President Dr Mohamed Waheed has met with World Health Organisation (WHO) South East Asian Regional Office (SEARO) Deputy Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal in Male’ yesterday (July 29).
Dr Khetrapal spoke during the meeting on measures presently being undertaken to develop and strengthen the health sector of the Maldives, according to the President’s Office website.
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(0)The Elections Commission (EC) has denied receiving any formal complaints over its capability to ensure a fair election in September this year, after rejecting requests by the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to make voter registration more “lenient”.
EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told Minivan News no “official complaints” had been filed with the commission over its ability to capably oversee the upcoming presidential election, despite the PPM alleging in local media that it was incapable of ensuring a fair vote.
Thowfeek said the PPM have previously requested the EC not to reject voter registration forms missing details such as the name of a voter’s parents or a phone number, that could not be verified during random checks.
PPM Council member and Youth Minister Mohamed Hussain Shareef was quoted in newspaper Haveeru this week calling for “major reforms” to the commission, which he alleged lacked the capacity to oversee fair voting.
The government-aligned party reportedly alleged that concerns over the false registration of voters in previous elections and discrepancies between the previously gazetted registry and the documents used by the EC itself on polling day had not been addressed. The claims were dismissed by the EC today.
Shareef’s concerns included fears about the false registration of voters, as well as allegations of discrepancies between the gazetted registry and the final document used by the EC on voting day. Unspecified issues were also raised about how national identity cards were being used.
Minister Shareef and PPM MP and Spokesperson Ahmed Nihan were not responding to calls at time of press, while the party’s vice presidential candidate Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed was travelling and unable to answer queries on the allegations.
PPM meeting
While aware of Minister Shareef’s allegation in local media, EC President Thowfeek said he held a meeting with PPM representatives on Sunday and that no formal complaints had been been raised by the party over the EC’s competency.
He added that Shareef was among five PPM members who met with the EC during an hour and a half discussion over its work “safeguarding” the voter registry.
Thowfeek claimed that as with other parties fielding candidates for this year’s voting, the EC discussed measures it had taken to improve prevention measures for voter registry fraud, while also trying to deal with key errors that had arisen since the country’s first multi-party election in 2008.
“We have worked to rectify these mistakes and in the last council elections there were hardly any complaints raised with us by political parties,” he said. “More than that, we have worked hard this year to get the registry up to date.”
According to Thowfeek, the EC has also run campaigns on state media requesting the public update their details to ensure voters and their families were correctly registered ahead of voting.
“I can assure everyone that we are using the best system available right now,” he said. ” Even if someone is to die [in the lead up to voting], their name cannot now be changed from the list of registered voters that has [been published in the government gazette], but it will still be a very accurate voter registration.”
Thowfeek said the PPM during the meeting had requested more “lenience” in voter registration.
He said that aside from requesting for an extension to the August 7 deadline for voters to re-register if they wished to cast their ballot somewhere other than their home island, the PPM had also requested that the EC accept applications that failed to include details such as the name of a voter’s mother or father, or a phone number that could not be verified.
Thowfeek said the commission was unable to oblige the party’s requests as random verification of phone numbers and names of parents were a central part of efforts to combat potential voter fraud.
“The phone number and the mother and father’s name have to be correct on any application or we cannot accept it,” he said. “The name of a voter’s parents are not included on the ID card and are important to ensure that if an ID is stolen, it cannot be used to register a voter incorrectly.”
With the PPM reportedly requesting an inquiry by parliament’s Independent Institutions Oversight Committee, rival election candidates such as President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s ‘Forward with the nation coalition’ today claimed the EC did have the capability and staff to oversee fair polling.
The president’s coalition presently consists of his own Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP) and the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).
Coalition view
Coalition Spokesperson Abdul Rasheed Nafiz said despite having some concerns over the EC’s ability to deal with complaints regarding campaigning and alleged bullying of candidates, the coalition had few issues with the commission’s capability to ensure voting was fair.
“The only concern we have raised [with the EC], is that when complaints are registered concerning treatment of candidates while campaigning, we have not seen these complaints attended to,” he said.
Nafiz told Minivan News that during several recent key votes such as the local council elections, he had been aware of formal complaints being sent to the EC about the behaviour of rival supporters when out campaigning.
In the build up to this year’s election, he added that both President Waheed, his running mate DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and their spouses had been subject to “disturbing” behaviour from supporters of rival parties.
Nafiz said complaints had been officially registered with the EC over rival supporters heckling them with derogatory remarks as they tried to campaign.
“I was myself recently with the president as he went to get 1,500 signatures door-to-door in Male’ [to support his successful attempt to register as an independent presidential candidate],” he said. “I personally witnessed people passing on vehicles and shouting abuse such has ‘baaghee (traitor) Waheed’ at the president. These concerns have been raised with the EC.”
Nafiz said he had hoped that the EC would respond to this behaviour by making an announcement calling for the public and supporters of parties to refrain from such acts, or even reviewing legal options to prevent future incidents.
MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor and Jumhoree Party (JP) Spokesperson Moosa Ramiz were not responding to calls at time of press.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Elections Commission (EC) has confirmed observers from both Commonwealth and EU countries will monitor the upcoming presidential election, but has said the exact number of officials overseeing polling will not be known until later this week.
EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz has told Minivan News that a delegation of observers representing the Commonwealth, several members states of the EU and a number of other nations had expressed interest in observing September’s voting.
He added that once the final number of observers had been confirmed, the registered foreign nationals would be free to monitor polling across the country to determine how voting was being carried out.
Minivan News was awaiting a response from the Commonwealth Secretariat at time of press considering the organisation’s plans for observing the upcoming vote.
Complaints bureau
Besides determining the number of international monitors expected to be present in the country during polling, Fayaz said the EC had also now established a national complaints bureau tasked with dealing with any issues or concerns about campaigning by various candidates.
Despite citing initial “logistical difficulties” that limited the bureau’s work, he added that the EC was now accepting complaints concerning any potential issues affecting this year’s election.
“The bureau has started work already and will deal with all complaints related to campaigns or candidates in the election,” Fayaz said.
He added that complaints could be submitted to the EC by phone, e-mail or forms available on the commission’s official website. The complaints bureau itself is based on the second floor of the Port Complex Building, the same location as the EC Secretariat.
With voting scheduled to take place on September 7, the EC also this week determined the order by which candidates would appear on the ballot paper.
The four candidates from top to bottom are Gasim Ibrahim (Jumhoree Party), Dr Mohamed Waheed (independent, incumbent president), Abdulla Yameen (Progressive Party of the Maldives) and Mohamed Nasheed (Maldivian Democratic Party, former President).
Yameen and Gasim attended the ceremony to announce the ballot order, according to local media.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Dr Mohamed Waheed has this week announced the establishment of a Small and Medium Enterprises Council, as well as appointing members to oversee the body’s work.
The President’s Office stated yesterday that 14 members had been appointed to the council, representing both government ministries and several industries across the country.
The full list of councillors are:
According to the President’s Office website, Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed will serve as the council’s president, while Solah Shihab will serve as its vice president.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Dr Mohamed Waheed has officially filed his candidacy with the Maldives Election Commission (EC) to stand in the upcoming presidential election.
President Waheed was joined by his running mate, Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, as he submitted his candidacy forms to EC President Fuad Thaufeeq ahead of voting scheduled for September 7, his campaign team confirmed.
EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz confirmed to Minivan News that the commission was now verifying the 2,000 signatures submitted by President Waheed backing his candidacy, before making a final decision on any approval.
“We would have announced his acceptance today, but he submitted 2,000 names that we will need to check,” he said.
Fayaz said it was possible the EC would make an official announcement concerning President’s Waheed candidacy tomorrow (July 22), once the signatures were verified.
Amidst the possibility of his Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) facing dissolution for not having the 10,000 members required to officially register a political entity in the Maldives, President Waheed on Tuesday (July 16) announced his intention to stand for election as an independent candidate.
On Friday, President Waheed’s ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition announced he had obtained the 1,500 signatures required to register himself as an independent candidate.
Despite the recent defections of the government-aligned religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) and later the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) from his coalition, the DRP said Friday that the incumbent’s campaign was “going to plan”.
According to Sun Online, the EC will decide on all candidacies within 48 hours of their paperwork being submitted.
Meanwhile, former President Nasheed filed his own candidacy papers with the EC on Thursday (July 18). His candidacy was approved later the same day, according to the EC.
Nasheed and the MDP maintain he was compelled to resign during a police and military mutiny on February 7, 2012. His successor and former vice-president, Dr Mohamed Waheed, maintain the succession was legitimate.
Fraudulent party enlistment allegations
Investigations are meanwhile underway into 46 cases of fraudulent political party enlistment filed by the EC, as well as another case individually lodged.
The fraudulent political party forms are said to include 15 signed to President Waheed’s GIP, five from his DRP running mate Thasmeen, and 27 from prominent businessman and MP Ahmed Siyam’s Maldives Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Some of the people signed up to the parties were alleged to already be deceased at the time of their registration.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Dr Mohamed Waheed has obtained the 1,500 signatures required to register himself as an independent candidate in the upcoming election, his ‘forward with the nation’ coalition has said.
Amidst the possibility of his Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) facing dissolution for not having the 10,000 members required to officially register a political entity in the Maldives, President Waheed this week announced his intention to stand for election as an independent candidate.
The incumbent will stand as an independent alongside his running mate, MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali – leader of the government aligned Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).
Candidates unaffiliated with a political party are required to submit signatures of at least 1,500 supporters with their official application to stand in the upcoming presidential election, according to local media.
In order to meet this total, President Waheed held a signing ceremony at the presidential residence of Hilaaleege in Male’ on Wednesday (July 17) evening.
Minivan News observed an estimated 200 people present at the ceremony by around 10:00pm, where the president’s family members and news reporters were seen mingling with supporters. The signing event concluded at midnight.
In a statement released Thursday ( July 18 ), the ‘Forward with the nation coalition’ claimed it had seen an “overwhelming response” from the public to sign the petition backing President Waheed’s candidacy, with over 500 people attending the ceremony during the course of Wednesday evening.
“While we have already exceeded the legal minimum we will continue to sign up supporters in the coming days,” the statement said.
Minivan News understands that President Waheed also conducted a door to door campaign to obtain signatures for his candidacy, with the coalition anticipating similar event will continue into next week. An exact number of signatories was not received at time of press.
President’s Waheed’s coalition until last week consisted of several government-aligned parties; including the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), the DRP and his own GIP.
However, the DQP yesterday announced it would be following the AP in leaving the president’s coalition to back the campaign of resort tycoon and Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Gasim Ibrahim instead.
DRP Parliamentary Group Leader MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom has said the defection of both the AP and the DQP from the ‘Forward with the nation coalition’ “did not change the game at all” in terms of its strategy to secure the election during a second round of voting.
A second round will be held between the top two candidates during polls scheduled for September 7 should either fail to secure at least 51 percent of the vote.
“We know that the 2013 election will require a second round of voting and that all candidates wish to be in the grand final. We are optimistic that we will be in this final,” he said.
Mausoom has previously claimed that the DRP – both as an individual party, and later as members of President Waheed’s coalition – remained the main alternative viewpoint for voters disenfranchised by the “polarised views” of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) or the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Dr Mausoom added that even with the defection of the Adhaalath and the DQP, President Waheed still presented a coalition of people rather than individual parties, with more “political figures” expected to come out and back him before voting commences later this year.
He therefore said the coalition was confident it would still appeal to voters as alternative to MDP candidate former President Mohamed Nashhed and the PPM, led by former autocratic President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The MDP and PPM presently represent the country’s two largest parties in terms of parliamentary representation.
While anticipating “moments” in the run up to the presidential election where political figures – either out of financial or ideological reasons – would switch to rival candidates and parties, Mausoom said it would ultimately be the general public who decided on the next president. He argued that Dr Waheed’s record as president following last year’s controversial transfer of power would therefore be recognised by voters during polling.
“President Waheed has done a wonderful job of keeping the government together and shown what a great leader he is,” Dr Mausoom said. “Things are going to plan and we are confident during the second round [of voting] that the people will opt for [the coalition].”
However, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) today rejected claims that the ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition would receive sufficient support to see President Waheed elected to office.
MDP MP and Spokesperson claimed that the majority of voters would opt to reject President Waheed as a candidate owing to the controversial transfer of power that brought him to power and the conduct of his coalition government since. The MDP has continued to allege that former President Nasheed’s government was ended prematurely by a “coup d’eat” on February 7, 2012 following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.
“The bottom line is people will vote overwhelmingly against the coup. It is regrettable [President Waheed] is still hanging on,” he said. “Pretender Waheed has already cost the state upwards of a billion US dollars since the coup.”
Meanwhile, the PPM announced this week that no formal decision had yet been taken on whether to retract its support for the coalition government, despite growing “complaints” from its members over the conduct of President Waheed.
MP Ahmed Nihan today told Minivan News that both the PPM’s senior leadership and ordinary members held significant “concerns” over the conduct of President Waheed in the build up to this year’s presidential election, with the party accusing the incumbent and his supporters of unfair campaigning.
The PPM is the largest party in terms of MP numbers presently serving within the coalition government backing President Waheed.
(0)Dislikes(0)The government has confirmed it is in discussion with Saudi Arabia, seeking a long-term, low interest credit facility of US$300 million to help overcome “fiscal problems”.
President’s Office Spokesperson Masood Imad confirmed President Waheed had held discussions with senior Saudi Arabian dignitaries including Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud over the proposed credit facility, during his recent visit to the country.
“The president has initiated the talks so it is just a matter of working out the details now,” Masood said, explaining that the funds would be used for “budget support” and development projects.
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile said the government would still be required to secure parliamentary approval for the funding.
MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said that the heavily partisan parliament now effectively controlled state finances as a result of former opposition politicians – now part of President Waheed’s government – imposing tighter spending restrictions on former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration.
Ghafoor argued that with the MDP failing to recognise the legitimacy of the present government due to the controversial transfer of power last February, he did not believe there would be support for approving the credit agreement with Saudi Arabia due to the government’s existing extravagant borrowing levels.
The party accused the current government of reckless financial management, pointing to a potential US$1.4 billion compensation bill facing the state for deciding last year to abruptly terminate a US$511 million airport development contract agreed with infrastructure group GMR.
The compensation claim amounts to four times that of the Maldives’ current state reserves should it be awarded by a Singapore court overhearing arbitration hearings between GMR and the government.
“Since we do net see this government as legitimate, we do not see why we should support them,” he said. “They have put us into debt with their handling of the airport development and another bill for a border control system.”
Earlier this month, Malaysian security firm Nexbis invoiced the Department of Immigration and Emigration for US$2.8 million (MVR 43 million) for the installation and operation of its border control system technology in the country, in line with a concession agreement signed in 2010.
Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali confirmed at the time that Nexbis had submitted a bill seeking charges for the period its system has been in use, as work continues on replacing the Malaysian company’s border controls with new technology provided by the US government.
Development delays
In April this year, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad sought authorisation from parliament to divert MVR 650 million (US$42 million) allocated for infrastructure projects in the budget to cover recurrent expenditure.
Jihad warned that government offices and independent institutions might be unable to pay salaries or electricity and phone bills if funds were not transferred from the MVR 1.8 billion (US$117 million) Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).
Earlier the same month, Jihad also announced that the government had decided to delay all new development projects that were to be financed out of the state budget due to shortfalls in revenue.
The decision to suspend new projects was revealed after Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz told local media at the time that he had been instructed not to commence any further infrastructure projects included in the 2013 budget, such as harbour construction or land reclamation.
Both Finance Minister Jihad and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.
(0)Dislikes(0)The government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has said no formal decision has yet been taken on whether to retract support for the government, despite growing “complaints” from its members over the conduct of President Dr Mohamed Waheed.
MP Ahmed Nihan today told Minivan News that both the PPM’s senior leadership and ordinary members held significant “concerns” over the conduct of President Waheed in the build up to this year’s presidential election, with the party accusing the incumbent and his supporters of unfair campaigning.
The PPM is the largest party in terms of MP numbers serving within the coalition government backing President Waheed, which came to power following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012.
Despite this ongoing support, PPM vice presidential candidate and former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed yesterday (July 14) accused President Waheed in local media of providing harbours to islands on the provision that their councils signed with his Gaumee Ihthihaadh Party (GIP).
The allegations were today rubbished by the President’s Office, which claimed that projects such as harbour developments had been allocated by the government last year and were not related in any way to the GIP or its campaign.
President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad contended that President Waheed would had no say on the placing of harbours earmarked for development before electioneering had begun, adding that the GIP had the least influence within the current government to influence such projects.
While not having personally seen the allegations raised by Dr Jameel, Masood criticised what he claimed was a culture of politicians “saying anything they want” to try and damage political rivals. He added that politicians attempting to attack political rivals without facts or evidence were in danger of disgracing their own parties in the long-term.
“National interest”
Dr Jameel was quoted in local media criticising President Waheed for dismissing him as home minister earlier this year and sacking other PPM supporters from key government posts, which he said reflected a failure of the incumbent to favour “national interest”.
He additionally pointed to recent concerns raised by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over allegations the GIP had fraudulently registered party members in a bid to reach minimum membership.
The ACC said last month after interviewing 100 members of the GIP that 85 percent of those polled had no knowledge of ever joining the party.
Dr Jameel also compared Dr Waheed’s principles – in an unspecified manner – to those of his predecessor former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is himself standing in the election as candidate for the opposition Maldivan Democratic Party (MDP).
The MDP is the country’s largest political party both in terms of numbers of MPs and registered support.
However, Dr Jameel was quoted in local media as dismissing Nasheed’s chances in the upcoming election, claiming he had been “discarded by the people” and had become a “joke” with his attempts to strengthen democracy in the country.
“I don’t believe President Nasheed even has a chance. Also I don’t see a reason he should even be given that chance,” he was reported to have said by newspaper Haveeru.
Dr Jameel was not responding to calls at time of press.
Incentive allegations
PPM MP Nihan said that alongside allegations that the president had been promising harbours to local councils to garner electoral support, the party had also received complaints that senior positions in government companies were also being offered to secure ballots ahead of September’s vote.
“Besides the harbours, there are attempts to try and influence voters. Maybe this is not the work of the president, but there may be strong people belonging to the GIP behind this,” he said.
Nihan said no decision had yet been taken over whether to formally review the PPM’s support of the present coalition government “in the near future”.
However, with the presidential election scheduled just over a month away on September 7, he did not rule out possible the potential for talks on the matter.
“Unofficial” Adhaalath talks
The PPM has also confirmed this week that it had held informal talks over potentially standing in a coalition with the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) for the election after retracting its support for President Waheed. Nihan said there had been no further progress on reaching an agreement.
He claimed that a PPM Council meeting held yesterday evening had not included discussions on forming a coalition “with any party” on its agenda. Nihan said the PPM was presently involved in “unofficial negotiations” with AP “senior leadership”.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Dr Mohamed Waheed met with Saudia Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Thursday (July 11) as part of an official visit to the country.
The visit will also coincide with the president performing an Umra pilgrimage.
During his meeting with the crown prince, which was also attended by Saudi Arabian Minister of Finance Dr Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf, President Waheed discussed strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations.
Dr Waheed also provided an update on the current economic and political situation within the Maldives, according to the President’s Office website.
President Waheed’s visit to Saudi Arabia follows reports that his predecessor, former President Mohamed Nasheed, had this week had his own request to perform Umra rejected by Saudi authorities.
Local media in the Maldives reported that Nasheed was denied a visa by the Saudi Arabian government, however former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem, who was with the former president at the time, refuted the claims as inaccurate.
“I’ve been in constant touch with Saudi [Arabian government] Royal Protocol officials and Nasheed’s visa has not been rejected. They have not said anything like that,” the former Foreign Minister told Minivan News Wednesday (July 10).
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