Tag: minivan news

Maldives government to go to Supreme Court to break political deadlock: Zuhair

The Maldives government is preparing evidence to file a case in the Supreme Court over the Majlis attempt to “grab powers invested with the executive”, according to the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair in a statement to the Asian Tribune.

The government is also attempting to hold talks with opposition parties to encourage co-operation between the Majlis and the executive branch of government, said Zuhair.

Opposition DRP official Dunya Maumoon confirmed there have been “indications” of approaches for talks, and she criticised the government for attempting to govern without cabinet ministers.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Mountain, Mountain, Come to Mohamed!: Ibra’s Blog

The amendments to the Maldives Public Finance Act were ‘the Grand Finale in the process of decimating the Executive, once and for all’, according to the latest update on Ibra’s Blog.

Ibrahim Ismail, one-time member of the Majlis for Male during the presidency of Maumoon Gayyoom, was an early supporter of democratic reform.

His blog analyses the cultural, legal and political dimensions of reform in Maldives.

“With the change in government, there was trepidation among many that there may be a witch hunt to bring criminals within the former regime to justice. The relative security of the Majlis was sought by many, and some succeeded. After the initial scrambling for personal security, some were emboldened…”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Single private borrower lowers Maldives credit rating, and wants to borrow more: Assad

The country’s ability to borrow money has been made more difficult by a Majlis member borrowing a large sum of money and lowering the country’s credit rating, said the state minister for finance Ahmed Assad at the President’s Office press conference yesterday. Now that person has made a request to the government to give him a ‘letter of no objection’ to borrow a further large sum, he said.

Assad refused to name the Majlis member at the conference but it is widely assumed in the Maldivian media that the Majlis member is Gasim Ibrahim.

The European Investment Bank is complaining that the country is already in default, said Assad, and because of that complaint, the Maldivian government is having difficulty borrowing money and the country is in serious financial difficulties. It is jeopardising the government’s ability to borrow money for important projects like housing, he said.

The Majlis has left a tax bill in committee for a whole year, along with around 30 other bills which the executive government has submitted, said MDP MP Eva Abdulla last night on TV Maldives’ Rajje Miadhu (Maldives Today) current affairs program. These bills were designed to provide services to the people which were promised during the presidential election, she said, and instead of doing anything to pass the bills, the opposition has been amending existing legislation to remove the powers of the president.

The IMF has set up a program to help the government out of economic crisis, and an essential part of that program is to reduce expenditure and increase revenue, Eva Abdulla explained. The Tourism Goods and Services bill and the Business Profit Tax bill are designed to increase government revenues, she said, and both bills have been sitting in the Majlis committee for over a year and no progress has been made in passing them. The Majlis sub-committee considering the two bills is chaired by the leading businessman in the country [Gasim Ibrahim], she said.

Gasim also the head of the permanent Majlis committee for economic affairs.

This week, Gasim Ibrahim and another Majlis member, People’s Alliance party leader Abdulla Yameen, were arrested on charges of treason involving bribery of Majlis members. The Criminal Court ordered that Yameen, the younger brother of former President Maumoon Gayyoom, be presented in court by the police after midnight less than 6 hours after his arrest. The High Court yesterday endorsed the Criminal Court order. Both men were released from police custody by the Criminal Court and placed under ‘house arrest’ with permission to attend Majlis sittings and committee meetings. Gasim Ibrahim’s swift hearing at the Criminal Court took place without any media presence.

Abdulla Yameen is on the permanent Majlis committee for financial affairs which is headed by his party’s deputy leader Ahmed Nazim who is the deputy speaker of the Majlis. Yameen is also head of the permanent Majlis committee for national security.

Last night on Gasim’s Villa TV station, Yameen appeared and said he was confident that he would win the 2013 Presidential election competing against current MDP President Nasheed and the DRP’s Thasmeen Ali. Yameen also criticised the government’s economic policies and said the current administration had borrowed more than US$500 million in the last 18 months.

What is clear is that both Gasim and Yameen will have to pay significant taxes if the tax laws are passed, and therefore they are delaying the bills, said Eva Abdulla on TVM last night.

Gasim Ibrahim owns resorts and has an extensive businesses and media interests. Yameen also has widespread business interests in the Maldives and was a long-serving minister during President Gayyoom’s 30 year rule.

The present Maldivian government’s ministers resigned en masse in a ceremony held at the President’s Office earlier this week, before Gasim and Yameen were arrested. The ministers, who were appointed by the president, said that they were unable to function due to restrictions placed on them by Majlis amendments to existing administrative and financial legislation.

A press release by Gasim’s Jumhooree party says the arrests were designed to intimidate its leader and Abulla Yameen, and that the resignation of the ministers, followed by the two Majlis members arrests, were contrary to ‘the spirit of the rights granted to them by the constitution’, and designed to place undue influence on the Majlis.

“We know that there are big businessmen and corruption in the country,” said the former foreign minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed at yesterday’s President’s Office press conference. “For a young democracy, corruption is the biggest enemy. Corruption is present in every country. Democracy will only be strengthened when institutions that are supposed to fight against corruption are strengthened. Maldives is at that stage. The question we have to ask is if the current institutions don’t help us, then how can we do this?” Dr. Shaheed said.

“Maldives is in this economic crisis because corruption has been widespread. Particularly because the previous government has looted the country and because they have given priority to their personal interests rather than to the nation,” he said.

Democracy can be strengthened only when looters of the country receive appropriate punishment, Dr. Shaheed added, and the government has to take urgent action against corruption.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Letter on ex-Billabong teacher

Dear Editor,

I am writing to bring to your attention and to express my disgust at the fact that my son and countless other children who attend Billabong International School in Male’ was potentially exposed and endangered when the school last year appointed Alexis Valoran Reich aka John Mark Karr as the schools head teacher.

It was today brought to my attention that Alexis Valoran Reich is a suspected murderer and pedophile in his native United States of America.

Upon obtaining this information, a group of concerned parents, today, made an appointment with the owner of Billabong International School Maldives Mr Absy and went to the appointment at 2.45pm only to be told
by the school that Mr. Absy will not be able to keep his appointment with the parents due to the fact that Mr. Absy was out of the country (it is believed that Mr. Absy found out why the parents had requested for an appointment)

The parents where then met by the principal of the school who informed the parents that the school was aware of Mr. Alexis Reich’s past history and his employment was subsequently terminated due to this fact.

Although I am relieved today that Mr. Alexis Reich no longer works in in Billabong International School, I would like to know;

1) If he is currently still in the Maldives?

2) Why was he employed in the first place?

3) Were any children harmed by him while he was a teacher in the Maldives, if so what was done by the school to address the matter and to help the children in question?

4) What are the guidelines of the Ministry of Education on hiring teachers in Maldivian Schools? and if these guidelines are different to private schools and public schools in the Maldives and if so, how?

5) What is the concerned authorities in the country going to be doing in the future to avoid unfortunate and avoidable instances like these in the future?

I would very much appreciate if my concerns had a venue to be made public through your reputed news agency.

Yours Sincerely,

Muzaffar Naeem (Muju)
Concerned Parent

Likes(1)Dislikes(1)

DRP ‘State of the Nation’ rally tonight: Thasmeen

The opposition DRP will hold a rally tonight (Thursday) ‘to clear some of the misinformation’ coming from the government regarding the current political crisis, reports Miadhu.

The DRP has decided to provide its own information to the international community, says the party’s leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali. The DRP will be sending a delegation to Colombo to meet with foreign ambassadors accredited to Maldives, he said.

The DRP council has passed a resolution condemning the imprisonment of the Gasim Ibrahim and Abdulla Yameen, the respective leaders of the opposition Jumhooree and People’s Alliance parties, and calling for immediate release of the two MPs.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament is corrupt, alleges government

Former Attorney General Husnu Suood, who resigned yesterday together with the rest of President Nasheed’s cabinet in protest against the supposed “scorched earth” politics of opposition MPs, has confirmed that the government has arrested two MPs on charges of corruption relating to vote buying in parliament.

When asked if the government has solid evidence to substantiate these allegations, Suood replied that “there are reasons to believe that some corrupt activities have taken place.”

Suood said “there are statements given by certain individuals that these activities have taken place. Based on those statements, and complaints, there are reasons to believe that corrupt activities have taken place. On that basis the government is proceeding.”

Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim, also the MP of Maamigili, and leader of the People’s Alliance (PA) Abdulla Yaameen, the MP for Mulaku, were arrested last night.

“If there is an allegation [of bribery] it could lead to loss of confidence in a state institution,” Suood said on TVM last night. “Selling votes for money is something the president has to investigate. Otherwise there will be no respect for the Majlis (parliament),” he said.

Suood said he was confident the government’s evidence would stand up to scrutiny: “I think the evidence will stand,” he said.

Gasim and Yameen appeared at the high court today following a police appeal against the conditions of the warrant issued last night by the criminal court.

Speaking at a press conference this morning at the President’s Office, Suood expressed strong concern at the amendments to the Financial Bill proposed by the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), highlighting article 7: “Any state asset should be given, sold or leased or any subsidy or aid to any person only under legislation approved by the parliament”, and article 10(a): “any aid given by the state to any persons or to a specific person should only be given under legislation approved by the parliament.”

If the Financial Bill was ratified and parliament gained the authority to dictate aid and subsidies, “it will [jeopardise] all sorts of subsidies and aid the government provides to people, except for the elderly allowance,” Suood claimed.

Former Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Ibrahim Didi said that the bill would also jeapordise subsidies for fisherman, which was ”unacceptable.”

”We do not want salaries from the people if we cannot provide the services we want to provide them.” said Dr Didi.

Suood added that the government could not resort to the Supreme Court to overturn parliamentary rulings, “because we filed two cases in the Supreme Court, and they ruled it was not the position of the government to file cases in the Supreme Court.”

”I do not believe that the Supreme Court can rule fairly.”

State institutions had failed, Suood said, senior officials of the judiciary were “irresponsible”, and the independent commissions were operating like “small governments.”

“All of this has brought the government to a standstill,” he said.

Parliament deadlocks over detained MPs

Meanwhile, parliament this morning was also brought to a standstill after DRP MPs insisted that parliament could not go ahead without the presence of the two arrested MPs, as legally mandated.

Speaker Abdullah Shahid read out a letter to parliament from Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh, which stated that the MPs could not be released for the sitting or to attend committee meetings as required by parliamentary rules due to “security concerns”.

DRP MP Ali Waheed said there was “no rule of law” remaining in the country after police refused to comply with the court order to bring the MPs before court.

That court order was issued after midnight after a request by former Attorney General Azima Shukoor, lawyer representing the two opposition leaders.

The Attorney General’s Office has appealed the court order at the High Court this morning.

Speaker Shahid was unable to finish reading the as the chamber erupted in acrimonious arguments between MPs of the opposing parties. He briefly appealed to Ali Waheed and DRP MP Ahmed Nihan to sit down, before calling the sitting to a halt.

The mood in parliament  today was “very nervous,” said Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed.

“I don’t think the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and DRP were even able to talk to each other. I was very frustrated that people we are normally quite jovial with – such as [MDP MPs] Mariya Didi and Eva Abdulla – are not even able to make eye contact.”

He said the letter from Commissioner Faseeh and a second from the Chief of Defense had angered the opposition MPs, who argued that the Chief of Defense “should not be dictating when parliament should be held – it is not his business and we are not under ministerial rule.”

On the subject of the vote-buying allegations against MPs Yameen and Gasim, Nasheed said he did not know “why the Attorney General is singling them out with allegations of vote buying.”

Nasheed said many parliamentarians were aware of past discussions concerning situations where “independent MPs had been approached by sources related to the government in a bid to increase their strength and try to gain a majority.”

He confirmed that parliament has a standing order preventing an MP from being arrested “while a no confidence motion is in place against the President, the Vice President, a cabinet member, head of an independent institution or the Speaker. But the arrests happened after cabinet has resigned, cancelling the no-confidence motion,” he explained.

“I think there is a political strategy behind all this – it is to direct attention away from GMR-Malaysia Airport Holdings [signing to manage] Male’ International Airport, an issue of serious national concern,” Nasheed suggested.

“I have also heard from a highly reliable source that the president has been considering a cabinet reshuffle and will use this opportunity to appoint new ministers, and remove non-MDP cabinet ministers in the new arrangement. That, and threats and intimidation.”

Nasheed said he hoped parliament would be able to resume next week when the matter of Gasim and Yameen’s detention had been resolved.

“Much will depend on whether the court rules for the detention [of Gasim and Yameen] be extended,” he said.

“I think this is a serious impasse caused by an overly dramatic and excessive reaction from the cabinet,” Nasheed said.

“It is a very sad development. If Nasheed felt so strongly about the Financial Bill, he could have returned it to parliament and his party could have prevented it from being passed. The President has the power to veto bills, and parliament could have tried to override his veto.

If that had happened, the President could have challenged it in a court of law. For cabinet to resign saying the bill is unconstitutional is unreasonable.

Coalition collapse

While Gasim and Yameen were taken before the criminal court last night, the MDP Council resolved to to terminate its coalition agreement with Gasim’s Jumhooree Party.

The MDP Council claimed that “Gasim Ibrahim, without cooperating with the government, has prioritised his personal agenda over national agenda and has collaborated with the opposition, and has appeared in the media [with the intention] of objecting to the implementation of the national agenda,” according to newspaper Miadhu.

Protests

Sporadic and small-scale protests against the detention of Gasim and Yameen broke out last night across the city, but rain, roadblocks and the World Cup kept the crowds thinned.

This morning police dispersed a group of protesters who had gathered in a secure zone outside parliament, clutching hastily-written signs with slogans such as ‘Save us from the robbers’.

This afternoon there were reports of MDP-led protests against parliament near the tourist street of Chandanee Magu, the crowd including a number of former ministers as MPs Eva Abdulla and ‘Reeko’ Moosa. The opposition is reportedly planning a protest later this evening.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

A Taliban victory in Afghanistan: William Dalrymple

The respected historian of India, William Dalrymple, is predicting defeat for the US and its allies in Afghanistan, and victory for the Taliban.

“Certainly it is becoming clearer than ever that the once-hated Taliban, far from being swept away by General Stanley McChrystal’s surge, are instead regrouping, ready for the final act in the history of Hamid Karzai’s western-installed puppet government. The Taliban have now advanced out of their borderland safe havens to the very gates of Kabul and are surrounding the capital, much as the US-backed mujahedin once did to the Soviet-installed regime in the late 1980s… The Taliban already control more than 70 per cent of the country, where they collect taxes, enforce the sharia and dispense their usual rough justice. Every month, their sphere of influence increases. According to a recent Pentagon report, Karzai’s government has control of only 29 out of 121 key strategic districts…

“It appears that the Taliban have regained control of the opium-growing centre of Marjah in Helmand Province, only three months after being driven out by McChrystal’s forces amid much gung-ho cheerleading in the US media. Afghanistan is going down… It is time to shed the idea that a pro-western puppet regime that excludes the Pashtuns can remain in place indefinitely. The Karzai government is crumbling before our eyes, and if we delude ourselves that this is not the case, we could yet face a replay of 1842.”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Race for Dengue vaccine intensifies as virus hits US for first time in 65 years

US drug companies are working hard to develop a vaccine for Dengue fever, which is endemic in Maldives. Sanofi Pasteur Inc. predicts the market for a vaccine is worth up to US$1 billion per year. Dengue has now re-emerged in Florida where 28 people have been diagnosed with the disease.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Cabinet resigns in protest over opposition MPs “scorched earth” politics

The entire cabinet of the Maldives has resigned in protest against “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament, leaving only President Mohamed Nasheed and Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan in charge of the country.

Cabinet members handed Nasheed their letters of resignation this afternoon at 5:00pm in front of assembled press at the President’s Office, shortly after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Unusually, the four hour meeting was adjourned at two hours and reconvened in the President’s residence, Muleeage.

“The Majlis (parliament) is preventing the cabinet ministers from performing their legal obligations. Majlis members are behaving against the spirit and the letter of the Constitution,” the President told the media after the meeting.

“So I appeal with the honorable members of the Majlis not to muddy the waters for governance in this country and to lend us their cooperation.”

Attorney General Husnu Suood said parliament was making the country “ungovernable”.

“Every passing week, there is another attempt by opposition MPs to wrestle more control from the executive,” Suood said.

“The opposition MPs are operating a ‘scorched earth’ policy, trying to stop the government from doing any work to help the people. We have told the President that we cannot continue to work like this,” said Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, in a press statement.

Finance Minister Ali Hashim accused opposition MPs of “obstructing the business of government” by “awarding themselves powers to appoint members to independent institutions”, when this was “clearly a prerogative of the President.”

“They have declared that the government cannot raise any loans from abroad or rent any government or state asset without their say-so. And they are threatening Ministers with no confidence motions on spurious grounds,” he added.

In addition to revisions of the financial regulations, last week, parliament voted through amendments to the Civil Service Act to transfer powers of appointing members to the independent commission to a parliamentary committee.

Opposition MPs arrested

Shortly after the press conference concluded, Minivan News learned that the police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) had arrested the leaders of several opposition parties, including Jumhooree Party (JP) leader MP Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) leader MP Abdulla Yameen (DRP), who have reportedly been taken to the prison on Dhoonidhoo island.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said “police are not saying anything officially at the moment,” but suggested Minivan News could “probably report what people are saying.”

Police and MNDF are meanwhile on high alert, while DRP supporters gathered at the artifical beach area outside the party’s headquarters. Reports around 9:00pm suggested rocks had been thrown, while sensitive areas around the President’s residence and the Majlis were sealed off by police and army roadblocks.

Meanwhile, the MDP National Council adopt a resolution to terminate its coalition agreement with Gasim’s Republican Party and recommend the dismissal of the party’s political appointees to President Nasheed.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that a police and MNDF investigation of corruption in the Majlis (parliament) would likely lead to “seven or eight parliamentary by-elections.”

“There have been allegations of corruption and attempted bribery, and allegations of certain threats against the state made by ministers,” Zuhair said.

He added that the government had “full confidence” in the state and deputy ministers, civil service and the permanent secretaries to keep the country running following the resignation of the ministers.

“Their resignation forces me to investigate using the police and the Maldives National Defence Force,” the President said, noting “I am Chief of the Armed Forces.”

Nasheed said amendments to the state finance laws passed by parliament yesterday, which requires any decisions relating to the leasing of state assets to be sent to parliament for approval, “was done in the self-interest of certain MPs. You cannot run the government like that.”

The President acknowledged that there would be “difficulties” faced by the people in the absence of cabinet ministers, “but it is the parliament who brought us to this situation.”

After the press conference, President Nasheed walked to police headquarters and requested police investigate the case.

Opposition reaction

Umar Naseer, Deputy Leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) which has the most number of seats in parliament in conjunction with its coalition partner the People’s Alliance (PA), said it was “really good that the cabinet ministers finally realised they were incapable.”

”The government along with the cabinet ministers was unable to govern the country,” Umar Naseer said. ”Now it is only the president and vice president [in charge], and how can they both do something they were unable to do with ministers.”

“Tomorrow President Nasheed will resign,” Umar Naseer predicted. ”Now it is the time to hold mid-term elections.”

He said this afternoon’s decision brought the current government to the brink of becoming a dictatorship.

”The President said he would launch an investigation using Police and the MNDF. That means he will probably arrest senior opposition leaders – I am not afraid of it.”

Umar added that however much he wished otherwise, “according to the constitution the president cannot dissolve parliament.”

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan described the incident as “an international joke” that “proved the government has failed.”

”For instance: three boats are competing in a race, and one of the boat’s crew abandons their vessel leaving only the captain and his first mate,” said Nihan. ”The current government does not have the majority support of the people.”

The arrest of Yameen and Gasim was “autocratic” and “a very ugly act”, Nihan said, adding that “President Mohamed Nasheed is worse than Adolf Hitler.”

Appearing before press at an impromptu press conference this evening, DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali denied that the parliament had acted unconstitutionally.

The MP for Kendhoo argued that the government could have filed cases at the Supreme Court to decide on constitutional matters submit issues of in lieu of the mass resignations.

Thasmeen said the sudden arrests of MPs was not in the public interest, adding that the resignations showed that the government had ‘failed.’

Deadlocked

Parliament voted 47-11 yesterday in favour of an amendment bill that would allow them to veto every lease or loan agreement made between the government and an overseas party, allowing them to effectively prevent the government from privatising assets such as Male’ International Airport.

On Sunday a signing agreement between the government and GMR Infrastructure-Malaysia Airport Holdings to manage Male’ International Airport was scuttled in front of the waiting media, after a reported dispute among board members of the incumbent Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) over who would sign the document.

That evening, four opposition parties including the DRP, PA, JP and DQP signed an agreement to oppose the airport deal on nationalistic grounds, and the following day parliament passed the amendment bill allowing the Majlis to veto any such project.

The government nonetheless reshuffled the MACL board members and proceeded with the signing ceremony on Monday evening. However today it was reported that the opposition parties had filed a civil court action seeking an injunction to block the deal going ahead.

Sources in the President’s Office suggested “this was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back” and led to this evening’s Executive outburst against the Majlis.

Other possible causes include a recent no-confidence motion levelled at Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy by Independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib, after the Ministry’s steering committee proposed make the Islam and Dhivehi subjects optional at A-Level.

Former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, who had previously released audit reports alleging rampant corruption in the former government, was also dismissed by parliament shortly after announcing a financial audit of current and former government ministers, including former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. However the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reported to parliament that Naeem had misused a government credit card to purchase transport and a tie, and he was removed from office.

Last year a no-confidence motion against the Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed was narrowly defeated, after the government sought to renewed diplomatic relations with Israel.

Note: Minivan News apologises for earlier disruption to the site following publication of this report. At peak demand we were receiving 200 requests a second, critically overloading the website’s database.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)