Tag: minivan

Voter re-registration exceeds expectations: EC

The number of voters re-registering to vote in locations other than their home islands has exceeded predictions, reports the Elections Commission (EC).

The EC said that by the closure of the August 8 deadline, 65,745 people had re-registered, surpassing original estimates of 65,000, “a great response”.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told local media 61,130 re-registrations had been completed, and was waiting to receive 3115 forms from resorts and political parties, and a further 1500 from the islands, but warned that incomplete or invalid forms could change the final tally.

The EC will publish the final voter registry on August 20.

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Court extends detention of man accused of beating wife unconscious

Police have arrested a 33 year-old man charged with physically abusing his wife on Vilingili in Gaaf Alif Atoll, reports Haveeru, after the wife’s family reported the abuse.

The Vilingili magistrate court extended the detention of Ahmed Mueed by 15 days, while the woman has been hospitalised in Male.

Haveeru reported the victim’s brother as alleging that the woman was severely bruised and unable to speak properly, after Mueed beat her unconscious in front of their four year-old step daughter.

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Campaigns, celebrations and a supposedly vehicle-free evening: Eid in Male’

The Maldives celebrated Fitr Eid on Thursday, August 8 with Eid prayers at the Maafannu stadium, state organised parades, music shows, traditional games and vehicle-free streets.

Several presidential candidates contesting in the September 7 presidential elections also organised separate events on the day.

Vehicle-free?

In celebration of Fitr Eid Male’ City Council, the Transport Authority and the Maldives Police Service declared that motorised vehicles would not be allowed to drive on the streets of the capital city Male’ and Hulhumale’ between 4-10pm on Thursday.

A message tweeted by the official Twitter account of the police, which was later deleted, stated “Fitr Eid to be a day of no motorists so violators will be persecuted”, with an attached statement reading that any motorists driving without a special permit from the Transport Authority would be prosecuted under the Transport Act.

According to Transport Authority records by late 2011 the number of motorcycles alone in Male’ – an island with an area of 5.8 square kilometres and populated by over 103,000 people according to a 2006 census – will be 42,062.

Residents of the highly congested city anticipate the annual traffic-free event, and as a results the streets are filled with persons of all ages.

Despite the cautionary announcements, Minivan News spotted a number of motorcycles and a large number of private cars on the streets during the time allocated for the ‘no vehicle’ event.

In addition to this, Minivan News also observed three state vehicles accompanying President Mohamed Waheed’s coalition-organised walk with his political supporters.

One incident observed by Minivan News occurred at 6.15pm on Medhuziyaaraiy Magu.

In one instance, a white police van containing four male officers wearing the camouflage uniform of Special Operations forces drove down Medhuziyaaraiy Magu at 6:15pm at high speed without warning siren or flashing lights, swerving through about a dozen young children on toy vehicles and their families.

Parents pulled children out of the way of the police van with seconds to spare and turned around and stared at the police van in shock. A number of parents started making comments about the “reckless behaviour” of the police force.

The police van stopped about 12 feet away, and the four police officers stared back at the families. The officers spoke amongst themselves and seemed amused. When none of the gathered parents made any move towards the vehicle, the officers laughed loudly, waved and made gestures with their hands at the shocked pedestrians before speeding away in the same manner.

One of the parents present at the place told Minivan News, “I am shocked and outraged, but I shouldn’t be. I already knew we are in a police state, and what better can I expect when I am marking Eid in what is now their country.”

“Look at the state the security forces are in. This country needs a complete overhaul of its systems. Leave aside protecting us from petty criminals, we need to first think of how to protect ourselves and our kids from the police themselves,” said another young mother.

“Why bother having a traffic free Eid in name alone if the police are going to speed around crazily, if every government car is allowed on the street, not to mention half the private cars. This event is a farce, just like everything else in this country. Anyway, I spotted that police van’s license plate number, I’ll see if the Police Integrity Commission has anything to say about this,” another pedestrian added.

A police media official told Minivan News that “police will always keep foremost a concern for public safety, even if trying to reach a crime scene as quick and possible”, adding that such incidents would not occur.

Once the license plate number was shared, the official denied that the said police van had been on the streets at the time of the incident, adding that he would look into it.

According to police, 41 people were fined for unauthorised use of vehicles.

Campaigning on Eid

Following Eid prayers, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, former President Mohamed Nasheed and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom separately met with citizens to exchange Eid greetings.

President Waheed received people at the former Presidential Palace of Muleeaage, and was accompanied by First Lady Ilham Hussain.

Former President and Leader of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom held an Eid greetings event at Nasandhura Palace Hotel.

In addition to his wife, Nasreena Ibrahim, PPM’s Presidential Candidate and Gayyoom’s half brother Abdulla Yameen and his running mate Mohamed Jameel Ahmed also joined him in greeting ministers, former state officials and members of the public.

Former President and Presidential Candidate Mohamed Nasheed conveyed Eid greetings outside Bandaara Mosque directly after joining Eid prayers.

During the allocated traffic free hours, both President Waheed and the Jumhooree Coalition’s Presidential Candidate Gasim Ibrahim held separate walks on the streets of Male’ with their supporters.

The Jumhoree Party also organised an “entertainment afternoon” for children as part of the party’s Eid celebrations.

Celebrations broken up by Police

While a large crowd gathered in Henveiru for a grand ‘Eid Show’ organised by local telecom operator Dhiraagu, a number of smaller celebrations were broken up by police.

An attendee at a show held on Fareedhee Magu told Minivan News that police had split up their show, with one officer stating that it was “un-Islamic” to enjoy music and dancing on Eid.

A traditional game on Eid is called ‘fenkulhi’ [watergame], where coloured water is thrown at each other by friends and neighbours.

The game was played at a number of locations around Male’, with one photo circulating on social media showing MDP candidate Nasheed joining a group of youngsters in the game.

An eyewitness told Minivan News that one such group playing in Maafannu ward of Male’ was ordered by police to stop playing the game. He also alleged police had “roughed up the boys unnecessarily”.

A police media official denied any such incidents.

“I don’t think anything like that happened. I mean, there are no records of such events,” he said.

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No new Home Minister to be appointed before election: President

President Mohamed Waheed has dismissed the possibility of appointing a minister of Home Affairs – with oversight of the police – before elections in September, reports Sun Online.

Former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel was dismissed from the position after he sided with Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Yameen, later defecting from his own Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and becoming Yameen’s running mate.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Ahmed Shafeeu has since served as acting minister.

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Kolamaafushi voting venue painted yellow reports Sun Online, “orange” says Island Council President

A ballot box on the island of Kolamaafushi in Gaafu Alifu Atoll is to be placed in a building that has been painted yellow, reports Sun Online.

Citing an island council source, Sun reported that the island’s number two ballot box was to be placed in the building used by the island’s women’s committee.

Yellow is the party colour of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), members of which make up four of the island’s five council members responsible for designating the voting venues.

The island’s other ballot box is to be hosted in the island’s school, however the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has reportedly lobbied the Elections Commission requesting the box instead be placed in the campaign hall of President Mohamed Waheed’s ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition.

According to Sun, President of Kolamaafushi Council Ahmed Jameel contended that the fence of the offending building was in fact orange.

The PPM in June called for a cease-fire in the so-called ‘paint war’ between rival political supporters, with buildings, walls and even plant-life being painted in party colours.

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Gayoom to tour northern atolls for PPM

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is campaigning in the north of the Maldives on behalf of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)’s presidential candidate, Abdulla Yameen.

Local media reports that Gayoom will visit Kinolhas, Alifushi and Dhuvaafaru in Raa Atoll, Funadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll, Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll and Dhidhdhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll.

PPM Spokesperson, MP Ahmed Mahlouf, told local media that Gayoom would be accompanied by Yameen and his running mate, former Home Minister and former Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) deputy, Dr Mohamed Jameel.

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Gayoom’s brother-in-law Ilyas Ibrahim declares support for Jumhoree Party

The brother-in-law of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Ilyas Ibrahim, has declared his intention to back Jumhoree Party (JP) presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim in the upcoming elections.

“Ilyas Ibrahim is one of the senior most politicians in the Maldives. He is saying that he will support Gasim Ibrahim and Hassan Saeed this time. We will even hold a ceremony in connection to this very soon,” a JP spokesperson told local newspaper Haveeru.

Ilyas, who held multiple ministerial portfolios under Gayoom’s government, quit Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) in July, after publicly accusing the party of disrupting President Mohamed Waheed’s coalition.

At the time Ilyas backed Umar Naseer, the former Deputy Leader of the PPM who was expelled after accusing its presidential candidate and half-brother of Gayoom, Abulla Yameen, of rigging the party’s primaries.

Following the defeat, Naseer claimed he had to battle the “entire machine” of the party during the primary, claiming that his opponent had every advantage in the race.

“Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s children were with Yameen, the largest gangsters in the country were with Yameen, all the drug cartels in the country were with Yameen, the most corrupted people were with Yameen, the whole elections committee was with Yameen and a large chunk of PPM’s parliament members gathered around Yameen,” he told the press at the time, before declaring his support for Gasim’s campaign.

The resort tycoon’s ‘Jumhoree coalition’ also includes the religious Adhaalath Party and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), who last month defected from President Mohamd Waheed’s own coalition.
Gasim has meanwhile positioned the coalition as defenders of Islam and nationalism. Speaking at a recent rally the resort tycoon took credit for the article in the new constitution tying Maldivian citizenship to being Sunni Muslim.

“I made the proposition to include the article demanding that every Maldivian citizen must be a Muslim. I did this by invoking the powers vested to the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly under the previous constitution,” Gasim said.

Meanwhile as head of the Villa resort chain Gasim remains one of the country’s single largest importers of alcohol, with customs records for 2011 revealing that his hotels – including the Royal, Paradise, Sun, and Holiday Island resorts – imported approximately 121,234.51 litres of beer, 2048 litres of whiskey, 3684 litres of vodka and 219.96 kilograms of pork sausages annually, among other haram (prohibited) commodities restricted to ‘uninhabited’ islands.

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Islamic Ministry declares Thursday August 8 Eid-ul-Fitr

The Islamic Ministry has declared that Eid-ul-Fitr will take place tomorrow, Thursday August 8.

Eid-ul-Fitr is the celebration marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

President Dr Mohamed Waheed will receive members of the public at Muleaage to exchange Eid greetings tomorrow morning from 9:30am, according to the President’s Office website, and then address the nation at 11:00am.

The event is open to members of foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations in Male, according to the President’s office.

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Police search 1100 expatriate workers in hunt for rapist

Police have searched more than 1100 expatriate workers in an ongoing hunt for a foreign national accused of raping a 19 year-old Maldivian girl in Hulhumale last weekend.

The victim was snatched from the street and raped her in some bushes near Reethi Gas Magu Road. at around 9:30am on Saturday.

Police have not revealed the attacker’s nationality, but have described him as 5 feet 7 inches in height with shortly trimmed hair, last seen on the 10:00am Saturday ferry to Male nursing a badly-injured left forefinger.

According to a police statement, 334 workers were search in 23 locations on Hulhumale, 400 in Male, and 438 on the industrial island of Thilafushi.

Police said many people who travelled on the 10:00am ferry would have seen the suspect, and asked for anybody with more information to contact either the main police line (332 2111) or the serious and organised crime department on 991 1099.

The incident was the second of three rapes to be reported in less than a week.

On July 30 police arrested four men and one minor in connection with the gang rape of a 17 year-old girl on the island of Milandhoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

The victim was abducted, gang raped and filmed by a ‘large group’ of men, after she was abducted while walking home after attending a tuition class.

Two more suspects have since been arrested.

On July 27 an underage female was reportedly raped in a house in Male’, where she had gone to meet a friend.

Family and Child Protection Department Head, Chief Inspector Hassan Shifau said when the victim arrived at house there were three males in a room waiting for her, who threatened her, forced her to smoke cigarettes, and then forced her to have sex with them and filmed the incident.

Police have since arrested four males in connection with the incident, including two minors.

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