Tag: mohamed fahmy hassan

Disgraced former CSC chair appointed as high commissioner

The parliament today approved the disgraced former chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy Hassan as the new high commissioner to Malaysia.

Fahmy’s nomination was approved with 41 votes in favour, 13 against, and one abstention.

The parliament had removed Fahmy from the CSC in 2012 after he was found to have sexually harassed a female staff member, but the Supreme Court blocked the dismissal as “unconstitutional.”

Upon assuming office in November 2013, President Yameen appointed Fahmy as the deputy high commissioner to Malaysia.

In late May, the foreign ministry recalled former high commissioner Mohamed Fayaz from Malaysia saying he had failed to “adequately promote Maldives’ foreign policy interests in Malaysia.”

The Supreme Court overruling parliament’s dismissal of Fahmy had meanwhile led to both Fahmy and his replacement Fathimath Reeni Abdul Sattar arriving for work.

The CSC eventually blocked Fahmy from accessing its offices in September 2013. A source said Fahmy’s fingerprint access was rescinded after the former commissioner continued to come to the office for a few minutes every day.

Fahmy was alleged to have called a female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

In response to the allegations, Fahmy told Minivan News previously that the female staff member had made up the allegation after she learned she had not won a scholarship to Singapore offered by the CSC.

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Disgraced ex CSC chair to be appointed high commissioner to Malaysia

President Abdulla Yameen has nominated the disgraced former chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as the new high commissioner to Malaysia.

Mohamed Fahmy Hassan was removed from the CSC by parliament in 2012 after he was found to have sexually harassed a female staff member, but the Supreme Court had blocked the dismissal as “unconstitutional.”

Upon assuming office in November 2013, President Yameen appointed Fahmy as the deputy high commissioner to Malaysia.

In late May, the foreign ministry recalled former high commissioner Mohamed Fayaz from Malaysia saying he had failed to “adequately promote Maldives’ foreign policy interests in Malaysia.”

Fahmy was nominated for parliamentary approval today. The parliament will vote on the appointment following evaluation of the nominee by the national security committee.

The Supreme Court overruling parliament’s dismissal of Fahmy had meanwhile led to both Fahmy and his replacement Fathimath Reeni Abdul Sattar arriving for work.

The CSC eventually blocked Fahmy from accessing its offices in September 2013. A source said Fahmy’s fingerprint access was rescinded after the former commissioner continued to come to the office for a few minutes every day.

Fahmy was alleged to have called a female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

In response to the allegations, Fahmy told Minivan News previously that the female staff member had made up the allegation after she learned she had not won a scholarship to Singapore offered by the CSC.

Correction: this article previously said that President Yameen had appointed Fahmy as high commissioner to Malaysia. This is incorrect. The president had only nominated Fahmy’s name.

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Dr Latheef cannot be sworn in to JSC due to Supreme Court judgment: President’s Office

Cabinet Secretary Dr Abdulla Nazeer told parliament’s Government Oversight Committee on Thursday (October 24) that the President’s Office could not organise a swearing-in ceremony to formalise Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair Dr Mohamed Latheef’s appointment to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) due to a Supreme Court ruling declaring that parliament’s removal of former CSC Chair Mohamed Fahmy Hassan was unconstitutional.

Dr Latheef was appointed chair of the CSC by parliament in August with 60 votes in favour. While the chair of the CSC is also an ex-officio member of the JSC, Dr Latheef has yet to be formally appointed to the judicial watchdog body by the President’s Office.

Responding to queries regarding the delay from MPs on the oversight committee last week, President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s cabinet secretary said that the Attorney General had advised that Dr Latheef could not be sworn in to the JSC due to the Supreme Court judgment.

Dr Nazeer repeatedly insisted that a solution to the impasse must be found either by the People’s Majlis or the Supreme Court.

Asked who the current chair of the CSC was, Nazeer replied: “To tell you truth, I do not know. So someone should clear this up.”

While he was unaware which of the two received the salary and benefits of the CSC chair, Nazeer said the President’s Office does not state the name of the commission’s chair in official correspondence with the CSC.

In November last year parliament voted 38–32 in favour of removing Fahmy after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment lodged by a female CSC employee.

The Supreme Court however overruled parliament in March this year on the grounds that the committee allegedly violated due process and criminal justice procedures in its sexual harassment inquiry, and that Fahmy would receive two punishments for the same crime if he was convicted at court (double jeopardy).

Parliament had approved a replacement for Fahmy – Fathmath Renee Abdul Sattar – in August this year with 51 votes in favour and none against. However, shortly before a swearing-in ceremony at the President’s Office to present Renee her credentials, the Supreme Court issued an injunction to block her appointment.

However, the following day Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain accused his own court of issuing the injunction without his knowledge.

Former JSC member Aishath Velazinee has argued that the Majlis was given authority over CSC appointments in 2010, describing the Supreme Court’s move as a “mutiny”.

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MDP protest against Supreme Court

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) held a peaceful street protest on Friday (March 22) against the Supreme Court following two controversial rulings against parliament.

Starting from Usfasgandhu, roughly 400 protesters led by former President Mohamed Nasheed took part in the demonstration calling for authorities to refrain from undermining parliament.

Local media reported that the protesters stopped near the Supreme Court to voice their opinions, further calling for the Supreme Court bench to be abolished and the resignation of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

On March 14, Supreme Court declared two decisions made by parliament last year as unconstitutional.

According to the court ruling, parliament’s decision to remove Civil Service Commission President Mohamed Fahmy Hassan over allegations of sexual harassment and to conduct no-confidence votes through secret ballot violated the Maldives constitution.

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Supreme Court overturns parliament’s dismissal of CSC Chair Mohamed Fahmy for sexual harrasment

President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy Hassan has returned to office after Supreme Court ruled that parliament’s decision to remove him was unconstitutional.

The CSC confirmed to local media on Sunday (March 17) that Fahmy had returned to work after he had been dismissed by parliament in late November last year.

In November last year, parliament voted 38 – 32 to remove the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment lodged by a female employee of the CSC.

On Thursday (March 14), Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that Fahmy would receive two punishments for the same crime if he was convicted at court following his dismissal by parliament (double jeopardy).

Following the judgment, Fahmy would be reinstated and compensated for lost wages since December 2012.

Delivering the judgment, Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Saeed reportedly said that a person should be considered innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law and was entitled to protect his reputation and dignity.

Fahmy was alleged to have to have said to a female CSC employee that “it is not appealing when unmarried girls like you get fat”, whilst touching her on the stomach.

Following Fahmy reinstatement, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali today tweeted: “Majlis n civil servants have lost confidence in Mr. Fahmy, President of CSC. In the national interest, he should resign.”

Supreme Court ruling will encourage sexual harassment: NGO

Maldives-based NGO Voice of Women (VoW) expressed its disappointment with the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the verdict on Fahmy’s dismissal last year.

In a statement published on its website, VoW accused the Supreme Court Justices of having let down the women of the Maldives.

“In a small country like Maldives, where women are terrified to come forward and report cases of sexual abuse, domestic violence or sexual harassment, it took great courage for a girl to step forward and report this case against Mr. Fahmy,” the statement reads.

“By reinstating Mr. Fahmy, after disregarding the Parliamentary no confidence vote, all the women working in Civil Service are in danger of being victims of sexual harassment, as women will be even more reluctant than before to come forward and report such cases.”

VoW raised further concern regarding Fahmy’s seat on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), claiming that he is in a position to “influence the judiciary”.

“As Parliament had dismissed heads of independent commissions in the past with votes of no-confidence (eg Auditor-General on 28 March 2010) without any prior court case, VoW is extremely concerned that this ruling is highly irregular and departs from previously established norms and procedures,” the VoW statement reads.

“VoW calls upon the Parliament of Maldives to exercise its rights as per article 187 of the constitution and immediately take action to remove Mr. Fahmy (whom the parliament members as representatives of the people, do not have confidence in, and who they believe women employees will not be safe with) from his reinstated position.”

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Former CSC head claims dismissal was politicised

Former Head of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy Hassan has told the Supreme Court that his dismissal was politically motivated.

According to local media, Fahmy told the Supreme Court that he was dismissed because he had refused to decrease the number of civil servants to 15,000 from 32,000 and because he had raised his voice to reinstate the salaries of civil servants.

Fahmy’s lawyer told the court that the parliament conducted a criminal investigation into Fahmy despite not having the jurisdiction to conduct such investigations.

Parliament’s Counselor General Fathmath Filza was present at the court to represent the parliament.

The Supreme Court has previously ordered parliament’s independent commissions committee to send it all minutes relating to Fahmy’s case.

However, the committee decided not to send the minutes to the court the sources who spoke to the committee spoke on condition that their names would not be disclosed.

Chair of the Committee MP Mohamed Nasheed told the press at the time that if documents containing confidential information were sent to a court open to the public, the information would also be open to the public.

On November 20, parliament voted that Fahmy be dismissed from his position as the President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), on charges of sexual harassment against a female employee.

The incident occurred on May 29, 2012, when Fahmy allegedly called the female staff member over to him, took her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

Local media at the time reported that the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

In response to the allegations Fahmy told Minivan News at the time that the female staff member had invented the allegations after she discovered she had not received a scholarship to Singapore offered by the CSC.

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CSC claims ministers, councilors can’t take action against civil servants

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has claimed that according to the law the commission is the only body with the legal authority to dismiss or suspend a civil servant.

The commission has claimed that the councilor of Dhiyamigili in Thaa Atoll asked a civil servant to stay at home, an accusation which led to the Home Minister Mohamed Shihab being summoned to the parliament and questioned by Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ilham Ahmed.

Ilham on Monday asked the minister if a person in a political post could send a civil servant home.

The CSC released a statement which cited the minister as saying ”since a government’s office is established to provide services for the people, and as it’s the responsibility of the highest rank person at the time to manage it, I believe action could be taken.”

The CSC however claimed that “as article 46 [a] of the Civil Servant Act says, it is only the CSC who has legal authority to suspend a civil servant with or without salary. Ministers and councilors who are not among civil servants cannot ban a civil servant from coming to work,” the statement said.

Spokesperson for the CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the Home Ministry said had misled the people and claimed it was unlawful.

”If someone disrupts the peace, there are concerned authorities people should inform,” Fahmy said, ”there are departments with the authority to arrest and detain people. ”

He said that the commission never demanded or threatened any staff into joining a particular politcal party.

”The commission has never threatened a staff member hat he would be dismissed if does not join this party or that party,” he said. ”When we receive reports that a civil servant has broken the law, then we will take immediate action. ”

He notes that the councilor was not the authorised person to take action against the civil servant.

Island councilor for Dhiyamigili Adnan Ali said that it was the island chief who was asked to stay at home. But he did not give further information as he was ”very busy at the moment.”

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