Tag: ppm

Progressive Coalition to hold public feast to celebrate election results

The Progressive Coalition is to host a feast for the public to mark the Majlis elections success, according to local media outlet Vnews.

Speaking in a press conference held in Progressive Party of Maldives offices in Janavaree magu, President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali stated that the feast, titled ‘Shukuriyyaa Gaumu’ or ‘Thank you, Nation’, was part of the festivities to mark their success in the parliamentary elections.

Muaz added that senior officials of the Coalition partners will participate in the feast. He also said that the Coalition had invited members of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party.

The Progressive Coalition won a total of 53 of the 85 Majlis seats being contested on March 22, with the subsequent addition of 4 more MPs-elect swelling the number to 57.

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Two more MPs-elect switch to Progressive Party of Maldives

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP-elect for Thaa Thimarafushi, Mohamed Musthafa, along with independent MP-elect for Haa Alif Dhidhoo, Abdul Latheef Mohamed, have joined the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

The new signings brings the number of PPM MPs in the 18th People’s Majlis to 37, and the number of Progressive Coalition MPs to 57 with five from the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and 15 from the Jumhooree Party (JP).

Abdul Latheef Mohamed defeated incumbent JP MP Ahmed Sameer in the March 22 polls with 40 percent of the vote while Musthafa won against incumbent PPM MP Ahmed Shareef Adam with a margin of nine votes.

Musthafa and Abdul Latheef signed their membership forms in the presence of PPM leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, at a ceremony this afternoon in Nasandhuraa Palace Hotel.

Gayoom later tweeted: “PPM now has 37 seats in Majlis n our Coalition 57- a two-thirds majority. What an impressive achievement!”

President Abdulla Yameen, Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, and Defence Minister Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim were also in attendance.

Musthafa told the press at the ceremony that he believed the government could develop the nation in the current climate of peace and stability.

Musthafa tweeted yesterday that he could not remain in parliament “making idle chatter” to the detriment of his constituents.

His first priority as an MP was the nation, followed by the constituency, and then political party, Musthafa tweeted.

“I’m MP elected to represent Thimarafushi [and] Veymando constituents. I will fight for them disregarding the politics they stand for,” he tweeted on March 24.

Speaker’s post

Meanwhile, of the five independent MPs-elect, three have now signed for the ruling PPM – including Naifaru MP-elect Ahmed Shiyam and Mahibadhoo MP-elect Mohamed Thoriq ‘Tom’.

Today’s signings follow friction in the coalition over the post of speaker of parliament. In the wake of JP leader Gasim Ibrahim’s announcement that he would seek the post, the PPM declared that it would nominate one of its MPs for speaker.

Following the polls, Gasim accused coalition party members of costing his party almost a third of the seats it had contested.

Other disgruntled JP candidates accused the PPM of attempting to “destroy” its coalition partner, suggesting that PPM members masquerading as independents actively campaigned against Gasim’s party.

With the addition of two more MPs-elect, the PPM and coalition partner MDA are presently just one vote short of the 43 simple majority without the JP.

Aside from the two remaining independents and the Adhaalath Party MP-elect for Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo, Anara Naeem, the opposition MDP has 25 MPs-elect.

Speaking to Minivan News today, MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said that the coalition was “obviously split on the question of the speaker.”

“They are not making a secret out of it,” he observed.

Hamid said Musthafa’s defection was “widely anticipated by a lot of MDP members”.

“We are currently in a settling down period. Obviously there will be candidates whose independence is compromised. What happens in this country is that their [candidates] capability to stand independently is compromised and they bow to coercion and pressure” he said.

“Another one bites the bite,” he added.

Hamid also suggested that the MDP’s primaries to select parliamentary candidates were “obviously flawed.”

“This doesn’t lend much credibility to the process. There was a lot of ‘branch stacking’ – a process where parties get candidates to sign for another party to influence their primary votes,” he explained.

Musthafa won the MDP primary for the Thimarafushi constituency against lawyer Abdulla Shairu, a member of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team.

MP Musthafa

Musthafa was elected to the 17th People’s Majlis on an MDP ticket after beating Gassan Maumoon, son of former President Gayoom.

The High Court however annulled the results of two ballot boxes and ordered a revote after Gassan alleged widespread intimidation and irregularities in the poll.

The presiding judge in the three-judge High Court panel was Judge Ali Hameed, who was subsequently appointed to the Supreme Court bench.

Upon winning the revote, Musthafa described Gayoom as “the most brutal leader in the past 100 years.” He went on to severely criticise the former president in parliamentary debates.

In July 2010, Musthafa was arrested together with Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim for allegedly bribing MPs and a Civil Court judge.

Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed however ordered police to release the pair, ruling that there were no reasonable grounds to grant an extension of pre-trial detention.

The pair were accused of offering US$6,000 as well as a return ticket for an overseas trip to a civil court judge to allegedly influence an ongoing case.

In March 2011, a phone conversation between Musthafa and Nazim surfaced in social media, implicating the MDP MP in secret deals with then-Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

Musthafa is heard claiming in the leaked recording that Thasmeen offered financial assistance to his campaign in 2009.

On February 20, 2012 – less than two weeks after the controversial transfer of presidential power – the Supreme Court stripped MP Musthafa of his seat over a decreed debt.

Musthafa lost the subsequent by-election in the Thimarafushi constituency to PPM candidate Shareef.

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Fisheries minister reveals details of fishermen’s allowance

The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has compiled procedures under which fishermen can apply for the government’s scheme for an allowance of MVR10,000 (USD 649) for fishermen during lean months.

Provision of MVR10,000 to fishermen ‘regardless of catch’ was a campaign pledge of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) during the 2013 presidential elections.

Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Mohamed Shainee stated that the scheme will commence from Tuesday, April 1.

“The objective of this scheme is to further aid the fisheries industry to become a main pillar in strengthening the country’s economy. We are trying to give support and assurance to fishermen that they can maintain their careers in fishing,” Shainee stated.

“More than a form of social protection, this scheme is more a means to further develop the fisheries industry economically. Through this scheme, we are assuring an income for the fishermen”.

The minister stated that only tuna and yellowfin tuna fishermen are eligible to participate in the scheme during its initial stages.

“However, we are at the moment unable to include other forms as we do not have the statistics on how much they generally earn. Nevertheless, other fishermen will also be able to participate in the scheme,” Shainee added.

Under the newly comprised procedures, the ministry categorised tuna and yellow fin tuna fishing vessels into three categories: vessels smaller than 45 feet in length, vessels between 45 and 65 feet in length, and vessels larger than 65 feet in length.

Under the scheme, fishermen working on vessels smaller than 45 feet in length are to get an allowance of MVR3500 (US$227) in return for a monthly premium of MVR350 (US$23) paid to the state.

Fishermen working on vessels between 45 and 65 feet in size are eligible to receive an allowance of MVR5000 (US$324), while needing to pay a monthly premium of MVR400 (US$26).

Those working on larger vessels – over 65 feet in length – will be given the full allowance of MVR10,000 (US$649), and are required to pay a premium of MVR500 (US$32).

The premium fees are to be paid up front for a year in order to participate in the scheme. The minister stated that the government is working to arrange the receipt of payments through island councils.

“As over 90 percent of Maldivian fishermen work in vessels of over 65 feet in size, we have targeted the full amount of MVR 10,000 for them,” Shainee told press today.

“However, this government has not neglected any fisherman. By this I mean that, although our pledge says MVR10,000 for fishermen on all lean months, we have made the scheme inclusive of even the remaining 10 percent of fishermen,” Shainee explained.

Minister Shainee expressed confidence that the scheme would encourage fishermen to engage in fishing even during the lean months.

It was further revealed that discussions are currently being held to hand over the management of the scheme to the National Social Protection Agency.

It was noted that 722 fishing vessels are currently in the state registry, while 11,894 fishermen are registered as working on these vessels – only 5 percent of them are listed as working on vessels less than 45 feet in length.

According to the ministry, over 80 percent of the registered fishermen work on vessels larger than 65 feet in length. In a previous interview with Minivan News, Dr Shainee had noted that encouraging fishermen to use for economically sized vessels would improve the industry’s profitability.

On Saturday, President Abdulla Yameen revealed at a political rally that application forms for the scheme will be available from April 1 onwards. He further stated that the allowance will be released to fishermen before the end of May.

Yameen further revealed that discussions are being held between the State Trading Organisation (STO) and the Indian government to arrange the supply of petroleum products at a lower price.

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Week in review: March 22 – 29

The week began with 302 candidates and 189,000 voters taking part in the Maldives’ second multiparty Majlis elections.

After polling proceeded without notable incident, preliminary results quickly showed that the governing Progressive Coalition had secured a clear victory – later confirmed as a 53 seat majority in the 85 seat legislature.

President Abdulla Yameen – whose Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) took 33 seats – interpreted the result as a ‘yes’ to peace and stability and a chance to pick up where his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s ‘golden 30 years’ had left off.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon – daughter of former President Gayoom – saw the result as a rejection of “foreign interference” and a show of support for her father and uncle’s leadership.

Coalition ally the Maldives Development Alliance noted that the result – in which it took five seats – as a sign of public confidence in the relatively young party. Despite being upbeat about his party’s 15-seat haul, Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim accused his coalition allies of fielding independent candidates in violation of pre-election agreements.

While Yameen acknowledged that vote splitting may have detracted from the size of the coalition win, the immediate effects appeared to have benefited his party, with two of the five successful ‘independent’ candidates switching to the PPM before the official results had been announced.

A further source of discord within the coalition loomed large after Gasim threw his hat into the ring for the Majlis speaker’s position this week. Though Gasim told local media he had the coalition’s full backing, the PPM subsequently announced its intention to field its own candidate.

The impact of the defeat on the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – who won just 26 of the 85 seats for which it fielded candidates – looks likely to be a period of restructuring, with former President Mohamed Nasheed calling for new leaders to step forward.

All observers of the elections – partisans and neutrals alike – expressed concern at the ‘money politics’ involved, with both the MDP and Adhaalath parties blaming such practices for their own poor performances.

Despite the foreign minister’s prior comments, both the EU and the Commonwealth observer missions focused on the negative impact the Supreme Court’s dismissal of Elections Commissioners had upon the electoral environment.

Government business

Amendments to the Decentralisation Act, which would resurrect previous previously thwarted plans for streamlined local governance, were this week introduced on behalf of the government.

The resuscitation of the Nasheed administration’s attempts to transform the country’s energy sector also continued with the outlining of the Accelerating Sustainable Private Investments in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) programme.

The government’s transformation of the island of Meedhoo appeared not have gone to plan, however, after a recently initiated reclamation project was halted due to its potential environmental and health impacts.

The Immigration Department revealed the success of a recent repatriation programme for illegal migrant workers, while employees on the Vilu Reef resort were also given their marching orders after having taken part in strikes.

In the courts, the decision to uphold a prior ruling saw the return of a five-month-old child to it’s German mother, while the Criminal Court heard the final disturbing details in the 2010 murder of Mariyam Sheereen.

The Tiny Hearts of Maldives NGO this week held their annual camp in Malé’s IGMH, providing expert care for children with congenital heart defects. Meanwhile, in Addu, investigations have begun in the events that led to a death during childbirth at Hithadhoo Regional Hospital.

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Fishermen invited to register for MVR10,000 allowance on April 1

Application forms will be available on April 1 for fishermen to register in the government’s scheme to provide MVR10,000 (US$648) during lean months, President Abdulla Yameen said last night.

Addressing supporters in Gaaf Dhaalu Thinadhoo at a rally held to celebrate the Progressive Coalition’s victory in the parliamentary polls, President Yameen said the allowance will be released to fishermen before the end of May “when all the calculations and documentation are done.”

Marinas for fishermen would meanwhile be complete by the end of the year, Yameen said.

A MVR10,000 allowance to fishermen “regardless of catch” during lean months was a campaign pledge of candidate Yameen and the now-ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

In an interview with Minivan News in January, Fisheries Minister Dr Mohamed Shainy explained that the allowance will be provided through an insurance scheme.

“If you look at the skipjack fishing statistics for last year, you will see three or four months which are very difficult for the fishermen. The real goal of this is sustainability,” he said.

“So the aim of the government is to ensure that even during these difficult months fishermen stay in the industry. For that reason, during those few months we want to give a payment so that they can do their basic necessities, so they can fulfil their daily obligations towards their family. The MVR10,000 scheme is a top-up system.”

He stressed that the MVR10,000 was not a subsidy as the productivity of the fisheries industry has been increasing since the downturn in 2004.

“So now we need to make the industry stand alone and be more vibrant and shock-proof to absorb these shocks. We need to devise a way to get people’s minds set on the idea that they can work in the industry. The real reason is the sustainability of the fishermen in the industry to keep them in the field during this low season,” he said.

Cheaper diesel

According to the President’s Office, President Yameen also said that discussions were ongoing between the State Trading Organisation (STO) and the Indian government to arrange the supply of petroleum products.

When the talks are concluded, Yameen said the price of oil would fall during the next two months.

Duing Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to the Maldives last month, an agreement was reached to supply diesel, petrol, and aviation fuels “on favourable terms” from the Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd, a subsidiary of India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Following President Yameen’s state visit to India in January – his first official overseas trip since assuming office in November – senior government figures described Indo-Maldives ties as being “as strong as they were during [former President Maumoon Abdul] Gayoom’s time in power”.

Meanwhile, in his speech last night, President Yameen reportedly said that the government has undertaken efforts to attract foreign investors to the country, which would create jobs for unemployed youth.

Among the projects in the pipeline for Thinadhoo that President Yameen announced last night included road construction, land reclamation, construction of a sports arena, and broadening tourism.

With the prevailing political stability and the mandate given to the current administration by the public in the presidential and parliamentary polls, Yameen said he believed that the government could commence mega-projects and transform the Maldives to “this region’s Singapore.”

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Majlis elections: Voters said yes to peace and stability, says President Yameen

Voters said yes to peace and stability in Saturday’s parliamentary elections and rejected an ideology that was ruining the country, President Abdulla Yameen said at a rally held in Malé last night to celebrate the Progressive Coalition’s victory at the polls.

Voters said no to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) ideology because the country did not have the “energy to bear the wounds any further,” he said.

Voters also rejected foreign interference in Maldivian domestic affairs, Yameen added.

The Maldivian people supported the government’s efforts to develop the nation and fulfil campaign pledges, he continued, and endorsed plans to “take Maldivian youth out of the crime environment, offer a second chance to persons serving sentences, and bring them back to society for rehabilitation.”

The Progressive Coalition will hold celebration rallies across the country in the coming days, Yameen said, including one in Thinadhoo tomorrow night.

In surprising victories, coalition candidates took both parliamentary seats in the MDP’s traditional stronghold in the south.

The rallies will be attended by PPM leader and former president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, along with coalition leaders Ahmed Siyam Mohamed and Gasim Ibrahim, Yameen said.

“Good news” will be revealed at the Thinadhoo rally, he said, adding that the PPM’s “list of pledges” was not yet complete.

Continue progress brought by “golden 30 years”

The policies in the PPM manifesto were formulated to transform the “landscape of the Maldives,” he reiterated, stressing that the policies were not limited to raising old age benefits, empowering women, or prioritising Quran and Islamic education.

The PPM-led coalition government’s policies would benefit fishermen, young entrepreneurs, and “people of all ages”, he said.

The main priority of his administration was “putting the economy back on track,” President Yameen said, adding that the public was already seeing signs of the economy rebounding.

Foreign investors were interested in coming to the Maldives because of the current political stability, he said.

“We want to change the Maldives to a modern nation from where President Maumoon’s golden 30 years brought us,” he said.

Acknowledging public discontent over the quality of healthcare, Yameen said fixing problems in the sector was a high priority, noting that there were two or three doctors per 10,000 people in most developed countries.

“With God’s blessing, the Maldives even today is in a position where we have to rejoice. Today there are 1.6 doctors per 1,000 people in the Maldives,” he said.

The foundation for the progress the Maldives has made was laid by President Gayoom, he said.

Separation of powers

Yameen also expressed gratitude to the leadership of the MDP for the prevailing stable political environment.

The opposition party has meanwhile released a press statement expressing “deep concerns” with the electoral environment ahead of polling day on March 22.

“The MDP believes the processes of elections from a quantitative point of view were efficient and well managed. However, continued judicial interference in the electoral process affected the independence of the elections commission, and created an atmosphere not conducive towards holding a free and fair election,” the statement read.

The Supreme Court’s removal of the Elections Commission (EC) chair and deputy chair in proceedings where the apex court was “judge, plaintiff and the jury” was an attempt to “intimidate state actors and voters,” the party contended.

The dismissals of the EC members two weeks before the elections “affected people’s confidence in the election and resulted in lower voter turnout,” the statement read.

The party called on the international community to maintain “robust engagement” with the government to “ensure Maldives does not backtrack on hard-won freedoms and reforms” since the adoption of a democratic constitution in August 2008.

Concerns over the Supreme Court’s negative impact on the electoral environment have also been expressed by EU and Commonwealth observer teams this week.

“The 7 Feb 2012 coup d’état, legitimised by the CoNI report, ushered in a period of authoritarian rule which continues to this day,” former President Mohamed Nasheed was quoted as saying in the MDP statement.

“We have a situation in which the Supreme Court now feels empowered to sentence the Elections Commission on politically motivated charges only a week before polling day,” he said.

“The Maldives no longer has an effective separation of powers and forces close to the former dictatorship now control all three branches of the state.”

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Government proposes changes to local government model

The government has submitted amendments to the Decentralisation Act to make councillors part-time with the exception of the president and vice president of island, atoll, and city councils.

If the proposed changes are passed into law, councillors other than the president and vice president would not be involved in day-to-day activities after a president and vice president are elected through secret ballot.

While the president and vice president would be paid a monthly salary, other councillors are to be paid an allowance for attending council meetings – a move that would lead to substantial savings from the public sector wage bill.

The responsibilities of other councillors would be to “attend meetings of the council, participate in the council’s decision-making [process], and assist the council in ways determined by the council in achieving its objectives,” read the amendment.

The amendment bill (Dhivehi) was submitted on behalf of the administration of President Abdulla Yameen by outgoing Progressive Party of Maldives MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur.

The purpose of the bill is to strengthen decentralised administration in line with the unitary nature of the Maldivian state, stated the introduction of the legislation.

In January, the Local Government Authority (LGA) – the institution tasked with monitoring councils and coordinating with the central government – revealed that recommendations had been shared with parliament to make most councillors part-time.

Recurrent expenditure

Defence Minister and LGA Chair Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim told the press that the changes would allow professionals to contest the council elections, as their responsibilities would be offering advice and participating in decision-making.

“The president and vice president will operate the council. Instead, now they have to leave their profession – the teacher, headmaster or boat builder has to give up his job,” he explained.

As a consequence, Nazim contended, the councillors’ time was not put to productive use.

“The benefit of [the changes] is that the councillor has to work a very short amount of time and be free to work productively for the island’s development,” he added.

The presidents of island councils currently receive a monthly salary and allowance of MVR15,000 (US$973) while council members receive MVR11,000 (US$713). The mayor of Malé is paid MVR45,000 (US$2,918) a month.

Under article 25 of the Decentralisation Act, a five-member council is elected in islands with a population of less than 3,000, a seven-member council for islands with a population between 3,000 and 10,000, and a nine-member council for islands with a population of more than 10,000.

City councils comprise of “an elected member from every electoral constituency of the city”, and atoll councils comprises of “elected members from the electoral constituencies within the administrative division.”

In December, the World Bank warned in a report that the Maldivian economy was at risk due to excessive government spending.

The current model of more than 1,000 elected councillors approved in 2010 by the then-opposition majority parliament was branded “economic sabotage” by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government, which had proposed limiting the number of councillors to “no more than 220.”

The new layer of government introduced with the first local council elections in February 2011 cost the state US$12 million a year with a wage bill of US$220,000 a month.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad told parliament’s Budget Review Committee last year that President Yameen favoured revising the local government framework to reduce the number of island and atoll councillors.

In November 2013, the incoming administration proposed merging island and atoll councils, with the latter to be composed of a representative from each island of the atoll.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said at the time that “the president’s thinking is not to cut down on the number of councillors. But to elect councillors based on the population of the islands. This is a move to curb state expenditure.”

However, parliament did not move to amend the Decentralisation Act ahead of the local council elections on January 18, which saw 1,100 councillors elected for a three-year term.

While the proposals were intended to reduce the state’s recurrent expenditure – which accounts for over 70 percent of the budget – Nazim said the LGA does not support changing the council’s term from three to five years.

Contending that the legal responsibility of local councils was implementing the government’s policies, Nazim said voters should have the opportunity to change their elected representatives during an ongoing five-year presidential term.

“Citizens get an opportunity to see what kind of results the council produced and the extent to which they upheld the government’s policies,” he said.

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Majlis elections: EC announces preliminary results, coalition secures parliament majority

The Elections Commission (EC) has announced preliminary results of Saturday’s parliamentary elections for 71 of the 85 constituencies.

Acting EC Chair Mohamed Farooq told the press yesterday that the delay in the full announcement had been due to result sheets faxed from across the country being unclear.

Farooq had explained earlier that preliminary results are uploaded to the EC website after double checking the sheets to ensure there were no errors or inconsistencies.

While the results of more than 40 constituencies were announced yesterday, the EC resumed announcing the rest this morning, reaching 71 as of the time of press.

With almost all result sheets checked, the results published on the EC website for the remaining 14 constituencies are unlikely to change.

The EC reopened five ballot boxes in the presence of candidate representatives and the media last night after discovering mismatches in the number of votes received by candidates and the total votes cast.

The recount did not affect the outcome of the polls in any of the five constituencies.

Seat count

Preliminary results show that of the 85 seats in the People’s Majlis, the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) won 33 seats along with 15 seats and five seats respectively for coalition partners Jumhooree Party (JP) and the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA).

The Progressive Coalition secured a combined total of 53 seats, well above the 43 simple majority required to pass legislation.

Independent candidates won in five constituencies while the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) took one seat.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) secured 26 seats, which was the same number of seats it won in the first multi-party parliamentary elections in May 2009.

The main opposition party suffered surprising defeats in traditional strongholds such as the capital Malé, Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo, Haa Alif, and Addu City.

Of the 28 incumbent MPs who failed to retain their seats, 17 were from the MDP, four from the PPM, three from the JP, two independent MPs, one Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party MP and one Adhaalath Party MP.

While 23 female candidates competed in the elections, only five were elected, including three MDP candidates, one PPM candidate and one Adhaalath Party candidate.

In a preliminary statement on the polls, NGO Transparency Maldives noted that the Maldives was “currently ranked 129th place in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s index of parliaments in terms of gender balance.”

With 189,482 votes cast, the turnout on Saturday was 78.80 percent. The number of eligible voters was 240,652.*

Voter turnout in Male’ was well below the national average. With the exception of Galolhu South at 70 percent, turnout in other constituencies in the capital was below 65 percent.

The lowest turnout was for the Maafanu North constituency at 50 percent.

Obstacles and independents

In the wake of the coalition’s victory at the polls, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb – deputy leader of the PPM – has asserted that that there are now no “obstacles” now for the administration of President Abdulla Yameen to implement the PPM manifesto and fulfil campaign pledges.

“God willing, we will use the trust placed in us by citizens responsibly and work through parliament to give legal power to the [policies] in our manifesto,” he said.

The government’s 207-bill legislative agenda includes amending pension laws, designating special economic zones, and strengthening the legal framework for foreign direct investments.

Adeeb said the government has received congratulations from international partners and foreign investors.

Adeeb also revealed yesterday that some independent candidates have expressed interest in joining the PPM.

While 114 independent candidates contested the Majlis polls, only five were elected. Of the 302 candidates, 188 contested on party tickets.

Following his loss to an independent candidate, JP MP for Lhaviyani Naifaru, Ahmed Mohamed, accused the PPM of attempting to “destroy” its coalition partner.

The veteran MP explained to online news outlet CNM that PPM members contested as independents in constituencies assigned for the JP in the seat allocation deal reached among the coalition parties.

While the independent candidate – Ahmed Shiyam – used the PPM party office, colour and logo in his campaign for the Naifaru seat, Ahmed alleged that the government gave jobs and promotions in the nearby Felivaru fish cannery at his request.

“And if that wasn’t enough, [they] anti-campaigned against me while voting was ongoing,” he claimed.

JP MP for the Hithadhoo South constituency, MP Hassan Latheef, also accused the PPM of campaigning against him after two senior members of the ruling party contested as independents.

Speaking to the press in Hithadhoo yesterday, Latheef reportedly alleged that the PPM members used money to bribe voters and influence within the government to provide jobs.

Latheef also noted that he was not invited to a campaign rally in Hithadhoo last week that was attended by President Yameen. The two independent candidates were however present at the rally, he said.

JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim meanwhile told the press yesterday that the party lost 12 out of the 28 seats it contested for because of coalition party members contesting as independents as well as Adhaalath Party candidates competing in 12 constituencies.

He however added that the winning independent candidates were likely to join coalition parties in the near future.

Along with the five independent MPs-elect and the Adhaalath party MP-elect Anara Naeem, the Progressive Coalition would be six votes short of the super-majority needed to amend the constitution.

*Figures amended upon the release of the Majlis official results – 29.03.14

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Majlis elections: Gasim reveals decision to stand as speaker of the Majlis

Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim has reportedly decided to stand as speaker of the  People’s Majlis following the Progressive Coalition’s success in Saturday’s elections.

Despite telling media that he had no plans to stand for the position on Tuesday, Gasim confirmed to Haveeru today that he will put his name forward, with the full backing of his coalition partners.

While the EC has yet to officially announce all the results, the governing coalition – which includes Gasim’s JP alongside the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), and the Maldives Development Alliance – looks set to win a comfortable 53 seat majority, including 15 seats for the JP.

Despite expressing his satisfaction with Saturday’s results – which included re-election to his own Maamigili constituency seat – Gasim earlier this week accused coalition party members costing his party almost a third of the seats in which they contested.

Other disgruntled JP candidates accused the PPM of attempting to “destroy” its coalition partner, suggesting that PPM members masquerading as independents actively campaigned against Gasim’s party.

The party’s leader has assured Haveeru today that his decision has the full backing of the PPM and the MDA – winners of 33 and 5 seats, respectively.

“I wouldn’t have come to this decision if I didn’t have the backing of the coalition partners, would I?” Gasim asked the newspaper.

Reputedly the Maldives’ wealthiest individual, Gasim is one of the country’s most prominent businessmen. His Villa Group has interests in numerous sectors, including tourism, education, media, and aviation, as well as carrying out philanthropic activities through the Villa Foundation.

Having previously served as finance minister between 2005 and 2008, and speaker of the Special Majlis – charged with drafting the 2008 constitution – Gasim’s spokesperson Ibrahim Khaleel told Sun Online that the MP had the experience to handle the pressure.

The speaker’s chair is currently filled by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Abdulla Shahid. Despite Shahid himself being returned to the Majlis following Saturday’s polling, 17 MDP incumbents failed to win election to the 18th Majlis, leaving the party with just 29 seats.

The constitution requires that the speaker and deputy speaker’s positions should be filled on the first sitting of the house following a general election, after a secret ballot among members.

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