President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom will depart to Singapore on a private visit tonight, local media has reported.
Officials from the President’s Office said the visit will be short, but declined to reveal when Yameen is expected to return.
Yameen will depart to India on December 22 on the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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(0)President Abdulla Yameen has appointed former Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Saudhee as Deputy Commissioner of Police.
The deputy Chief Superintendent at Maldives Customs Services Ismail Abdulla was appointed to the post of Deputy Commissioner of Customs.
Shortly after assuming the presidency, Yameen appointed former Minister of Economic Development Ahmed Mohamed as Commissioner General of Customs and appointed former Deputy Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed as Commissioner of Police.
Meanwhile, President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali told local media President Yameen intends to limit state ministers and deputy ministers at each ministry to two positions each.
The People’s Majlis is expected to approve Yameen’s 15 member cabinet on December 29.
(0)Dislikes(0)India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom for an official visit.
The invitation comes in reply to a letter by Yameen to the prime minister in which he assured Singh of his administration’s desire for enhanced bilateral ties and urged Singh to pay an official visit to the Maldives as soon as it was mutually convenient to do so.
President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali said Yameen has accepted the invitation, but a date has not yet been decided for the visit.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner Rajiv Shahare paid a visit on the new Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, describing Indo-Maldivian ties as “privileged”.
The President’s Office noted that Jameel and Shahare took the opportunity to discuss the easing consular and visa restrictions for travelers between the two countries, as well as healthcare, defense cooperation, and human resource development.
Writing to Singh, the President’s Office website reported Yameen as emphasising that “diverse Indo-Maldives people-to-people contact offers avenues for further cooperation”.
The Maldives’ traditionally close ties with India came under increasing strain under the previous government – of which the PPM was a prominent partner. The cancellation of a deal to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in December 2012 was a particularly contentious issue.
The government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor was quickly followed by visa restrictions and a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission in January this year.
India has extended budget support aid to the Maldives on several occasions, most recently extending a Standby Credit Facility of US$ 100 million in 2008 and 2011 during President Mohamed Nasheed’s tenure.
Minivan News understands the Government of Maldives is currently in discussion with India to secure further budget support to plug the 2014 budget deficit.
Yameen has said the Maldives economy is in a “deep pit” and has pledged to reduce state expenditure.
During a visit to India in June, former President and PPM leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom told the Indian PM of his disappointment that the Maldives’ relationship with India had been impacted upon by the then-government’s decision to evict GMR from the country with seven days notice.
“This was a mistake. Had he consulted all political parties, the public would not have formed the impression that corruption had taken place,” Gayoom was reported as saying in the Hindu.
The cancellation of the project is currently being investigated in a Singapore court of arbitration, with the Indian infrastructure company seeking US$1.4 billion in compensation – more than the Maldives’ annual budget.
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Parliament’s Finance Committee Chair Abdulla Jabir has said that the parliamentary select committee has begun reviewing the wages and salaries of members of independent institutions, judges and members of the parliament.
During a committee meeting held last Wednesday evening, Committee Chair Jabir stated that it was responsibility of the Finance Committee to review wages and salaries annually. He added that the new initiative by the committee was part of the cooperation extended to the new government of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom who has promised to a cost reduction policy.
Article 102 of the constitution states, “The President, Vice President, members of the Cabinet, members of the People’s Majlis, including the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, members of the judiciary, and members of the Independent Commissions and Independent Offices shall be paid such salary and allowances as determined by the [Parliament]”
The task of determining salaries and allowances is entrusted to the Finance Committee under section 100(a) of the parliamentary rules of procedures.
President Yameen previously announced publicly that he would voluntarily be taking a fifty-percent pay cut, a promise which he made during the campaign for presidency. The president also at the time promised to slash the wages of political appointees by 30-50 percent, should he be elected in September.
Furthermore he at the time also pledged to cut the salaries of independent institutions claiming that it was a pivotal step for the country to avoid a sovereign default.
Two propositions were made to the Finance Committee which includes a proposition by interim Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed’s proposition to reduce the wages of a parliament member to MVR 20,000 (US$1300).
The second proposition was put forth by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ilyas Labeeb who suggested that the committee to collectively bring down the wages of all state institutions including the parliament, the judiciary, the executive and Independent Institutions.
Neither of the propositions was put for a vote during Thursday evening’s Finance Committee meeting.
MP’s Remarks
Speaking during Thursday evening’s committee meeting, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member and MDP MP Ahmed Hamza suggested the wages of judges and magistrates be brought down before doing the same for members of independent institutions and the parliament.
“President Yameen himself has taken a pay-cut. Right now we must all follow that example shown by him. Else, we would not be able bring down the recurrent costs [in the national budget],” the Biledhdhoo MP told the committee.
The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem also spoke in support of the committee’s initiative but disagreed with the idea of cutting down salaries of specific institutions such as judges and the judiciary with the intent to undermine such an institution.
MP Saleem argued that should the committee wish to bring down the wages of state institutions, then it must be done with thorough research and without discriminating against specific institutions.
“Such efforts must be sincere. This should not be done with the motive to reduce the pay for the judiciary or any specific institution,” MP Saleem told the committee.
However, opposition MP Abdul Ghafoor ‘Gabey’ Moosa openly disagreed to the idea of pay cuts citing that it could lead to more educated Maldivians taking up employment abroad. He added that based on the current inflation rates, it cannot simply be said that the current wages of state institutions are too high.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament – who is also a member of the committee – also spoke in a similar fashion where he criticised the proposition to bring down the wages of just parliament members, members of the independent institutions and the judges.
He also argued that due to how certain laws have been framed, it was not possible for parliament to bring down wages of some positions. Although the committee must move forward with the pay-cut initiative, the Deputy Speaker stressed that the committee needed to identify the positions which it intends to bring down the wages of.
“We ought to thoroughly research and foresee the outcomes of our decision to bring down the wages of state institutions. We need to assess what changes need to be brought in order to do such a thing,” the Deputy Speaker noted.
Wednesday evening’s committee meeting was forced to conclude after Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed arrived in the meeting room and begun disrupting it, taking points of order in which he complained to the Committee Chair for not informing him of the meeting.
Things became heated when Committee Chair MP Abdulla Jabir decided to call off the session without giving attention to the complaints by MP Riyaz Rasheed. Verbal abuses and physical confrontations ensued between Riyaz Rasheed and Jabir.
The committee meeting concluded with the Committee Chair MP Jabir announcing that it will reconvene in three days time after collecting necessary documents and information regarding the work. The committee also agreed to commit two hours of its time to the matter.
Previous efforts
Last December, Parliament passed revisions to the pay scheme approved by the Finance Committee for senior officials in the executive, judiciary and independent institutions.
The revisions included a MVR 5,000 (US$324) pay raise for board members of the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). MIRA board members now receive monthly pay of MVR 15,500 (US$1,005).
Among other changes brought at the time by the committee to the pay structure originally passed on December 28, 2010 was a monthly phone allowance of MVR 1,000 (US$65) for MPs, ministers, judges of the High Court and Supreme Court, members of independent commissions, the Prosecutor General, the Attorney General and the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority.
According the revisions, should the phone bills exceed MVR 1000, the officials were allowed to claim compensation for the cost of phone calls made for official purposes.
The Finance Committee at the time also decided to discontinue monthly salaries for drivers of cabinet minister’s cars (MVR 7,500) as well as an allowance for petrol cost (MVR 1,000). Ministers were instructed to settle the expenses out of their salaries from April 2013 onwards. However, the committee did not terminate similar expenses for other officials provided state cars.
The revisions also saw increment of the health insurance premium given for judges and their parents from MVR 4,500 (US$292) to MVR 7,000 (US$454).
Despite the calls, the committee at the time also decided against making any changes to the remuneration of parliament members.
The revised pay scheme was passed with 38 votes in favor, two against and five abstentions.
Numbers
The Maldives has one of the highest percentages of government employees to population of any country in the world, at around 11 percent.
Salaries and allowances have also rocketed up, unmatched by government revenue. Much of this growth occurred in the two years leading up to the 2008 election and the introduction of multi-party democracy.
An internal World Bank report leaked in 2010 showed that increases to the salaries and allowances of government employees between 2006 and 2008 reached 66 percent, “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”
With the introduction of the new constitution and its requirement for an assortment of independent institutions to oversee various aspects of government, the share of the wage bill to revenue soared to “an astronomical 89 percent.”
The President of the Maldives receives a base salary of MVR100,000 (US$6500) per month. During his government’s attempts to reduce civil servant spending on the urging of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), former President Mohamed Nasheed took a voluntary pay cut of 20 percent.
Despite this, the government’s attempt to impose austerity measures was blocked by the Civil Services Commission, leading to a series of scuffles between the Finance Ministry and the CSC.
The opposition at the time, now in power following Nasheed’s controversial resignation in 2012, contested Nasheed’s expenditure on 244 political appointees – a figure partly the result of the government’s early efforts to consolidate state employees under government-owned companies outside the purview of the CSC.
Figures released by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury showed that these 244 appointees were being paid MVR 99 million (US$6.4 million) a year, however Nasheed’s administration contested that this constituted just two percent of the state’s 2011 wage bill, comparing it to the 39 percent that went to the civil service, 24 percent to uniformed bodies, 17 percent to local councils, 10 percent to independent institutions, 5 percent to the judiciary, and 2 percent to parliament.
In comparison, Nasheed’s successor former President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s government during 2012 spent MVR 60 million (US$3.9 million) on 136 appointees, according to figures procured by Sun Online.
At the time, the monthly spend included 19 Minister-level posts at MVR 57,500 (US$3730), 42 State Ministers (MVR 40,000-45,000, US$2600-2900), 58 Deputy Ministers (MVR 35,000, US$2250), five Deputy Under-Secretaries (MVR 30,000, US$1950) and 10 advisors to ministers (MVR 25,000, US$1620).
Overall public expenditure in 2012 increased 12 percent on the previous year. This was in large part due to measures such as the intensified recruitment and promotion of a third of the police force, and repayment of civil servant salaries cut during the Nasheed era.
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) noted that while total expenditure for the year was three percent lower than 2011, this was only due to the government’s failure to pay a large number of bills. Total public debt at the end of 2012 was 72 percent on GDP, the MMA stated.
Meanwhile, the government’s wage bill was in May projected to increase by 37 percent in 2013 as a result of hiring more employees, notably 864 new staff for the police and military – an increase of almost 20 percent.
In its professional opinion on the budget submitted to parliament, the Auditor General’s Office also observed that compared to 2012, the number of state employees was set to rise from 32,868 to 40,333 – resulting in MVR 1.3 billion (US$84.3 million) of additional expenditure in 2013.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom appointed six new cabinet ministers today including Umar Naseer as Home Minister, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed as Islamic Minister, Dr Mohamed Muiz as Housing and Infrastructure Minister, Dr Mohamed Shainy as Fisheries and Agriculture Minister, Mohamed Saeed as Economic Development Minister and Thoriq Ibrahim as Environment and Energy Minister.
The oath of office for the ministers was administered by Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Areef.
While two of the five ministers appointed on Sunday night were members of the President’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the new ministers appointed today were nominated by coalition partners Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath Party (AP) and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA). The PPM-led coalition also includes a number of smaller parties.
JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim and MDA Leader Ahmed Shiyam Mohamed attended the swearing-in ceremony at the President’s Office this afternoon.
Adhaalath Party members Shaheem and Muiz had served in the same posts in the cabinet of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed.
In addition to the ministerial appointments, former Youth Minister Mohamed Hussain Shareef ‘Mundhu’ was appointed minister of the President’s Office – a post abolished in 2008 – and former Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed was appointed Commissioner General of Customs.
All cabinet ministers would require parliamentary approval for confirmation of their posts.
In his remarks after presenting letters of appointment, President Yameen congratulated the new ministers and noted that the government was formed out of a coalition.
The aim of the government should therefore be implementing the main components of the manifestos of the PPM-led coalition, he said.
This would bring contentment and prosperity to the people, protect Islam, maintain peace and stability, and overcome divisions, Yameen said.
The coalition government would be “a compassionate government” that “respects the individual rights of all citizens,” he added.
President Yameen said he wished to “speed up our efforts” to deliver on the campaign promises and asked the new ministers to “work tirelessly” and “make sacrifices if necessary” to serve the public and defend Islam.
“So I ask all of you to provide cooperation to me and my government to ensure the development the Maldivian people want,” he said.
The next five years would bring “unprecedented joy and peace” if the coalition government’s vision for the country was realised, Yameen said.
President Yameen said he hoped to present a timeline or roadmap for the first 100 days at the first cabinet meeting.
Home Minister Umar Naseer
Umar Naseer was dismissed from the PPM in April after refusing to apologise for allegations of vote rigging in the wake of his primary defeat to President Yameen.
Naseer had claimed that Yameen “rigged” the primary by ballot stuffing, falsifying the count and “pouring black money” to buy votes.
He further alleged that criminal gangs, convicts and drug smuggling “networks” were part of Yameen’s campaign team.
“Less than 24 hours after my brother Abdulla Yameen won the primary, the foremost person in the Maldives’ corruption network, Deputy Speaker of the People’s Majlis Ahmed Nazim joined the PPM,” Naseer had said.
After joining the campaign of JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim, Umar had said that Yameen was “the root of all the problems faced by our country today.”
“The 40,000 illegal immigrants who have entered the country are people brought in under his nose. People say that there is a connection between Yameen and the illicit drugs that are sold on the streets of Maldives,” Naseer alleged.
Following Gasim’s third-placed finish in the first round of the presidential election on November 9, Naseer declared that he would back the PPM candidate against former President Mohamed Nasheed.
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