there were approximately 111,000 migrant workers using work visas and over 40,000 illegal migrant workers in the Maldives.

‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the human trafficking issue in the Maldives.

The strategy, entitled ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’ is expected to include activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community.

The Foreign Ministry announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with multiple local media outlets in the country as part of the campaign’s aim to raising awareness of human trafficking and other related issues.

The MOU states that the media outlets will produce and broadcast programmes aimed at disseminating information on the issue of human trafficking.

Nasheed’s National Day statement

Meanwhile, former President Mohamed Nasheed gave his own National Day statement calling for a security force that is “impartial and honest” to help build the nation.

“The nationalism that had defended [our] freedom [in the past] should be beneficial to the people and their progress.

“The true guardians of this system are the people. Today, due to an uninvited interference by the security forces to the people’s rightfully elected government and their interference to the progress of the nation has resulted in re-emergence of the old political culture,” Nasheed said, in a statement.

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Maldives falls 40,000 short of million tourist target for 2012

The Maldivian government has narrowly failed to reach its target of one million tourist arrivals for 2012, according to figures released by Ministry of Tourism, after a year of political turmoil and an economic slump in key markets.

Despite arrivals falling short by roughly 42,000 tourists, figures released by the ministry have shown that overall arrivals rose 2.9 percent from 931,333 in 2011 to 958,027 in 2012.

Prior to the release of the figures, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb predicted that while there may be a shortfall of roughly 20,000 in 2012, he was confident the ministry could achieve the one million mark in 2013.

“There were a lot of hiccups last year with the political turmoil that the country experienced. It is important that we do not compare ourselves to other destinations like Sri Lanka or Seychelles, as our tourism market is very different. We have a high-value tourism market.

“We will formulate a strategy to go forward this year and later this month [January] we are going to finalise the fourth master plan of tourism. I am sure we will get one million tourists in 2013. I can assure you of it,” Adheeb told Minivan News earlier this month.

Figures released by the  tourism ministry show that Europe, which accounted for 54 percent of all tourist arrivals in 2012, fell by 3.7 percent from 537,757 in 2011 to 517,809 in 2012. Arrivals from the United Kingdom – the second highest share of European arrivals to the Maldives this year – continued to fall from 104,508 in 2011 to 91,776 in 2012 – a 12.2 percent  drop.

Germany took over the UK in 2012 as having the largest share of European arrivals to the Maldives, growing by an extra 7,834 arrivals from 90,517 in 2011. The 8.7 percent increase in arrival numbers, meant that Germany was accountable for 10.3 percent of all tourist arrivals in 2012.

Italy, which had the second highest arrival share of European tourists in 2010, fell drastically in 2012 by 24.4 percent from 83,088 arrivals to 62,782.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from ‘Asia and Pacific’ regions continued year-on-year growth from 2010, increasing by 10.2 percent from 2011 and accounting for a 40.1 percent share in the overall market at 384,506 arrivals in 2012.

Shift to ‘low yield’ Chinese tourists

Chinese arrivals continued to grow in 2012, with a 15.6 percent increase from 198,655 in 2011 to 229,551 in 2012.

Chinese tourists now account for the largest share of arrivals from any nation in 2012 standing at 24 percent, a massive increase from Chinese arrival figures in 2009 which stood at 60,666.

Despite the high number of Chinese tourists, tourism experts stated back in 2010 that Chinese guests were relatively ‘low yield’ despite their high numbers.

Speaking to Minivan News in 2010, the now former Secretary General Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), Sim Mohamed Ibrahim, said Chinese tourists tended to spend less than their European counterparts.

“The Chinese who come do not come for the sun and the beach – they come because the Maldives is a novelty, a safe destination, and because of their new-found freedom to travel. Resorts are saying there are not many repeat visitors from China,” he said at at he time.

Tourism growth slowed to less than one percent in 2012

Tourism growth meanwhile slowed to less than one percent in 2012. While the tourism industry grew by 15.8 percent in 2010 and 9.1 percent in 2011, the industry’s growth in 2012 was expected to be 0.7 percent.

The two main reasons cited by the Finance Ministry for the anaemic growth were “the political turmoil the country faced in February” and a decline in the average number of nights tourists spend in the country “as a result of a decline in the average number of days a tourist spent in the Maldives.”

On average, tourism accounted for 28 percent of GDP during the past 10 years.

Despite the widely reported Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) dispute between the Indian infrastructure giant GMR and the Maldivian Government in December last year – as well as claims of anti-India sentiment within the country – arrivals from India  increased by 34 percent in December compared to the same month in 2011.

The largest increase in tourist arrivals compared to 2011 was from the Middle East, which saw close to a 50 percent rise in arrivals for 2012 at 21,843 from 14,570 in 2011.

Arrivals from United Arab Emirates grew the highest in percentage from 2011 by 76.6 percent. Despite the high percentage growth however, the number of tourists was comparatively low to other countries standing at 4,047 in 2012.

MVR 70 million tourism marketing budget in 2012

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) was allocated a budget of MVR 70 million (US$4.5 million) in 2012 to conduct marketing activities for the year, almost double the 2011 budget of US$2.3 million, which saw the country receive 900,000 tourist arrivals.

Following February’s controversial transfer of power, the incoming government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan sought to utilise public relations groups and advertising to try and offset the impact of negative news headlines resulting from the controversial nature of the change in government.

That focus included a US$250,000 (MVR3.8million) advertising deal to promote the country’s tourism industry on the BBC through sponsorship of its weather services, as well as signing a £93,000 per month (US$150,000) contract with public relations group Ruder Finn to try and improve the country’s image internationally.

Maldives tourism authorities said back in October that they were confident the country would meet its one million visitor target, despite ongoing “political turmoil”.

Registered beds up, occupancy rates down

According to the 2012 statistics released by the Tourism Ministry, the average number of registered beds between resorts, hotels, guest houses and safari vessels stood at 27,702 in 2012 – an increase of 1,346 from 2011.

Despite the increases in tourism arrivals, bed nights fell from 6,529,200 in 2011 to 6,450,794 – a total drop of 1.2 percent – and the average days spent in the Maldives by tourists fell from 7.0 days in 2011 to 6.7 days in 2012.

Occupany rates also fell across all types of accommodation aside from a 1.9 percent increase on safari vessels. Altogether the occupancy rates fell from 73.1 in 2011 to 70.6 in 2012.

Maldives top five markets by visitor numbers (2012)

China: 229,551

Germany: 98,351

United Kingdom: 91,776

Russia: 66,378

Italy: 62,782

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Maldives Inland Revenue Authority conducts training program on financial crimes

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has conducted a training program to increase staff awareness of financial crimes.

A MIRA official told local media that the ‘Investigation Schools Development Program’ was conducted from January 6 to January 10 in cooperation with the police.

“The training program informed MIRA staff on how to act when they encounter cases of tax evasion during auditing or investigations”, the MIRA official was quoted in Sun Online.

Maldives Police Service provided instructors for the program.

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President should have ratified political parties, privileges bills: DRP MP Mausoom

Government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader Dr Abdulla Mausoom has expressed disappointment at President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s failure to ratify two controversial bills outlining parliamentary and political party regulations.

Dr Mausoom today told Minivan News that he believed the president should have ratified both bills before then seeking to make changes to specific clauses once they had been passed into law.

He claimed such an act would have allowed President Waheed to remove potential doubts that he may be acting to protect his own political interests by not approving the bills.

The President’s Office confirmed Thursday (January 10) that the People’s Majlis privileges and powers bill and the political party bill had been returned to parliament for reconsideration Thursday (January 10) after originally being passed late last year.

Among the key features outlined in the two bills were potential punishments for anyone attempting to stymie or disrespect the Majlis and its work, as well as a requirement for all political parties to have 10,000 registered members or face being dissolved by the country’s Elections Commission (EC).

Both bills have been criticised in part by NGOs and smaller political parties in the country over fears about the perceived impacts they may have on the democratic development of the Maldives.

However, speaking to Minivan News today, DRP Deputy Leader Mausoom said that he believed the president should have opted to ratify the bill, which he contended has certain regulations and requirements that had long been overdue in the Majlis, before then attempting to enact amendments at a later date.

Dr Mausoom claimed that with Dr Waheed’s own Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) facing being dissolved as a result of being short of the 10,000 registered members required by the political parties bill, his failure to ratify it could lead to doubts over the partiality of the president’s decision.

“Maybe they are concerned they would not be able to get sufficient member numbers if it is passed,” he suggested.

As of January 13, 2013, Ethe lection’s Commission figures indicate that GIP has 3,218 registered members. Ratification of the political parties bill would have given President Waheed’s party three months to have obtained 10,000 members or face being dissolved by the EC.

Listening to minorities

Despite the comments, Dr Mausoom said the DRP was undecided on how to proceed over whether to seek a compromise in amending the two bills,  or support the existing provisions.

“The bill defining privileges for the Majlis is long overdue. While there may be some room for fine tuning, the bill itself is a must,” the DRP Deputy Leader added.

Dr Mausoom said that with the political parties bill, he understood that major concerns existed regarding the requirements for 10,000 registered members.  He claimed the DRP would take into account the views of minority parties in the Maldives before making any decision on the matter.

“There is thought that any political party should be able to obtain 10,000 members if it is to represent the views of the people, but there is also an argument to leave regulations as is it,” Dr Mausoom said.

“It is best to decide after listening to minority parties on the issue. We have always advocated as a party to listen to minorities whoever they are.”

Political parties were first authorised in the Maldives in May 2005 following an executive decree by then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Political parties have remained governed by a regulation requiring 3,000 members for registration.

This regulation did not stipulate that parties whose membership falls below the figure would be dissolved.

In March last year, EC Chair Fuad Thaufeeq told Minivan News that these regulations were “vague” as parties were not required to maintain 3,000 members once formed.

Despite a failure to ratify the two bills, Dr Mausoom rejected the notion that a divide had been formed between the president and the country’s legislature, adding that there were always likely to be differences of opinion within the present coalition government after it came to power in February 2012 under disputed circumstances.

“There is no friction between parties and the president. When we came to power, we had no unified policy, however any issues with have with the president we will raise with him,” he said.

Bill criticisms

The proposed amendments to regulations on political parties and parliamentary privileges were among a number of bills recently passed within the People’s Majlis that were attacked by local NGOs Transparency Maldives (TM) and Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) earlier this month.

In a joint statement, the NGOs expressed concerns that clauses within the bills threatened to “weaken the democratic, good governance system” and “restrict some fundamental rights,” in the Maldives.

The political parties bill in particular has come under fierce criticism from smaller political parties in the country. Earlier this year, Special Advisor to President Waheed and Leader of government-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Dr Hassan Saeed warned he would seek to invalidate the bill should it be ratified by the president.

He told local media at the time that the bill infringed rights enshrined in the constitution and that he would file a case at the Supreme Court requesting the law be struck down.

Dr Saeed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Late last year, the religious conservative Adhaalath Party accused the Majlis of directly attempting to “eradicate” Islamic ideology from Maldivian politics and limit its efforts against what it alleged were attempts to secularise the country.

Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla said he suspected that “black money” from Indian infrastructure company GMR was behind the decision to insert the clause requiring 10,000 members. The government late last year voided a sovereign agreement with GMR to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) – a decision strongly backed by the Adhaalath Party as part of a self-claimed “national movement”.

Imran claimed at the time that “a person with a brain would not deny” that the decision by parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee to raise the prerequisite to 10,000 members from 5,000 at a late stage was made “because the Adhaalath Party would be disqualified at that number.”

Parliamentary Speaker Adbulla Shahid, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim and the Majlis’ Minority Leader Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Abdulla Yameen were not responding to calls from Minivan News at the time of press.

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Nasheed returns from visiting ill father

Former President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Male’ around 10:30pm Thursday night following a trip to Bangkok where he was visiting his ill father, reports Sun Online.

Nasheed left the Maldives December 25, 2012 following multiple immigration delays to his departure to Thailand.

This included the withholding of his passport due to the ongoing trial against him in relation to the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah Mohamed while he was president, as well as a “technical error” at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport on December 21, local media reports.

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Ratification of limits on freedom of assembly won’t affect ‘revolution’: MDP

The ratification of the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Bill is a “direct response” to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s proposed revolution, the party’s Spokesperson Hamed Abdul Ghafoor has alleged.

Yesterday (January 11) the President’s Office website announced that President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik had approved the controversial bill, which enforces limits for protests in the Maldives.

Parliament passed the bill on December 25, 2012 with 44 votes in favour and 30 against – a decision which attracted criticism from NGOs within the country who warned the bill could “restrict some fundamental rights”.

Ghafoor told Minivan News that the MDP stood against the principles of the Freedom of Assembly Bill, alleging its ratification is a response to the ‘Ingilaab’ proposed by former President Mohamed Nasheed last month.

“We are not happy with this bill, and on principle alone we are against it. The current government feels the need to restrict freedom of expression and unwind the democratic gains of this country,” he alleged.

“The whole intention of this bill was to respond to our popular uprising. But when the time comes [for the revolution] the bill won’t matter. We will still go out onto the streets,” Ghafoor claimed.

Among the key features of the Freedom of Assembly bill is the outlawing of demonstrations outside private residences and government buildings, limitations on media covering protests not accredited with the state and defining “gatherings” as a group of more than a single person.

One of the main stated objectives of the legislation is to try and minimise restrictions on peaceful gatherings, which it claims remain a fundamental right.

Under the legislation, demonstrations will be outlawed within a certain distance of the residences of the president and vice president, tourist resorts, harbours utilized for economic purposes, airports, the President’s Office, the courts of law, the Parliament, mosques, schools, hospitals and buildings housing diplomatic missions.

NGO concerns

In a joint statement from local NGOs Transparency Maldives (TM) and Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) this month (January 2), it warned that the bill posed “serious challenges to the whole democratic system”.

The statement claimed that the bill could restrict the constitutional right to freedom of assembly (article 32), freedom of expression (article 27) and press freedom (article 28).

As article four of the constitution states that “all the powers of the state of the Maldives are derived from, and remains with, the citizens,” both NGOs warned that narrowing the fundamental rights guaranteed by the second chapter of the constitution would “facilitate taking away from the public the powers that remain with them.”

Media “accreditation” on protest coverage

Last month, the Maldives Journalists’ Association (MJA) expressed concern over certain clauses in the ratified Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Bill, claiming that it will directly impact reporting by local and international media organisations.

In regard to the media’s right to cover demonstrations, the bill states that the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) must draft a regulation on accrediting journalists within three months of the ratification of the bill.

Only those journalists who are accredited by the MBC will be granted access to cover and report on gatherings and police activities in the vicinity.

MJA President and board member of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) ‘Hiriga’ Ahmed Zahir claimed last month (December 29) that the MBC – appointed by parliament – would not be able to accredit media persons in an independent manner free from any influence.

“We are seeing the MBC failing to address many existing issues even now, so we cannot support handing over additional responsibilities like this to such a body,” he added.

Zahir also raised concerns that foreign journalists coming to the Maldives would also be required to obtain additional accreditation. He said that international media was already faced with having to meet specific visa requirements and obtaining state approval.

“For example, [international reporters] cannot really cover events if they are just here on a tourist visa, that won’t be allowed anywhere in the world,” he said.

Speaking on the matter of media accreditation, MDP Spokesman Ghafoor alleged to Minivan News today that it was the current governments “intention” to control the media coverage of protests.

“When the incumbent government took over office, they took over the state media too. We have noticed this trend continuing today,” he claimed.

President’s Office Spokesman Masood Imad was not responding to calls at time of press today.

However back in November last year, Imad previously defended a case submitted to Supreme Court by the Attorney General that claimed causing a public disturbance in the name of political protest is against the constitution.

The case, submitted in September, requests the Supreme Court to rule that such protests are against some articles of the constitution. This includes disturbing the public, using foul language and “protesting in a manner that instills fear into the hearts of children and the elderly”.

Speaking back in November regarding the case, Imad said: “A protest should be about changing something. A protest conducted in residential areas has nothing to do with parliament. Public protest and public nuisance are two very different things.”

The President’s Office Spokesman further stated that the government “fully” supports the right to protest, but added that it should not be conducted in a way that negatively affects the lives of others.

Minivan News attempted to contact MPs and spokespersons from Progressive Party of Maldives, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, Dhivehi Qaumee Party, Jumhoree Party, People’s Alliance and Maldivian Development Alliance to speak on the matter, however none were responding to calls at time of press.

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Six bids for US$60 million Hulhumale land reclamation project: Housing Development Corporation

The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has conducted a pre-bid meeting with six foreign parties interested in carrying out the second phase of the Hulhumale’ land reclamation project, reports local media.

With a cost of US$60 million the project is the largest of its kind in the Maldives, and will involve 230 hectares of reclaimed area suitable for a population of 100,000, Sun Online reported.

“Bids should come before the end of this month. As soon as bid evaluation is complete, the project would commence”, an HDC official was quoted as saying.

Companies involved in the bid included those with previous experience in the Maldives, including Royal Boskalis Westminster, Sun reported.

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Fines to be issued for people catching migratory birds: EPA

Maldives Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that people catching migratory birds will face fines of MVR 30,000 (US$1,941) and a further MVR 25,000 (US$1,618) for every additional bird.

Local media reported that migratory birds are protected under international and Maldivian law and that many different species of bird migrate to the country at this time of year.

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