Tag: MP

DQP MP lashes out at parliament’s “insincerity”

Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed has accused parliament of stacking the Supreme Court bench in favour of the two major parties, the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Rasheed alleged that out of seven judges appointed for Supreme Court, four were appointed in favor of the DRP and People’s Alliance (PA) coalition, while the other three was appointed by the MDP.

‘’I have seen lately that the work of the parliament is divided by the interests of the two main political parties,’’ said Rasheed in yesterday’s parliament session.

Rasheed also complained that Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid had failed to inform MPs that the issue of cabinet ministers’ reappointment was in committee. He cited article number 128 of the parliament’s law, which says that all committee work must be concluded within seven days time and MPs notified.

“My question is, are the cabinet ministers going to be divided like the Supreme Court judges?” Rasheed asked.

He claimed it was already “very difficult for me when I can’t summon ministers.’’

“Are the [reappointments] taking so long because the [cabinet ministers] are not yet divided equally among you?’’ he asked the chamber. ‘’We should be ashamed to criticise the president while our own actions are like this.’’

Rasheed decried the “lack of sincerity” in the parliament.

“During the appointment of the civil service commission members, there was a person who scored the marks, who was supposed to be listed as the third [appointment], but he was listed as the sixth. Where is the sincerity of the parliament?’’ he claimed. “Is it the president who is still wrong?’’

Rasheed added that his patience “has reached its end”, and that he could not wait “see the parliament swallowed by the two main political parties”.

In the silence following Rasheed’s outburst in the chamber, Rasheed said the MPs were silent “because they know I am speaking the truth about parliament.”

“The parliament’s work is unfair,’’ he added.

Shahid replied that he had informed the chair of the committee [examining the reappointment of cabinet ministers] of the committee’s obligation to disclose information, “and have sent a letter as a reminder.”

‘’I assure  all MPs that I would not commit any such act the honorable member has mentioned,” said Shahid.

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Opposition MPs vow to forward no-confidence motion against President

A group of opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs have declared they will forward a no-confidence motion against President Mohamed Nasheed to parliament.

“There is no need to go out and protest on the streets, there is only one individual who is the issue for the Maldives,” said DRP MP Ahmed Nihan. “It is the president who is the issue, and as MPs it is our lawful duty to file this motion and send the president home.”

Nasheed had violated the constitution which justified invoking article 100 of the constitution, concerning impeachment, claimed Nihan.

“Multiple times he has gone beyond the chart and violated the constitution – we have no other choice,” Nihan said, adding that if the president was “allowed to to do whatever he wished, there will be no use for an institution named parliament.”

Nihan said that DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf, DRP MP and deputy leader of the party Ahmed Ilham and DRP MP Ali Arif were working together to secure the no-confidence vote.

A vote to impeach the President or Vice-President requires a two-thirds majority in the 77-member parliament, and counting the voting history of the Independent MPs, would still require 8-10 of the ruling MDP MPs to cross the floor and vote with the opposition.

Nonetheless, several weeks ago the government revealed that six MDP MPs had written to the President alleging opposition MPs had attempted to bribe them to vote against the government, prompting the resignation of cabinet in protest and precipitating the current political deadlock.

Nihan said he would propose the motion be supported by the rest of the DRP, “although we do not know what would our party’s stand would be,” he said.

“Any MP who works according to the oath and is sincere to their people, will definitely support the motion,” he claimed.

“This is a very serious declaration, this is not a joke. The whole nation is calling in one voice simultaneously for the resignation of the president,” he added.

MDP MP Ahmed Shifaz said that opposition MP were only in parliament with the sole intention of trying to topple the government.

“I can give you 100 percent assurance that they will not be able to topple the government in parliament,” said Shifaz. “Even if they try [with this motion] it would not be successful.”

Shifaz claimed that opposition MPs made such claims to try and boost their status among opposition supporters.

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Parliament ceases to function, while HRCM calls on government to release MP Yameen

Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid this morning cancelled parliamentary sittings until the government releases MP Abdulla Yameen from MNDF “protection” on ‘Aarah’, the presidential retreat.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has meanwhile issued a statement calling on the government to release Yameen from his ‘protection’ at Aarah.

“On July 15 the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, and since then it has been five days and he has not been presented to court,” HRCM said in a statement.

“He is held in custody against article number 49 of the constitution,” the commission claimed.

“Although he was isolated for his own protection, violating article 49 is unconstitutional, and therefore the HRCM calls on the government to follow the constitution and release Yameen immediately.”

The statement cited article number 48(D), which states that any person arrested should be brought before a judge to determine the validity of the detention period, and claimed that defence forces did not follow the article.

“We note that the defence forces have not attended the criminal court and have ignored the court’s order to summon Yameen to court,” the statement added.

The MNDF told parliament in a letter read out in yesterday Yameen was not being held pending criminal investigation, but for his own “protection” based on “secret” information received on July 15.

In its statement, HRCM claimed that “as the Maldives is a country which has a infant democracy, the people of the Maldives and the government should uphold the constitution and democratic principles.”

The commission said that to ensure people’s confidence in a democratic system of government, it was important to establish a culture that respected human rights, justice, and equality in Maldivian society.

The MNDF maintains Yameen was taken to the Presidential retreat for his own protection and on his request.

However in a phone call with Minivan News, Yameen, who is accused by the government of corruption and treason, claimed the MNDF took him to the retreat forcibly in an attempt to cool the situation in Male’.

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Nazim and MDP MP Musthafa arrested for bribery, released by court

The Criminal Court today ordered the release of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim of the opposition People’s Alliance, who were arrested in the early hours of the morning on suspicion of bribing MPs and a civil court judge.

Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed ruled that there were no reasonable grounds to grant an extension of the MPs’ detention based on the evidence presented by police.

“Both of them were arrested last night on charges of bribing a civil court judge. According to the information we have, they offered US$6,000 and a two-way ticket for a trip abroad, and exerted influence on a civil court case,” said the police lawyer in court today.

“If they were released from detention, it could potentially obstruct the investigation of the case and we therefore request [authorisation] to to keep them in police custody.”

Police obtained a recording of a conversation on July 18 that implicated both MPs in the alleged crime.

Dhiggaru MP Nazim, also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has been under house arrest after being charged with bribery, attempting to influence independent commissions and plotting to physically harm political opponents.

“It is just the onset of the investigation and there is a wide opportunity for them to destroy evidence if they were released, and we still have more to find out,” the police attorney continued. “We note that this is the third such case against Nazim.”

As the crime was “sinister” in nature, he added, the MPs’ release could “disrupt the peace and harmony of the nation” and pose dangers to the society.

Asked by Nazim’s defence attorney Mohamed Saleem for details of the allegations of bribery in parliament, the lawyer replied that the information could not be disclosed at the current stage of the investigation.

In his turn, Saleem accused police of “abusing” the rights of the MPs.

“Police showed no respect at Nazim’s residence, used force, tore down the door of Nazim’s house and broke using force and weapons and disrupted the peace,” he claimed.

Saleem presented the court CCTV footage of the arrest, which reportedly lasted over half an hour when Nazim refused to cooperate with police.

The judge asked police who granted them “authority to destroy people’s property”, the police lawyer replied that it was “only to reach Nazim”.

Reprimanding the police, Judge Abdullah Mohamed said the arrest warrant did not authorise police to destroy private property.

Police informed local media early on Monday morning that despite the arrest warrant issued after midnight last night, Nazim had refused to either answer his phone or reply to a text message requesting his cooperation.

Saleem said a recent Supreme Court verdict declaring the arrests of MPs Abdulla Yameen and Gasim Ibrahim illegal should be considered as precedent in this case.

Requesting a ruling to hold police in contempt of court for violating the constitution, he added that police were ignoring the Supreme Court verdict.

Media present at the court, including Minivan News, observed that Television Maldives (TVM) was denied access to the court chamber. On Saturday night the station aired damning claims by police officials that the criminal court was regularly obstructing their investigations of “large and serious” crimes, and evidence presented to judges was being leaked to defense lawyers.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Nazim and Musthafa had been released from custody, and stated that police would continue to investigate the two MPs over the corruption allegations and hoped “to finalise the investigation quickly.”

“Sacrificed”

Addressing the judge, MP Mustafa claimed that police had violated numerous articles of the constitution as well as the chapter of rights and freedoms in his arrest.

The ruling party MP said the government had “sacrificed” him to justify its investigation of MPs to the international community.

“Don’t think that you also won’t be sacrificed one day,” said Mustafa, pointing at police. “I was one of the men who sacrificed their life to bring this government to power, but last night they sent police squads and abused me physically and psychologically.’’

Musthafa spoke vocally against corruption of the judiciary over a loudspeaker during the first gathering of the ongoing ‘People’s Court’ protests by the MDP, held earlier this week.

Parliament today

Both MPs were meanwhile escorted to today’s sitting of parliament, which was cancelled due to the controversial detention of Mulaku MP Abdulla Yameen, who remains under Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) ‘protective custody’.

Raising a point of order shortly after today’s sitting began, Musthafa demanded to know whether Speaker Abdulla Shahid was informed before he was “arrested and taken by a 25, 30-man military force that entered my house in their [military] boots last night at 2.45am.”

“The charges against me are that I conspired to bribe MPs and I am suspected of bribing judges of the court,” he continued. “And it’s also suspected that, asked by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, I tried to bribe the President, Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice, these three people. So I want to know: did I talk to the Honourable Speaker to offer you a bribe? Then I want to clarify with the President – did I plan to bribe him? Then I want to question Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, did you ask me to bribe the three powers?”

Shahid answered that the Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh informed him by telephone after midnight of the impending arrests, adding that he requested arrangements to be made to escort the detained MPs to parliament in the morning in accordance with articles 202 through 205 of the Majlis rules of procedure.

Responding to criticism that the Speaker should have instigated an internal investigation in the wake of the corruption allegations, Shahid said the parliament, as an institution where decisions are made politically, should not become involved in a criminal justice matter.

In subsequent outbursts, Musthafa claimed that police had put in solitary confinement and “physically and psychologically” harmed him.

“It is your [Speaker Shahid’s] responsibility to look into this,” he said. “I am under arrest and said to have bribed the three powers of state. It is your responsibility to clarify this. Abdullah Yameen isn’t the only person isn’t this Majlis. We can take solitary confinement, it is you who can’t endure it.”

Responding to Musthafa’s question as to why he was placed in solitary confinement while Yameen was taken to presidential retreat Aarah, Shahid said “it wasn’t the Speaker of Parliament who did that.”

On the detention of MPs, said Shahid, the Speaker was required to submit the case to the parliamentary privileges commitee within 24 hours of the arrest and seek the committee’s counsel.

Reaction

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair would not comment specifically on Musthafa’s case, adding that it was a police matter, but said the government would do “everything in its power to expose corruption” regardless of political alignments.

“The President said following the resignation of cabinet that he was prepared to even investigate members of his own family in his efforts to eliminate corruption,” Zuhair said.

“[Musthafa’s arrest] I believe highlights the government’s intention to investigate parliament and the judiciary regardless of party politics.”

MDP Chairperson Mariya Didi said she was “really surprised” to hear of Musthafa’s arrest, but promised that the party would be indiscriminate when it came to purging corruption.

However Mariya said she was concerned about the executive’s ability to see cases to their conclusion through the current judiciary.

“People have lost faith in the system – it is no longer just about parliament,” she said. “The public are very annoyed at the judges as well – it is not enough for justice to be done, justice must be seen to be done.”

The public’s lack of faith in the court’s ability to rule fairly in cases concerning wealthy, established and powerful individuals had led people to “feel hopeless” about any resolution to the current crisis.

Law and order has to be kept, but the whole place is a mess,” she said. “These are not political opponents [on trial], this is Gayoom’s younger brother (Yameen), and people who were ministers in Gayoom’s regime of 30 years.

“This one and a half years has been quite rough, but we have not arrested our political opponents as many urged us to do. [MDP] lost the parliamentary elections and became unpopular because of that,” she said.

“I don’t know how the international community must see it – they probably see it in terms of the same sorts of laws and practices as they used to in the West. The fact that most of the judges were appointed during and even before Gayoom’s 30 year regim is very difficult for them to understand,” she added.

“It took the Western world a very long time to reach where they are, and it’s unfortunate that they seem to expect us to get there overnight.”

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“Here’s some cash”: Kulhudhufushi islanders open charity box for MP Nasheed

Kulhudhufushi islanders have launched a charity fund box to help their elected MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed, an independent member of parliament, after he admitted it was his voice saying ”I need some cash” to Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim in a leaked audio clip.

Gasim is currently under house arrest while he is investigated by police for vote-buying and treason.

”We felt pity for our MP Mohamed Nasheed after hearing the leaked audio clip,” said Mohamed Naeem, a Kulhudhufushi islander who heads the group that opened the charity box.

”When he first asked Gasim about his financial condition, we thought that Nasheed was about to help Gasim. But then we heard he was running low financially himself and was in need of some cash.”

Naeem said the group of islanders did not wish their MP to be begging people for money, and had set up a charity box on the beach of the island for everyone to put money in to help Nasheed.

”We do not like the way he begged,” he added. “We heard him saying that he would send someone somewhere to pick up the money in case people might see.”

”We will keep the box open until 6:00pm on Saturday, and then we will open it and count the money,” Naeem said. ”Then we will hand all the money to Nasheed’s office, and if they refuse to deliver the money to him, we will send it to him directly.”

Many people on the island had already walked down the beach to the box and were putting money in it, Naeem said.

”We are not a NGO, not even anybody from the island office – we’re just normal islanders,” he added.

As an elected member of parliament, Nasheed receives Rf62,500 (US$4864) per month from the State.

Nasheed was not responding to calls at time of press.

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241 committee cancels confidential meeting with police and defense chiefs

Parliament’s ‘241’ security services oversight committee has canceled a confidential meeting that was to be held today, after summoning Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh and Chief of Defence Force Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel for questioning over their handling of the current political deadlock.

Commissioner Faseeh was to be summoned at 4:30pm and the Major Jaleel was to be summoned at 6:30pm, but the the committee concluded its meeting the moment it started.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Shifaz said that the committee meeting was cancelled on a request by MDP MPs.

“Because there are two MPs charged with criminal offences, we recommended the committee cancel the meetings,” said Shifaz. “It does not make much sense when two MPs accused of criminal offences summon the Police Commissioner and Chief of Defense in order to question them.”

Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdulla Yameen were charged last week for bribery and treason and are currently under house arrest while police investigate the matter.

Parliamentary regulations state that detained MPs must be released to attend parliamentary proceedings and committee hearings, and initial attempts by police to retain them in custody were overruled in the High Court last week.

As Gasim and Yameen are members of the opposition-led parliamentary committee, they can thus be temporarily freed to question their captors, who, according to article 98(a) of the Constitution, “must respond under oath truthfully to questions put to them and to produce documents, required by the People’s Majlis relating to the due performance of the obligations and responsibilities of such person.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf said MDP MPs invaded the meeting and disrupted it.

“They first removed the board on the outside wall of the committee room,” said Mahloof. “Then they all went inside the room and disrupted the meeting.”

Mahlouf said that most of the MDP MPs who disrupted the meeting were not members of the committee.

A small gathering of MDP supporters gathered outside the parliament prior to the start of the the meeting.

Members of the committee include DRP MPs Ali Waheed and Yousuf Naeem, People’s Alliance (PA) MPs Abdulla Yameen and Moosa Zameer, Jumhooree Party MP Gasim Ibrahim, Independent MP Ibrahim Riza, and MDP MPs ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, Alhan Fahmy and Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed.

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MP for Kaashidhoo to be summoned to Court over corruption case

MP for Kaashidhoo is to be summoned to Court over a corruption case involving a vessel he purchased while working at Male Municipality during the previous administration.

The court has ruled that the case of the State against Ismail Abdul Hameed, MP for Kaashidhoo, can be heard. The ruling was made in response to a procedural motion by his lawyers that the case cannot be
tried.

The judge also asked Ismail Abdul Hameed to be present for the next hearing. Hameed was previously a DRP member at the time of the alleged crime, then joined the MDP, but he is now an independent MP.

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Ali Waheed reports leaking of documents to police, “too late” says Zuhair

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ali Waheed has also reported the leakage of several document concerning the Guantanamo Bay detainees to police. The Foreign Ministry said it was reporting the matter to the police on Tuesday.

Press secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that Waheed was trying to escape after he was accused of being the recipient of a stolen secret document of the government.

Zuhair claimed Waheed had reported the case because ”he realised what he had done.”

”All the collaborators involved in the crime of stealing a government document and spreading it without clarifying its validity are also equally culpable,” said Zuhair. ‘They should be given the punishment that one receives for being a thief.”

Zuhair said the theft of the documents was a crime under articles 12 and 13 of the penal code.

”Politics is not an excuse for crime,” he said. ”Whoever stole the documents is a criminal shall be treated as a criminal.”

He said that government was not trying to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country in secret.

”We will only bring him according to the law,” he said. ”What is the problem with it if he has a valid passport, the threat of being attacked if he goes back to his own country and he is a innocent Muslim?”

He said that Ali Waheed was aware the matter was not unlawful or dangerous, and dismissed counter-claims by the opposition as ”pure political circus”.

”That man [Waheed] has the look of a comedian,” Zuhair said.

Waheed, in a press conference yesterday, announced that he had reported the leaked document to police and said he had requested they investigate the case, so the government’s documents could be safely protected while the National Security Committee was investigating the Guantanamo Bay affair.

”I did not steal anything,” he claimed. “When I received government documents that I believed had the potential to harm the national security of the country I presented it to the national security committee to investigate,” he said.

”I do not believe that it is known as thieving. It was not leaked by my mistake.”

Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed has also reported the case to the police.

Dr Shaheed said the documents consisted of unofficial communications to the Maldives government from the US government, and a document sent to the Attorney General’s office by the Foreign Ministry.

Dr Shaheed said the documents also included an unofficial letter sent from the US discussing how a legal framework could be established to bring in the detainees.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has recently said that the document was not leaked but was “deliberately stolen”, which he said caused “a lot of trouble” for the Maldives, by disrupting diplomatic relationships between countries.

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“99.9 percent” sure detainees already in the Maldives: MP Nihan

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan has said that he has information that the Guantanamo Bay detainees have been brought to the Maldives secretly.

”I am 99.9 percent sure that they are here. The information I received on the issue was from senior officials of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) who are very familiar with the case,” said Nihan.

Nihan said the absence of Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed from yesterday’s National Security Committee proved that there were “still hidden secrets behind the scenes.”

”If the government has not done anything unlawful and if they are so confident, why would they be so afraid to face the parliament and the people,” Nihan asked.

He claimed the government had kept the matter a secret ”but when the document was leaked the issue became heated and people became aware that this was happening.”

Nihan claimed that the Maldives was now at risk of becoming “a nest for terrorists.”

”When the country becomes a nest for terrorists, others will start hating us,” h said. ”Then we will see our little nation under attack by another country.”

He accused President Mohamed Nasheed of failing to disclose details of the case during his presidential radio address.

”He only briefly said that we should help the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, and urged the President of the United States to release the detainees and shut down the jail.”

Furthermore, Nihan claimed that the act of government could potentially disrupt the peace and sovereignty of the country, and claimed the Maldives may “turn into a terrorist hub.”

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem said the foreign ministry did not want to comment on the issue.

However, Press secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair denied the suggestion made by Nihan and dismissed it as ”all lies.”

Zuhair said that Nihans aim was to hype up the population.

”The President gave information about the Maldives accepting Guantanamo detainees last year on November 9, 10 and 11 during his official speeches,” Zuhair said.

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