Tag: NGO

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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MP allowance debacle “not a mix-up”: State Finance Minister

The Finance Ministry today rejected implications that yesterday’s release and recall of the controversial Rf20,000-a-month committee allowances against a court injunction was a mistake which had caused confusion in the government.

“I don’t think it’s a mix-up,” said State Minister of Finance Ahmed Assad today. Assad was unclear about the court injunction.

“Releasing that sort of money is not a big procedure, I think this is just people trying to follow the general rules and experiencing an administrative error,” he said.

Assad didn’t believe anyone deserved blame, and said that “if anything, it is the ministry at large that was at fault.”

Local daily Haveeru yesterday reported that the allowances had been issued “by mistake.”

Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz had not responded to Minivan inquiries at time of press.

The court injunction, which was issued on September 26, ordered the Finance Ministry not to release funds for the committee allowance until the court rules on a case filed on behalf of a civil servant, contending that the allowance could not be given before deducted amounts from civil servants salaries were paid back.

The injunction has since been appealed by the Attorney General’s Office at the High Court, which is due to hold a first hearing on Sunday.

Parliamentary privileges

Meanwhile parliament yesterday debated a motion without notice proposed by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed claiming that a civic action campaign launched by concerned citizens in late August violated MPs’ special privileges.

MDP MP Ahmed Easa told Minivan News yesterday that colleagues had said the allowance was being released to the parliament secretariat, but he was told that it had been held back by the Minister of Finance.

“I don’t think there was any wording, anything in what the court said indicating that they couldn’t release the money,” said Easa. “But no money has been going in to my account today, I can tell you that.”

Easa elaborated on the allowance, saying that the amount of staffing support and allowances other government branches received justified MPs accepting the proposed allowance.

“The MP point of view is that some of the independent wages and allowances are greater than MPs. The MPs are expected to do research and other duties, but we don’t have an office, a supporting staff, a phone allowance, a travel stipend to visit constituents or other things to support our work. Seven percent of our salary is taken out for a pension fund, and Male’ is an expensive place to live,” said Easa.

Easa said he will accept the allowance, but pointed out that he had always objected to it in parliament on the grounds that all payrolls should be streamlined.

“But if these other government groups are taking an allowance, why not the MPs? This is a democracy, so I always respect the majority decision.”

Lawyer Mohamed Shafaz Wajeeh, one of two lawyers involved in the civil case, argued that the number of people benefiting from the allowance does not justify the sum released, which amounts to Rf18 million (US$1.1 million).

“It’s greed. Just greed,” Shafaz said. “MPs and higher-ups in the government are probably more aware of their own power than they should be. The thinking behind this goes against everything we know.”

Shafaz suggested the government consider other options, such as releasing the allowance in installments to lighten the burden on the state budget and other subsidiaries.

“But I’m not sure how much political will there is to do this. Everyone says the allowance is a good idea.”

Civil society

Although members of the civil sector earlier issued a statement objecting to the allowance, which they called “a gross injustice to the Maldivian people,” they have not articulated an official position on the issue of late.

Maldives Democracy Network (MDN) Director Fathimath Ibrahim Didi said that individuals in the organization were involved at the beginning, but that they did not represent MDN.

“Now, I think there may be a group working against the allowance, but it is loosely formed involving people from NGOs, lawyers and individuals,” she said.

Transparency Director Ilham Mohamed told Minivan News that a volunteer team was addressing the matter, but that large protests had not been organized among local non-government organizations (NGOs).

“I believe there may be sporadic gatherings in different places,” said Mohamed. “I do know that the NGOs that were involved in the original statement opposing the MP allowance are unified on this issue.”

“Symbolic”

The decision to approve the Rf20,000 (US$1200) monthly allowances in December 2010 was met with  protests and widespread public indignation. However in June this year, parliament rejected a resolution proposed by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf to scrap the allowance.

Meanwhile the current civic action campaign was prompted by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) deciding in late August to to issue a lump sum of Rf140,000 (US$9,000) as committee allowance back pay for January through July this year.

Article 102 of the constitution states that parliament shall determine the salaries and allowances of the President, Vice President, cabinet ministers, members of parliament, members of the Judiciary, and members of the independent institutions.

The Rf20,000 allowance was initially approved on December 28, 2010 as part of a revised pay scheme recommended by the PAC.

During yesterday’s debate on a privileges motion regarding the anti-committee allowance campaign, MP ‘Colonel’ Mohamed Nasheed, a member of the PAC, explained that the committee felt that MPs should earn a higher salary than High Court judges.

“But even then the honourable members of the Public Accounts Committee believed that MPs were receiving a sufficiently large salary in relation to the country’s economic situation,” he said, adding that a decision was made to institute a “symbolic” committee allowance.

“The thinking at the time was to give it to MPs who attend committee meetings as a very symbolic thing, for example one laari or 15 laari. But to ensure that take-home pay for MPs would be Rf82,500,” he said.

However, he continued, this “noble effort” became politicised and the subject of “an anti-campaign programme.”

Colonel called for legal action against the activists “when they go beyond the boundaries of free expression” and the right to protest, claiming that MPs’ families and children had been targeted.

Echoing a claim made by a number of MPs yesterday, Colonel said none of his constituents had asked him to decline the allowance.

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Finance Minister condemns Public Accounts Committee Chair

Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz has said that the Rf456,000 (US$31,000) issued to Maldives Media Association (MMA) according to the Finance Report sent by the ministry to parliament was actually issued to Maldives Media Council (MMC) and not to the dissolved NGO MMA.

”It was technically a typing error, we sent the Public Accounts Committee a report consisting information about some of the recent transactions, and the Public Accounts Committee’s Chair MP Ahmed Nazim [who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament] asked us to send detailed information of all the transactions mentioned in the report,” Inaz explained.

He said the ministry then sent the committee details of the transactions in the report, which still had the typing error uncorrected.

”We did not identify that error, and after we sent the details, the chair of the committee told the media that we have used Rf456,000 from the contingency budget to pay salaries of MMA staff,” he said. ”Actually it was used to pay the salaries of MMC staff.”

Inaz said he regretted that Nazim had not verified the typing error with the ministry before going to the media.

”We send the report to the parliament to cooperate with them and to assist them in making us accountable, I attended the committee three days in a row this week and we do not have a policy of withholding information,” he said, adding that he condemned Nazim’s actions and hoped that he would not repeat such things in the future.

”I also apologize to MMA members, but the responsibility goes to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee as well,” Inaz said. ”Things like this make the ministry lose the confidence we have in the Chair of the committee.”

Nazim told local media this week that a report submitted by the Finance Ministry showed that over Rf450,000 from the state budget was issued to the MMA.

In the wake of the revelation, the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) and senior members of the now-defunct Maldives Media Association (MMA) called on the Auditor General and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the alleged Rf456,000  released from the state’s contingency budget.

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Concerned citizens protest 1800 percent increase in MP salaries since 2004

A group of concerned citizens, many of them also members of local non-government and civil society organisations, protested outside parliament today against the recently proposed increase in parliamentary committee members’ allowances, and lump sum back payments of Rf 140,000 (US$9100).

Leaflets scattered across parliament grounds highlighted that MPs were earning Rf 82,500 (US$5350) a month in 2011 compared to Rf 4500 (US$290) in 2004, an effective 18-fold increase.

“Parliament members already have a salary of Rf62,000, and to give them more money in this way is not necessary,” said NGO Transparency Maldives Project Coordinator, Aiman Rasheed. “We feel that giving this allowance for a whole year, and during months when Parliament isn’t even in session, is unacceptable.”

Police had blocked roads close to parliament this morning, and were waiting when protesters appeared at 1:15 pm. Approximately 25 citizens attended the protest, and were quickly penned into a side street away from the building.

Protesters waved poster boards and passed a megaphone for rally calls. However MPs avoided the protest by leaving the building through the back door.

Rasheed said Transparency had been told that if 39 of the 77 MPs refused  the allowance, the Public Accounts Committee, which proposed the raise, would submit a motion to reconsider the proposal.

“Most of the people we’ve spoken to have said they would not accept the motion,” said Rasheed.

Local NGOs and CSOs protested the raise near the tsunami memorial last Saturday, August 27. Assembling at 4:30 pm, representatives distributed fliers showing the steep rise in MP allowance rates.

“MPs do not need to be paid more money to do committee work!” read the flyer. “It is the duty of MPs. It is one of the most important responsibilities that has to be carried out by MPs.”

Saturday’s protest made use of Male’s nightly motorcycle circuit of the city to reach a large percentage of the population.

Today’s significantly smaller turnout may be a side effect of the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid, which begins tomorrow August 30. Reports say that many boats have already left Male for other islands.

The deadline for voting on the proposed allowance is 6 September. As of today, 17 MPs have said they would not accept it.

They include: Mohamed Gasam, Ibrahim Rasheed, Hamid Abdul Gafoor, Mariya Ahmed Didi, Mohamed Nazim, Illyas Labeeb, Mohamed Aslam, Ahmed Sameer, ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, Hussein Waheed, Alhan Fahmy, ‘Colonel’ Mohamed Nasheed and Eva Abdulla of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) along with Speaker Abdulla Shahid and Independent MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed.

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Volunteer teachers’ top tip: “Be posted to Kulhudhufushi!”

International Volunteer Program (IVP) teachers Aideen Robbins and Kash Izydorczyk have one piece of advice for those who follow in their footsteps: “Make sure you are posted to Kulhudhufushi!”

The two teachers are almost halfway through their year in the Maldives and were in Male’ comparing notes with the other 11 volunteers under this year’s programme.

Aideen, orginally from Ireland, signed up as a volunteer in the Maldives after four years teaching in London.

“I’m 28 and felt like I just needed a change,” she says. “I saw the ad in the Times Educational supplement, and had no idea what to expect. At the interview they clarified that we were not going to the Maldives of resorts and beaches.”

Kash, who is from Poland, but grew up in Singapore, was fresh from studying International Education in Brighton, UK, and said she had been looking to do some volunteer development work somewhere in Asia.

“I have experience teaching English as a second language and wanted to keep hopping around the world for a while. I was considering Cambodia, Nepal and Thailand, but the Maldives interview came up first and it seemed the perfect place to go. I also thought it would be very interesting to live in a Muslim country – I’ve studied religion in the past and was interested in learning more,” she says.

The volunteer teachers met each other at the airport in Male’ at the beginning of the year, and were whisked off for a week of induction, including an island visit and a stay with a local family.

Kash and Aideen, who were teamed up together, began their time in the Maldives observing family life in Diffushi.

“We were shown our room on the first day we arrived, and the family would knock whenever it was meal time,” Aideen recalls. “There was not a lot of English spoken, but the kids really warmed up to us after a few days.”

They were then placed at their school of 360 students in grades 1-8 on Kulhudhufushi, an island of around 6000 people in the country’s north.

“I’m from a rural background in Ireland where I’m used to everyone knowing everybody else,” Aideen says, explaining that after a week, the islanders really warmed to the pair and began to invite them to picnics and night fishing expeditions.

“We’ve become close to some of the other teachers, they’ve been very happy with us asking questions,” Kash says.

Their fellow teachers and supervisors were very willing to help them navigate the teaching of sensitive subjects, they say, such as evolution, “although as I’m a maths teacher I’ve dodged that entirely,” says Aideen.

Kash, who teaches English and a social science component, said she was to advised to be careful, “and make sure the school knew what we were teaching. The supervisor was very open,” she said.

The teachers say they have been particularly impressed at the extent of the school’s resources.

“We are lucky to be at a school that has TV screens in every classroom – the resources are great and people seem to be very happy that we make full use of the IT,” Kash says.

Their supervisors have happily accepted a different style of teaching, the two teachers say, and were impressed at the reception for new ideas that was apparent during a Principal’s conference they attended.

Socially, Aideen and Kash have thrown themselves into the Kulhudhufushi’s sports scene. Aideen plays five-a-side football on weekends with the men, while Kash is coaching basketball.

“We play basketball every day,” she says. “We’ve also signed a basketball development contract with Male’s T-Rex team. There’s talk of bringing our team to Male’ now for a tournament.”

Meeting up with other volunteers this week, Aideen and Kash say they feel fortunate to have been posted to a larger, more populated island.

“They’ve had very different experiences to us,” says Aideen. “[Volunteers] on smaller islands in particular seem to have faced more challenges.”

Behavioural management issues seemed to be a challenge in some schools, Kash notes, such as “14-15 year old students who do not want to be there.”

“I think it has been easier for us because the school only goes up to grade eight and the students are not under the influence of older children,” she suggests.

A key adjustment the pair made soon after their arrival was “to adopt the same laid-back attitude as everyone else.”

“We laughed off things like broken water tanks, toilets, oven,” says Aideen. “You need to accept that things will take a little time to fix – don’t expect things to happen overnight.”

The pair were prepared to forego air-conditioning, but were delighted when it appeared in their bedrooms: “They have really been spoiling us,” Aideen says. “We also moved in straight away – one of the other teachers said she had been in temporary accommodation for months.”

The ‘last-minute’ cultural concept was an early challenge for those used to the relative punctuality and forward planning of the Western world.

“The clipboard would come around for signing at 3:00pm for a meeting at 8:30pm that night, which was completely alien to me,” Aideen says. “One night we were at school until midnight making banners for the next day – we didn’t mind at all, but you can’t imagine that happening in the UK.”

Such is the programme’s success that demand for volunteer teachers has boomed, notes head of the Maldives Volunteer Corps (MVC), Mariyam Seena: “we had over 80 requests from islands last year,” she says.

Budgetary and resource constraints limited that number to a maximum of 30, but in the end 13 volunteers were recruited. Seena attributed this to negative international publicity in the wake of the ‘Swiss Wedding’ incident at Vilu Reef Resort and Spa, “which occurred just before we started recruiting.”

“It was bad timing,” she noted.

Recruiting new teachers may not be difficult on Kulhudhufushi – Kash and Aideen say they have grown fond of their students and are contemplating seeing them through to their GSCEs in 2013.

“We’ve asked if at least it might be possible to maybe come back,” Kash says.

The IVP is intended to reduce the shortage of trained personnel in numerous sectors of the Maldives, including education and health. The 13 volunteer teachers were recruited by the Maldives High Commission in the UK, the Maldives Volunteer Corps (MVC) and UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives.

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Israeli flag burnings and ‘sit-together’ marks tale of two protests on International Human Rights Day

Protests erupted across Male’ over the weekend that saw the burning of Israeli flags and calls to “ban all Israeli medical teams” from practicing in the Maldives, alongside a “silent-sit together” against so-called “religious extremism”.

Protesters burned several Israeli flags in Republican Square and demanded the deportation of seven visiting Israeli eye surgeons, who are holding free eye camps in Male’ and the island hospitals.

Protesters gathered near the tsunami monument on International Human Rights Day, claiming that “Jews would not provide any form of assistance, unless there is a hidden agenda”, according to the website of the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives.

The religious NGO has previously called on the government to “shun all medical aid from the Zionist regime”, alleging the Israeli surgeons “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

Religious NGO Jamiyyathusalaf has also called on the government to provide citizens with military training “before Jews take over the country”.

President Mohamed Nasheed today met with the doctors the Israeli ‘Eye from Zion’ NGO and said “a vast majority of Maldivians” appreciated the humanitarian work of the doctors.

The doctors “expressed their appreciation for the warm hospitality they received in the Maldives”, according to a statement from the President’s Office, and “also noted that there was a great demand for their services in the Maldives.”

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Mohamed Didi, said there had been “no discussions” in the Ministry regarding the anti-Israel protests.

“We are not saying anything for or against the protest action taken this week,” he said.

Didi added that the Foreign Ministry was “more involved in state humanitarian projects and inter-faith charity work than the Islamic Ministry.”

“The major roles of the ministry are to raise Islamic awareness and bring scholars from different countries to visit,” he said.

Coinciding with protests opposing the visit of Israeli doctors, the Islamic Foundation published allegations on its website that only two of the seven visiting surgeons from Eye from Zion had at the time been granted licenses by the Maldives Medical Council (MMC).

An MMC spokesperson was reported as claiming that certificates produced by the seven-member Eye from Zion medical staff were not carrying official stamps. However, the spokesperson added that all the surgeons would be able to receive licenses to operate upon clarification of their legitimacy by the Israeli government.

Meanwhile,  a group of 30 Maldivians gathered near the artificial beach on Friday, up the road from the anti-Israel protest occurring at the tsunami monument, holding what they called a “silent sit-together” on International Human Rights Day.

Members at the gathering said they were attempting to oppose wider concerns over growing “religious extremism” in the country.

“Displaying a stark contrast to the loud truck and motorcycle cavalcade of religious conservatives who were protesting against Israeli doctors around the same time by announcing anti-Semitic messages through loud speakers, the youth that participated in the sit-down took a decidedly fresh approach towards protest,” a press release from the sit-together’s members claimed.

“The silent sit-together, conspicuous by the absence of any banners, megaphones, or sloganeering, aimed to send the message that youth are against religious extremism and supported Human Rights, Tolerance and Dignity for all humans.”

People participating in the protest said they were trying to start a “grassroots” movement against religious extremism, but did not wish to give their identities.

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NGOs and parents protest against education sector outside president’s residence

A coalition of NGOs have begun a series of protests outside the President’s residence to express disapproval of the education sector of the Maldives.

A spokesperson for the NGO coalition, Ibrahim Moahmed, told Minivan News that the protesters waited peacefully outside the presidential residence over the weekend to express their disapproval of the education minister and his policy.

“There were parents, NGOs and other concerned people of the nation regarding numerous issues concerning the education sector,” said Ibrahim. “A person came from inside and told us we would get an appointment with the President tomorrow, and we all dispersed.”

Ibrahim said the NGO coalition consisted “of 127 NGOs.”

“50-60 people joined the protest,” he said.

The Education Ministry’s move towards co-education across all schools in the Maldives – currently only four are single sex – has drawn considerable consternation from many religious conservatives. Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy is again in the spotlight after protests were held outside his house earlier this year following a proposal from the Ministry’s steering committee suggesting that Islam and Dhivehi be made optional at A-level.

Currently only 2000 of the 10,000 students who sit O-levels each year pass enough subjects to continue to A-level studies. This troubling statistic, identified by Luthfy as one of the country’s key social problems, results in approximately 8000 disaffected 15-16 year-olds released onto the streets annually, with little hope of finding a job until they turn 18.

More recently a debate has been sparked over the merits and demerits of co-education.

Referencing “a World Health Organisation (WHO) report”, Ibrahim claimed that a rising number of sexual relationship “is more concerning for the Maldives than the issue of illegal narcotics.”

He noted that the NGO coalition had sought to file the issue of co-education with parliament’s national security committee today.

The NGO coalition says they have highlighted 22 issues concerning the education sector.

On 4 October, the Adhaalath Party said the government’s new co-education policy was “a failed Western concept inconsistent with the teachings of Islam.”

On the next day, religious NGO Jamiyyathulsalaf called for the resignation of Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy, and claimed that Arabiyya was the only Maldivian school with an adequate education policy.

In the same strain, the minority opposition party People’s Alliance (PA), led by the former president’s brother MP Abdulla Yameen, strongly condemned the idea of introducing co-education.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Comment: Can the Maldives institute a vibrant NGO sector?

In the Maldives, the NGO sector is lumped together as a whole by the developmental partners, government and other stakeholders. For convenience in the Maldives, the NGO sector seems to represent the civil society.

Whenever the civil society representation is called, you will see NGO sector members.

A weak civil society?

In a democratising country like Maldives, the civil society and the NGO sector should play a crucial role. Civil society is one of the pillars of democracy. Without a vibrant and strong civil society, democracy cannot be attained.

In the Maldives – unlike Bhutan – legislation allowed the formation of NGOs for centuries, apart from NGOs targeting human rights until a few years ago. Today, the Maldives has more than 1100 clubs and NGOs registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs under the clubs, associations and NGOs law.

It is problematic to categorise the NGOs that work for the development of the country. It also means that for the population of 300,000, we have an NGO for every 200 Maldivians. Out of the registered NGOs in the Maldives, only a few have office space with paid staff.

The oldest developmental national NGOs that are existence in Maldives are SHE and the Care Society.

Presently, the work of developmental NGOs visible in the Maldives are the Care Society, SHE, Maldives Democracy Network, Journey, Democracy House, Transparency Maldives, SWAD, JCI, Maldives NGO Federation.

There are other NGOs that are noticeable at periodic intervals like Madulu, Strength of Society and others.

The NGOs in the Maldives have informal and formal networks and work closely together, pooling resources on projects of common interest, producing policy papers and position papers. Some of the examples are the JUST campaign and the Domestic Violence Bill, to name a few recent combined team works by the NGO sector.

Expectations from NGO sector

There are high expectations from the developmental partners, government and other stakeholders, including the general public, for the NGO sector to play a central role in the democratisation process. For example for the upcoming local council elections, there is greater need for the NGO sector to prove and show neutrality, put the best interests of people first, monitor corruptions and act as watch dogs.

What’s thwarting this is again lack of resources. There is a greater need to educate the general public via media. The media agencies commit to return investments and only allocate a dose of space to corporate social responsibility. So this avenue is closed to NGOs. For every work NGOs does, [media] is paid.

Challenges

The major constraint for NGO development in the Maldives are funding limitations. There are no established mechanisms to secure funding or plan long term sustainability of NGOs.

The biggest national NGOs in the Maldives face similar constraints. These NGOs have office space borrowed from their family residences, and most NGOs are fortunate if they have a well-wisher who supports administrative costs and recurrent costs including office space. Other NGOs founders or staff have self-interest, so they work for minimal pay, most times as a volunteer.

The developmental partners always claim that NGOs in the Maldives lack capacity and do not have the skills to organise or implement projects. As a person who has worked in the NGO more than 20 years I think this is misleading as resource mobilisation can create a strong NGO sector.

How many NGOs in the Maldives have bought a laptop out of the project? Before suggesting this is ineffective planning, it is important to note that NGOs do not have means to buy a computer or even a laptop. Laptops are required to communicate with the outside world and for documentation purposes.

Or why do staff costs have to be incorporated into projects? Because it is essential to the survival of NGOs and sustain their work. Why are the travel costs included higher than other countries? Because that is the reality of high costs of living in the Maldives.

Why is that the consultancy fees for local consultants are unacceptable while large sums are paid to foreign consultants, including travel and lodging only to produce a plain report or technical input? Why is it that local consultants do not apply or are available? It is because of these discriminatory attitudes practiced by donors.

Most international donors scrutinise the sustainability of projects. If this is the case, why don’t they consider the requirement of the NGO sector through gigantic lenses for sustainability?

Maldives NGO law does not prohibit conducting business activities, however, several NGOs experienced difficulties in this aspect as the law is not enforced or institutionalised in various ministries. Several NGOs could not register vehicles in NGOs names or take loans. There are several NGOs moving towards the Social Corporation model though this is new thinking.

International funding for social development in partnership with NGOs

Underthe previous government, the majority of national strategic plans, including the UN country plans, identified partnerships with NGOs. It would be interesting to analyse the outcome of these partnerships over the last 10 years.

To give credit, there have been efforts by previous Government to strengthen the civil society but it has not shown any results. Similarly, the current government has also identified partnership with civil society which needs to be spelt out clearly and implemented.

The majority of funding in the past for the NGO sector has been secured through international sources, though some NGOs have secured one-time undersised funding locally. As there is no tax system or cooperate social responsibility policy, the NGO sector is struggling for survival.

Some NGOs are active, while others ended in death row, and a few stagnated for years.  As a developing and economically well-established country compared with other South Asian countries, and a smaller population, the NGO sector could not compete with other NGOs in the region. This is the reality of the 20th century as well.

Reinforce the NGO sector

The government, UN and other developmental partners should consider the NGO sector as developmental partners.

The NGO sector requires institutionalisation of good governance, capacity building, project implementation and financial support. It is unrealistic for the NGO sector to expect to conduct business, there has to be a mechanism established for the survival of NGOs.

Can the government, UN and other developmental partners trust the NGO sector to implement the projects? Can the US Embassy and other embassies, rather than implementing the projects, recruit the NGO sector to conduct programmes and projects by allocating a budget for implementation?

Can the Human Rights Commission, government and UN assign projects like training projects/components to the NGO sector?

The NGOs have networks and it would assist the capacity-building of island NGOs as well the national NGOs if this type of work is capitalised on them. The NGO sector has the capacity and ability if funding is allocated to conduct training in the areas of human rights, governance, decentralisation, child rights, women rights, people with disabilities, NGO training, and other such training. The government, UN and Human Rights Commission can play the monitoring role.

The NGO sector is requested to conduct programmes and projects at low cost and for free which barely covers the recurrent costs, administrative staff costs and project management costs. In the context that is contested above, can the NGO sector in the Maldives survive without an enabling environment?

The NGO sector requires adopting good governance models and being active watch dogs.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Comment: The Evils of Democracy

This article was first published on the website of the NGO Islamic Foundation of the Maldives. Republished with permission.

Democracy is a system of infidelity which opposes the decree of the Creator and an evil that was born and raised in the lands of the West. Islam and democracy can not coexist in the religion of Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

There is no such thing called ‘Islamic Democracy’ as some people put it because those people who adopt, implement or approve and agree to espouse democracy with its basic principles and fundamentals are openly hostile to the faith of monotheism.

When democracy is implanted in a Muslim society, it becomes a trial which sets apart the faithful Muslims from hypocrites and apostates. Those Muslims who take it upon themselves to fight and defend democracy without a religiously compelling reason hate to see Islam triumph over all other way of life. Most often they love to be in the company of the infidels, hypocrites or apostates and be praised by them while calling themselves ‘moderate Muslims’.

There is no such thing as ‘moderate Islam’ or ‘radical Islam’ in the revealed religion of the Almighty Allah. These are terms invented by the enemies of Islam to create divisions within the nation of Islam.

If someone deeply looks into democracy, he will realise its damaging aspects on any society. Democracy which emerged in the lands of the infidels demands the separation of powers: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary are to function as completely separate entities. Moreover, democracy aims to change the established Sharia and demands to keep separate the religion and the state, which is unacceptable in Islam. In a democracy, the secular majority wins and rules over the divine commandments. If an undesired group or party wins power through elections, then the election results are annulled and the constitution is amended to bar that party from competing in elections again. Such examples can be seen in Algeria, Turkey, Palestine and Kenya.

Democracy spurs sedition and discord by gathering people in parties and blocs, the consequences of which are hatred, fighting and bloodshed.

Huge sums of money are required for the working and functioning of political parties. In most democracies, the murky business of obtaining funds for political parties involves corruption, bribery and the selling of state secrets. The electoral campaigns are comprised of boasting, showing and presenting one’s deeds and withholding from others the deeds that they are due, as well as the use of falsehood and deceit in order to gain people’s votes.

Democracy makes the entire population equal, as there is no difference between a knowledgeable specialist and an ignorant person, an eminent scholar of Islamic theology and an illiterate drug addict, a monotheist and a polytheist, a believer and a hypocrite, an adulterer and a pious man, a child rapist and a holy person.

The proper functioning of democracy demands that most criminals have to be ‘rehabilitated’ and not punished for heinous crimes. The prisons in these countries include gyms and other sports or recreational facilities, swimming pools, libraries with internet services, the best food, medicals etc. To add more, there is a system of parole which allows the criminals to leave the ‘prison’ before the end of their sentences.

Democracy is a system that wastes the money and resources of the country in holding elections. These elections are filled with problems of intimidation, fraud, ballot rigging and other irregularities. No interim government is allowed to take over before fresh elections begin; instead the old leadership remains in power during and immediate aftermath of new elections, paving way for more social unrest.

Many times the opposition refuses to accept the election results with accusations of fraud, and calls on people to come out on streets to protest causing pandemonium and bloodshed. You will realize the deficiency of this democracy and its reprehensible failure to manage people’s affairs when those in the opposition constantly call for premature elections, along with its ensuing chaos and disorder.

Democracy leaves the door wide open for spoilers and all the undesired elements in the society to carry on with their work of spreading mischief in the land. Democracy also coexists with the oppressive regimes and the spoilers of social life with all its constituents: gay and lesbian rights movements, narcotics and other substance abuse groups spring up into action.

Therefore, homosexual marriages, selling of intoxicants and the right to renounce Islam have to be allowed under the guise of protecting human rights. Hence, a need for legislation to regulate all such cursed acts and behaviour which in turn produces deputies who pass on laws against those prescribed laws of Almighty God.

In a democracy, candidates jockey for positions of power with promises they do not keep after winning the election. The candidacy for elections is contrary to the guidance of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) who said that Muslims do not confer the command of an emirate on he who asks for it.

Less privileged or deprived people have no chance of being on the electoral lists because becoming a candidate requires spending huge amounts of money in order to get people’s votes, which apparently go to the one who pays out more for bribery or propaganda work by the media.

So, in a democracy money can buy positions of power, and as such, the seats of the legislature or parliament mainly consist of people from the upper class or people backed by them. It is absolutely impossible to enact any laws urging their businesses to spend money in a way that might benefit the poor. The reality is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The most prominent people in a democracy are the politicians. The pious scholars of Islam, renowned scientists and men of knowledge have to follow the guidelines set by these politicians. Some of these so called politicians occupy seats in the cabinet, parliament and others work as party activists etc, but the truth is, they are ‘political prostitutes’. Most often they shift from one alliance to another or change parties and is devoid of any shame in behaving so for their worldly gains.

If you take a closer look at democracy, you will realise the deficiency and failure of that system to manage the people’s affairs and elect leaders capable of running the country in a way which benefits the masses. You will also undoubtedly ascertain the appropriateness of the Islamic way in generating the leaders and appointing rulers or emirs.

It is wrong to say that Muslim lands had been ruled by dictators or authoritarian rulers in the past centuries. The revealed Holy Scripture of the Muslims instructs the rulers to rule justly by obeying the commandments of Allah and with consultation (shura).

Throughout history the Muslims always had Consultative Assemblies comprised of learned men to advise those in power. The idea of dictatorship, authoritarianism, monarchy or royal dynasty rule began to creep into the Muslim lands when Muslim masses influenced by the West began to forget the proper method of statehood in Islam.

The Maldives has been ruled for quite a long period of time by authoritarian rulers with the power to enact draconian laws through the rubber stamp parliament. The Maldivian people were sick and tired of their ruling elites, their extravagant behaviour, nepotism and corruption etc.

The rampant moral degeneration, drunkenness and drug addiction made the Maldivian society plunge into chaos in the years between 2003-2008. The opportunity was ripe for the irreligious people who opposed the authoritarian regime to manipulate the situation by calling on the West to impose democracy on Maldives amid threats of economic sanctions.

There were many who thought that after democracy had been installed the problems created by the old authoritarian regime would disappear once and for all. However, in addition to those social problems that already remain, democracy has begun to create more problems in people’s lives by dividing the masses into parties or groups.

More often, rival factions compete for influence within the same party and today the so called political parties in Maldives are on the verge of bankruptcy or collapse and state funding is insufficient to keep them functioning. Soon the political parties in Maldives have to rely on foreign donations and grants of which the most likely consequence of this would be foreign control.

Money can buy power, so if the West decides to bring a certain opposition party into power, they increase funding for that particular party. In addition to all these problems, the party in power and the opposition parties are always at each other’s throats, as a result the ordinary people have to bear the brunt of the entire disharmony or disruptions within the community.

The so-called democrats in Maldives claim that they were the only ones who worked tirelessly to bring an end on nearly half a century of oppression. They say that these religious mullahs and bearded fundamentalists only acted like timid chickens and were unable put up a formidable resistance even to defend their ideals. They dare to say that these religion mongers kept hiding behind the backs of prodemocracy activists just to gain favours when everything happens to be over.

If so, then why for the past three decades did countless numbers of Muslim scholars – bearded men who offered five daily prayers and burqa clad women – continuously end up in jail or under house arrest? Where were the pro-democracy activists and human rights campaigners when breast feeding mothers were taken into police custody on the suspicion of trying to endanger religious harmony?

The so called prodemocracy activists only emerged during or after September 2003, when a violent drug addict was beaten to death by prison guards and the shooting incident there which killed a few other drug-related criminals.

It was so because the democrats became convinced that the authoritarian ruler faced pressure from the West to allow political parties to be formed in the Maldives.

The democrats might try to argue that they were in opposition since the early 1990’s. It is a wrong notion to say that they were campaigning for democracy then. The voices raised in those days were not for democracy but for reform or perhaps for change of power. Those voices disappeared into the wilderness because they were not backed by the West.

The spread of democracy in Muslim lands is a victory for diabolical forces of Jews and Christians who spend vast amounts of money and sacrifice much to keep Muslims divided.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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