Tag: MP

Parliament discusses creation of new ministries

Parliament this morning sent the Vice President and cabinet ministers’ appointment to the Government Oversight Committee, during the second sitting of the first session of the year.

Deputy Speaker of parliament Ahmed Nazim led the sitting this morning and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs have been cooperating, although the MDP Parliamentary Group has decided not to cooperate with any bills sent to the parliament by the government alleging that the current government is unconstitutional.

The constitution obliges the President to submit the cabinet ministers appointment to the parliament within seven days of making appointments for approval.

Deputy Speaker Nazim today at the starting of the parliament meeting announced that many resolutions submitted to the parliament during the days of former President Mohamed Nasheed had been withdrawn by the MPs who presented those resolutions.

During today’s sitting parliament debated an the issue sent by the government to bring amendments to the government infrastructure.

The new government has proposed to change the names of the Ministry of Health and Family to the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Housing and Environment to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.

The government has also proposed to create two new Ministries called the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights, and the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Speaking during the parliament sitting MDP Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manki contended that the annual budget approved by parliament did not have the funds to create the new two ministries, and that if those two ministries were created it would be an unlawful action.

He said that if the government created the two new ministries it would be a violation of the budget approved by parliament, and that it would prove to the citizens that this is an unconstitutional government.

Jumhoree Party (JP) Leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim responded saying that although the budget approved for the year did not have the budget to create two new ministries, the ministries could be created by borrowing money from the budget already allocated for the Health Ministry and Housing Ministry.

Gasim said the money could be taken from the state contingency budget as well, and said there was no legal obstruction in creating the new two ministries.

Parliament’s first sitting of the first session for the year was disrupted by MDP MPs who staged protest inside the parliament following the alleged coup.

MDP MPs obstructed President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan from delivering his presidential address to the opening session of parliament, contending that his appointment was illegitimate as former President Mohamed Nasheed had been forced to resign in a police and military-led coup.

During a second attempt on March 19, Dr Waheed was able to deliver a truncated version of his address, over the heckling of MDP MPs and large protest gatherings outside.

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More MPs could desert MDP for Gasim’s JP, claims MDP MP

A member of MDP parliamentary group has told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that it is “very likely” that at least two more MPs could desert the party and join Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party (JP).

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Abdulraheem rejoined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) earlier this week, a year after leaving his original party while it was in opposition.

A JP council member told private broadcaster DhiTV that two Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs were to join the party next month.

Minivan News’s source alleged the MPs could include MP for Nolhivaram constituency, Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed, and MDP MP for Mid-Fuvamulah Shifaq ‘Histo’ Mufeed.

‘’These are the two names that have been rumored, it is possible that they may leave MDP and join JP,’’ he said. ‘’They are close to JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim and they are personal friends.’’

The source suggested that although current rumours suggested that MDP Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy was also going to leave MDP, it was unlikely “as long as he is in the position of Deputy Leader.’’

Alhan came to MDP after the then-opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) decided to take action against him after he voted in favor of the then-Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, in a no-confidence motion in parliament to oust him.

The source also said it was unlikely that MDP MP for Thoddoo constituency Ali Waheed who was a former Deputy Leader of DRP, would leave MDP.

‘’The story inside MDP is that Colonel Nasheed and Shifaq are planning to join Gasim, who has been acting very proud lately telling everyone that he was the one who ousted both former Presdient Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and former President Mohamed Nasheed,’’ he said, adding that Gasim had also been boasting that he would ousted the present government and become president.

The source said the traumatic ousting of the MDP had brought the whole party behind former President Nasheed, and that the MDP remained proud of him.

Asked to respond to reports that they were considering joining the JP, MP ‘Colonel’ Nasheed told Minivan News that there was “nothing to talk about”, while Shifaq had not responded to calls at time of press.

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MDP MP Abdulla Abdulraheem rejoins DRP

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Abdulraheem has rejoined the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), a year after leaving his original party while it was in opposition.

Raheem joined the MDP in the footsteps of former DRP Deputy Leader, now MDP MP Ali Waheed, former DRP Sports Wing head Hassan Shujau, and deputy head Assad ‘Adubarey’ Ali.

On Tuesday late afternoon at the DRP Office there was a small ceremony to mark his signing and a meeting afterwards with the press.

Speaking at the meeting, Raheem said he came back to DRP because his views did not match those of the MDP leadership, and because he felt that in the future the number of MDP supporters would deteriorate.

When a journalist asked him whether he believed that the current government was legitimate, he replied that he was obliged to stay behind the stand of DRP after signing with the party.

Raheem also said that he believed that the current government was constitutional and was formed according to the law.

MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa today told Minivan News that Raheem’s resignation from MDP was “regrettable”.

‘’We are in a very difficult situation and he worked with us very well,’’ Musthafa said. ‘’I don’t think that any of the MDP members saw this coming.’’

Musthafa said he think that Raheem left MDP because he wanted to stay with the government at the time.

‘’But his action will make his constituents lose confidence with him, and if he is to run for the parliament election next time I do not think he can win the seat,’’ he said. ‘’More than 70 percent of Male’ citizens are MDP supporters.’’

Musthafa described the move as a “big challenge” to Raheem’s political career.

MDP Spokesperson and MP Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy said he would not like to comment on the matter.

‘’We did not have a clue that this was about to happen,’’ he said. ‘’But there are people like that who come and go.’’

MDP current Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy is also from DRP, along with figures such as Ali Waheed and Shujau.

Alhan joined MDP in February 2010, after DRP Disciplinary Committee decided to take action against him for voting against a no-confidence motion passed to the parliament by the then-opposition to oust the then-Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

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MMA accepts MDP MP Musthafa’s BCCI debt after the court rejected the money

The Civil Court has refused to accept payment of the debt it had ordered paid by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa, after the ruling against him was last week upheld by the Supreme Court.

The case had been filed against him by Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Deptuy Leader Umar Naseer, and the ruling meant that Musthafa was disqualified as an MP for the former ruling party, forcing a by-election in his seat of Thimarafushi.

Musthafa this morning sent a person to pay the debt to the court – a loan of US$31,231.66 (Rf 481,952) borrowed from the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).

The Civil Court has confirmed that a person had sought to pay the debt on Musthafa’s behalf, after the Supreme Court ruling did not mention that the money was to be paid to the former ‘Madhanee’, or Civil, Court.

Until President Nasheed signed the Judicature Act into law last year, the official name of the Civil Court had been Madhanee Court – ‘madhanee’ being the Arabic word for ‘civil’.

MDP MP Musthafa today told Minivan News that he had been trying to pay the money every day since losing the caase last Friday, but said the court had not accepted it.

‘’Today I thought I would inform that media and send someone to the court to pay the money, and the court did not accept it again,’’ Musthafa said. ‘’I wrote a letter to the court but they did not respond to it.’’

Later today, Musthafa said the Civil Court registrar had called him and met with him, and said the Supreme Court’s ruling did not specify who the recipient of the money was to be, and that the Civil Court did not know what they should do with it, Musthafa said.

‘’The Supreme Court told me to get assistance from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Attorney General,’’ he said. ‘’So then I sent the money to the MMA, and the MMA has received the money.’’

He also said that tomorrow he will file a case in the Civil Court asking the court to order the MMA to pay him the US$500,000 that the BCCI was obliged to pay Musthafa, in a separate case concerning the supply of meat and other goods.

‘’They have today proved that the MMA are the live parent of BCCI [despite BCCI being defunct],’’ he said. ‘’This is funny to me – because when they have to pay me something owed by BCCI, they deny they are the live parent, but when I have something to pay to BCCI they become the live parent of BCCI.’’

In November last year Musthafa threatened legal action against the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) if it did not pay the US$500,000 that BCCI owed his company Seafood International, alleging that the sum was due to be paid to his company according to a 1991 London court ruling.

Citing MMA as the “live branch of BCCI in the Maldives,” Musthafa previously stated that “the debt of a dead person has to be paid by a living legal parent.”

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Chief Judge of the Criminal Court to sue MDP MP

Chief of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed has decided to sue Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ibrahim ‘Bonda’ Rasheed for defamation following comments he made in parliament yesterday.

Speaking at the parliament meeting yesterday Rasheed referred to Judge Abdulla as the ‘’big thief ‘’ who has hijacked the parliament as well as parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid.

Rasheed also said it is time for citizens to come out and demolish the courts.

‘’The citizens do not have justice, the laws were made to provide justice,’’ he said. ‘’The constitution was made to provide justice, but we don’t have it.’’

He also said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Judicial Administration want to depart on trips abroad as soon as they get the money allocated for them in the annual budget.

Today Judge Abdulla Mohamed told Minivan News that he is currently examining the case in order to sue Rasheed.

‘’I don’t have any further comments to make at this time,’’ he said.

Local media reported that the Judge had told local media that comments MP Rasheed made were against Islamic principles.

Newspaper Haveeru reported that Judge Abdulla said everyone’s good name has to be protected and that he was currently examining the case to sue him.

Speaking at the Parliament Rasheed also accused Jumhoory Party leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim of funding terrorists, and called for the accounts of persons doing illegal business to be frozen.

Today in a text message, Rasheed accused Judge Abdulla of bringing islanders from his island for the December 23 ‘Defend Islam’ protest while accusing Gasim of sending money in envelopes.

Rasheed also said he has evidence that Judge Abdulla decided to sue him according to Gasim’s order, adding that he has decided to send a case against Gasim to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

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MP beaten and handed to police semi-naked after alleged extra-marital affair

Independent MP Ahmed Amir was assaulted by a group of people around 3:00am in the morning last Thursday, following allegations that the MP for Kudahuvadhoo was caught with a married woman in a residence in the Maafanu ward of Male’.

The MP was reportedly severely beaten and handed over to police semi-naked before dawn on Thursday, and has now flown to Sri Lanka for treatment.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that MP Amir insisted that the allegations against him were completely false.

“The [attackers] called police at the time, so officers went there and brought MP Amir in for questioning,” Shiyam explained. “Both parties have reported the same case differently, MP Amir said he was stopped and attacked while he was passing by, while the group claims that he slept with the wife of another man.”

Amir had bruises on his face and suffered other injuries, he added, stating that police were investigating the case.

A ruling party MP told Minivan News today on condition of anonymity that the incident occurred when MP Amir was caught with the woman by her family.

“Then they attacked him and this really happened, according to what I know,” he said.

MP Amir was meanwhile was unavailable for comment as both his mobile numbers were temporarily disconnected.

Amir however told local media that he was grabbed by a group of men while passing by a road near Indira Gandi Memorial Hsopital (IGMH), taken inside a room, stripped and beaten up.

Amir claimed the attackers robbed him of his mobile phone and wallet before turning him in to police.

Secretary General of Parliament Ahmed Mohamed told Minivan News that Amir was not arrested and police therefore did not inform the secretariat about the incident.

According to parliamentary rules of procedure, police have to inform the parliament if they intended to arrest an MP and escort him to parliament sittings before a court decided on his or her case.

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Civil Court orders MDP Chairman Reeko Moosa to pay Rf2.9 million in three months

The Civil Court has today ordered Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik to settle an outstanding debt of Rf2.9 million to Caterpillar Financial Service’s Asia Branch within three months.

Caterpillar claimed that in 2007 Heavy Load Maldives – a family business of the Hulhu-Henveiru MP – took a loan of US$700,000 (Rf10.5 million at the current exchange rate) from Caterpillar, which was co-signed by Moosa.

Caterpillar said at the Civil Court that Heavy Load had not settled the debt and requested Moosa be ordered to pay the loan as the co-signatory.

Delivering the verdict, Judge Mariyam Nihayath said that in the agreement made between Moosa and Caterpillar, Moosa had also agreed to pay a compensation fee plus the amount paid to hire a lawyer without any obligations.

Judge Nihayath ordered Moosa to pay the total amount which is Rf2.9 million in three months.

However, following the court ruling Moosa expressed concern and criticized the judiciary saying that the judiciary was like a “mad lion.’’

MDP official website quoted him saying that the court should not order him to pay the money without ordering Heavy Load Company to pay the loan.

The former MDP parliamentary group leader told the ruling party’s website that today’s ruling gave him more courage to continue the work to free the judiciary and make it independent.

He also said that Civil Court was issuing such rulings because Moosa and his lawyer Hassan Afeef was publicly advocating judicial reform. .

According to the constitution, if a MP has a decreed debt and is not paying the debt according to the court ruling, he will be disqualified and lose his seat in parliament.

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PPM to officially create party this month

Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) will hold an official party creation meeting on October 15. The party is headed by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

PPM interim spokesperson MP Ahmed Mahloof told newspaper Haveeru that the meeting’s agenda includes electing an interim governing body, endorsing the party logo, flag and manifesto, and finalising the party’s charter.

The Maldives’ political parties regulation requires 300 members at a registration meeting. On September 20, PPM applied for registration with 3,600 signatures.

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Civil court rejects legal challenge to MPs’ committee allowance

The Civil Court today rejected a case filed on behalf of a civil servant challenging the legality of controversial Rf20,000-a-month committee allowances for MPs.

A group of concerned civil servants filed the case on behalf of Maah Jabeen, Seenu Maradhoo Fenzeemaage, arguing that releasing funds for committee allowance without reimbursing civil servants for amounts deducted from their 2010 salaries violated constitutional provisions on fairness and equal treatment.

On 26 September, the civil court issued an injunction prohibiting the Finance Ministry from releasing funds to parliament until the court delivered a judgment on the case.

In October 2009 – almost a year into the new administration – unpopular pay cuts of up to 15 percent for civil servants were enforced as part of austerity measures to alleviate the country’s ballooning budget deficit.

The austerity measures were met with a severe political backlash. In December 2009, the opposition-controlled parliament added Rf800 million (US$62 million) to the 2010 state budget, including the restoration of civil servant salaries to previous levels.

In January 2010, however, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury refused to restore the salaries after just three months of the cost-cutting measure.

After weeks of legal wrangling with the parliament-appointed Civil Service Commission (CSC), the ministry accused the independent commission of hiding “a political agenda”, and in February 2010 filed a case with the police asking them to investigate it on suspicion of trying to topple the government “and plunge the Maldives into chaos.”

At the height of the dispute in early 2010, permanent secretaries at ministries were ordered to submit different wage sheets by both the Finance Ministry and the CSC.

In April 2010, the Civil Court ruled that Finance Ministry did not have the legal authority to overrule the CSC. Although the government contested the ruling and refused to restore salaries to previous levels, the High Court upheld the lower court ruling in May this year.

Meanwhile in the verdict issued today, the Civil Court noted that the state had appealed the High Court ruling at the Supreme Court, which has since agreed to hear the case.

The court ruled that there were no legal grounds to order the Finance Ministry not to release the funds to parliament as the two budget items in question were “not in the same state or condition.”

Civic action

After parliament’s Public Accounts Committee decided to issue the committee allowance as a lump sum of Rf140,000 as back pay for January through June, a loose association of concerned citizens launched a campaign noting that the state had a staggering fiscal deficit of Rf1.3 billion (US$85 million) as of the first week of September.

Neither lawyer from the civic action campaign was available for comment today.

Some sources have meanwhile criticised the MPs for comparing their salaries and privileges to those of United States congressmen.

“You can’t do that, the two countries are too different,” said No MP Allowance Media Coordinator Hamza Khaleel.

“The salary difference between the highest-paid civil servant and a congressman in the US is 175%, while in the Maldives it’s 365%,” Khaleel pointed out. “Our MPs get as much as MPs in Sweden, but our GDP is nowhere near Sweden’s.”

NGOs have retreated from the issue in recent weeks, but No MP Allowance, a group of concerned citizens which operates primarily through social media outlet Facebook and has almost 3000 members, has been networking to protest the allowance since February. Khaleel said the group is the “single largest civil movement for this issue.”

“You can see that our Facebook page is very active. All of the members might not show up to protest but they are writing letters and suggesting ideas, so you can see that they are involved,” said Khaleel.

Khaleel noted that MP opposition and negative media have deterred the group from publicising its plans, but he said media coverage lately had improved.

Upon hearing of the court’s verdict today, Khaleel said No MP Allowance’s campaign did not depend on a court ruling but on the constituents’ opinions.

“If you ask the MP’s constituents, they will say that the MPs aren’t doing as much as they could have. Very few MPs have taken up issues that are community-focused,” he said.

“Our main focus is still to get constituents to write to their MPs asking them not to take the allowance. We have drafted sample letters that we are distributing for signatures, and will collect and deliver to the MPs. We represent the constituents, if they are not satisfied then we still have work to do,” Khaleel said.

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