Tag: President Mohamed Nasheed

Nasheed listed in magazine’s annual top 100 “thinkers”

President Mohamed Nasheed has come in 39th place in Foreign Policy magazine’s list of its Top 100 Global Thinkers on the back of a number of high-profile environmentally-themed speeches and commitments such as a national pledge to be carbon neutral by 2020.

The magazine, which chronicles international political development, chose the president in a list of figures it believes have had great significance on global affairs over the last eleven months, which has been topped this year jointly by business giants Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

Pointing to a much publicised underwater conference held by the president in the Maldives last year – a promotional event designed to raise attention to cutting global output of greenhouse gas emissions amidst fears the country may be sunk by changing climate conditions – the magazine believed Nasheed has continued to be an important pioneer for greener political talk.

“Since taking office two years ago, Nasheed, a 43-year-old former human rights activist, has become the world’s most environmentally outspoken president,” the magazine claimed. “He has made his tiny country — a string of atolls in the Indian Ocean that sits an average of just 7 feet above sea level — a poster child for the need to stop global warming.”

Other names included in the list include US president Barrack Obama in third place, Oxford University economist Paul Collier at 29th place and Salam Fayyad, the Palestine prime minister, at 23.

As reported by Minivan News last week, Nasheed has continued to talk strongly about sustainability commitments. He claimed last week that failure to meet his government’s plan of becoming a carbon neutral country by 2020 would be a “disaster” for the nation and the wider development and promotion of alternative energy-driven economies as a whole.

The article praised the president particularly for comments made this year in the media calling for dynamic street action by citisens of the US to change political attitudes in the country that he has accused of being a significant “obstacle” to trying to battle climate change.

As a destination for green developments, environmental organisations such as Greenpeace have said they view the Maldives more as a symbol than a practical demonstration of how national development and fighting climate change can be mutually exclusive.

Wendel Trio, Climate Policy and Global Deal Coordinator for Greenpeace International, believed that the Maldives can nonetheless play an iconic role in promoting the potential benefits of adopting alternate energy programmes.

“By coupling both strong words and the need for the big emitting countries in the developed and the developing world to reduce their emissions sharply, with a strong commitment at home, the Maldives has gained respect,” Trio explained.

“However, obviously none of the big emitting countries are looking at the Maldives as an example, as they all claim that their social and economic development cannot be compared to that of a small island state.”

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“1 in 3” campaign launched to break domestic violence taboo

A nationwide campaign against domestic violence dubbed “1 in 3” was launched Thursday by the Maldivian Network on Violence Against Women, a loose coalition of NGOs and individuals who came together to advocate for pioneering legislation on domestic violence (DV) currently before parliament.

The campaign title reflects the findings of a milestone 2007 study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences, which found that 1 in 3 women aged 15 to 49 experience either physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives, including childhood sexual abuse.

While a draft for domestic violence legislation had existed for several years, the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP’s) women’s wing announced the development of a bill to be submitted to parliament earlier this year.

The announcement was welcomed by President Mohamed Nasheed, who argued that a bipartisan effort to pass the legislation was more likely to succeed.

The DV bill, supported and facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), aims to “make DV illegal, to prevent DV from occurring in our society, to provide justice to survivors of domestic violence and abuse as well as to ensure state responsibility in providing services to address DV-related crimes in society,” reads a press statement by the NGO Network.

The network was formed in October when a group of 30 advocates came together in Bandos to plan support for the bill.

On November 22, the bill was accepted by MPs and sent to committee for further review.

Taboo

In her keynote speech at the campaign launch, former DRP MP Aneesa Ahmed surveyed the history of government efforts against domestic violence.

As recently as the turn of the century, said Aneesa, domestic violence was a taboo subject in Maldivian society.

“It was not spoken about,” she said. “[People] didn’t want to speak about it. Perhaps because of the immensity of the problem, nobody wanted to talk about it; or because nobody wanted to believe how much it had spread in our society.”

She added that the hesitancy to openly acknowledge the problem was probably borne “out of fear.”

The former Women’s Minister revealed that a pilot survey planned by an NGO with support from the government was scuttled when it encountered resistance from societal attitudes, which held that the government should not “enter into family matters.”

“So we couldn’t carry out that survey,” she said. “The NGO I mentioned was very disappointed and we were very disappointed, but we did not give up.”

While the former government then attempted to foster public dialogue through workshops aimed at different groups of society, Aneesa said that she was “very encouraged” to see a campaign launched by a network of NGOs with high youth participation.

A video testimonial of a DV victim was also presented at the function, featuring a harrowing story of a woman who came to Male’ seeking a divorce but was refused by the judge who counseled reconciliation with her abusive spouse.

“I thought how am I going to make peace?” she asked. “I am finding it hard to endure. They didn’t consider in the least the abuse I was getting.”

The testimonial ended with a plea to MPs “to save women from abusive husbands.”

“A beginning”

Aneesa said that while the passage of the DV bill, with recommendations from the NGO network, would be “a beginning” to tackling gender based violence, she cautioned that the campaign “will not be easy” as the small size of close-knit communities “could be an impediment.”

However, she urged the NGO network and its affiliated advocates not to become discouraged and to continue their efforts.

Aneesa is a founding member of the ‘Hope for Women’ NGO which aims to “eradicate sexual violence against women and girls.”

President Nasheed meanwhile dedicated his weekly radio address yesterday to the subject of domestic violence, noting that “some women don’t even speak about it with their closest friends and family members” and consequently do not report abuse to the authorities.

Men taking advantage of physical superiority to abuse or subjugate women “amounts to the rule of the jungle,” he said.

As women make up half the country’s population, said Nasheed, greater participation of women in the workforce and in national affairs was crucial to ensure economic development and progress.

He added that sexual harassment in the workplace, “even subtle forms of harassment that we may otherwise think are trivial, should be deplored,” adding that “such things should never happen in the workplace.”

President Nasheed expressed gratitude for members of the DRP involved in the drafting of the legislation and pledged the government’s full support for the bill.

Upward trend

Statistics from the Family Protection Unit (FPU) reveal that since 2006 the unit has attended to an average of 145 patients per year – 87 per cent of whom were women – with a noticeable upward trend in the number of cases reported each month.

While sexual abuse was the most common form of abuse suffered by FPU patients, in 83 per cent of cases the perpetrator was a friend or family member, and was known to the victim.

Half of abuse victims reported that the perpetrator was a boyfriend or husband.

The “1 in 3” campaign – launched to coincide with the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, the beginning of the annual global event supported by the UN: ’16 Days of Activism Against Violence’ – aims to raise awareness of the issue through a sustained media campaign over the next two weeks.

At the ceremony on Thursday, which was attended by Health Minister Aminath Jameel and UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox, the campaign was officially launched by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Lieutenant Colonel Hamid Shafeeq with the unveiling of the campaign song “Geveshi Hiyaa”.

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2020 Carbon Neutral failure would be “disaster for Maldives”: President

Failure by the Maldives to become carbon neutral by 2020 would be a “complete disaster” for the country, President Mohamed Nasheed today warned during a government unveiling of an audit of the nation’s carbon footprint.

The Maldives’ 2009 Carbon Audit aimed to compile the country’s current carbon footprint in relation to its current energy reliance. The document was fully funded by France-based financier La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild, which will also help to outline and find funding for a “Carbon Neutral Master Plan” to help the country set up how it can begin to meet its aims.

The 2009 audit, which was carried out by BeCitizen, an environmental consultancy based in Paris, France, found that 1.3 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) was emitted by the Maldives, with about of half of these emissions coming from diesel power generation.

These emissions corresponded to 4.1 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per individual. By way of comparison, India records 1.7 per person per year, China 5.5, France 9 and the United States 23.5.

Domestic transportation on both land and sea contributed 22 percent of the nations CO2 output during 2009, with the fishing industry and waste treatment processes amounting for 13 and 15 percent of the total output respectively, the audit added.

BeCitizen, of which La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild is a major shareholder, says that in looking ahead to developing a ten year strategy for a national low-carbon overhaul, six main areas needed to be focused on. These focuses include ensuring greater energy efficiency –such as in more efficient domestic appliances and thermal insulation – and the practical use of renewable energy forms like solar and wind power.

The environmental consultancy also pointed to adopting greener forms of transport, waste management programmes and carbon sequestration in areas such as biomass as important focus points to try and cut the existing environmental impact fo the Maldives.

Speaking via a live link up, BeCitizen’s Flora Bernard claimed that it would be possible for the government to become carbon neutral tomorrow if it simply relied on offsetting to compensate for its total carbon footprint.

Offsetting is the practice of engaging in development projects that can provide both provide benefits both to society as well as the climate – such as planting of forests in an attempt to reduce CO2 within the air.
However, Bernard added that such actions were “missing the point” and that a focus on finding sufficient alternatives would be needed.

“Achieving carbon neutrality by 2020 is possible,” said Bernard in a statement. “It will primarily involve the country becoming energy-independent, while ensuring that the solutions also bring other environmental benefits in terms of carbon storage, resource management and biodiversity conservation.”

The high profile of the Maldives’ sustainable aims meant a failure to meet such goals would be unthinkable, Nasheed said.

With the Maldives a key model for other countries seeking to become more sustainable, an inability to meet the unilateral commitments would prove detrimental to wider arguments around the globe for adopting law carbon initiatives, Nasheed said.

If the country did, then “God help us”, the President said. His carbon neutral pledge is thought to be the toughest set out by any nation under the January 2010 Copenhagen Accord.

Despite having yet to pass a 2011 budget for the country within local parliament, Nasheed said that funding for the carbon neutral scheme would come from garnering interest in development among the private sector.

Pointing to a number of inhabited islands in the country without sufficient electrical supplies, he claimed that new investment projects could look beyond traditional fossil fuels as a source of energy to lower carbon alternatives without setting back development.

The President added that with a number of countries showing an interest in low carbon economics, or concern about the potential impact of global warming, there was a generally strong global political desire to find alternative energy investments and solutions.

Within the currently fractious domestic politics of the Majlis, a source in the President’s Office said that the argument for adopting and committing to a so-called Carbon Neutral Master Plan would need to be “well structured” to make it through parliament.

However, the source claimed that the president hoped the potential economic benefits of adopting more renewable power sources could be a strong incentive for business and political interests if efficient solutions could be found. The need to move away from the often volatile market of fossil fuels was described as another key concern for the country.

Just last week, environmental organisation Greenpeace told Minivan News that the Maldives acted more as a symbol than a practical demonstration of how national development and fighting climate change can be mutually exclusive.

Wendel Trio, Climate Policy and Global Deal Coordinator for Greenpeace International, believed that the Maldives can nonetheless play an iconic role in promoting the potential benefits of adopting alternate energy programmes.

In looking specifically at the Maldives being elected as Co-Chair of the SCF, the Greenpeace spokesperson accepted that the country is somewhat limited by its size in the role it can have as an advocate for more sustainable business and lifestyles.

“By coupling both strong words and the need for the big emitting countries in the developed and the developing world to reduce their emissions sharply, with a strong commitment at home, the Maldives has gained respect,” Trio explained.

“However, obviously none of the big emitting countries are looking at the Maldives as an example, as they all claim that their social and economic development cannot be compared to that of a small island state.”

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Ministerial appointment system “defective”, says MP Nasheed

The process of appointing cabinet members has been criticised as ‘defective’ by an Kuludufushi-South MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed, who has claimed that constitutional changes within the Supreme Court will be required to address the nation’s ongoing political deadlock.

The independent MP today told Minivan News that yesterday’s votes on ministerial appointments, which saw a boycott of the sitting by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs before the approval of just five of 12 cabinet posts by the opposition majority parliament, may require court intervention before being settled.

The claims comes as Miadhu today reported that Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, head of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), threatened to turn to the Supreme Court if the seven ministers rejected in yesterday’s vote remained in office.

Despite the stalemate over the cabinet appointment issue, MP Nasheed said parliament today functioned “normally” with a number of bills under discussion, such as the proposed strike legislation.

However, the independent MP claimed that differences of opinion, particularly between the MDP and the DRP, highlighted to all sides that there were “defects” within the constitution concerning ministerial appointments.

The appointment process remained “beyond resolution” in a highly partisan political environment.

“The [current] political environment is not conducive for a resolution within parliament,” he explained.

According to Nasheed, this difference of opinion stems from two very different processes of thought currently within parliament.

MDP rationale, Nasheed said, was that cabinet ministers could only be rejected under a motion of no-confidence that required 39 parliamentary votes to pass. However, he added, opposition groups remained unable to table possible no-confidence motions for cabinet members that had not been appointed by the Majlis.

These differences, he suggested, revealed a major defect in the appointment process.

“Only when all these processes are agreed can there be a cabinet,” he added. “I think the matter will need to be resolved through the Supreme Court.”

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that parliamentary rules required 39 votes to pass a no confidence motion concerning an individual cabinet minister.

With individual voting for every appointee during yesterday’s sitting falling short of the number of votes required for a no-confidence motion, Zuhair said the President “is happy the ministers are rightfully in place.”

He claimed that ministerial appointments were “not a case of popularity, but confidence”.

All 12 cabinet ministers were reinstated to their positions in July following a protest resignation about what they claimed were the “scorched earth” politics of the opposition-majority parliament.

Despite talks of legal action from the opposition, Parliamentery Speaker Abdulla Shahid – himself a DRP MP – said he was optimistic that the rival parties could reach an “amicable solution” within the current political framework.

“I am urging parties to engage in dialogue,” said Shahid, who claimed the ministerial statemate created by yesterday’s decision would not adversely affect important upcoming legislation such passing the 2011 budget.

Shahid told Minivan News that despite its fledgling status, Maldivian democracy “had a history of engaging in dialogue to overcome political deadlocks. We will find an amicable solution.”

Despite ongoing uncertainty resulting from issues such as the cabinet appointments, Shahid added that it was vital to establish ‘customs and norms’ within the Maldives’ parliamentary proceedings.

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President calls on political parties to strengthen internal democracy

President Mohamed Nasheed has highlighted the importance of internal party elections and expressed hope that political parties in the country will be able to consolidate internal democracy in his radio address.

‘’One of the main aims of party system was to identify qualified people for public offices and build future leaders,’’ said Nasheed. “Such candidates must have a consistent political philosophy, purpose and perspective.”

Nasheed said that election procedures may differ from one party to another adding that It is something that have to be decided by the party members.

Nasheed also congratulated Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leadership for their recent party elections.

Meanwhile, Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), led by Dr Hassan Saeed, has issued a press statement responding to the remarks of President Nasheed.

‘’MDP has so far conducted no work to promote and uphold  democracy and has never tried deliver the benefits and advantages of it to the citizens,’’ the  statement said. “Former MDP memebers who attempted to strengthen internal democracy in the party have now left due to the dictatorial characteristics of Nasheed.’’

The statement also claimed that ever since Nasheed became the Chairperson of MDP, the party was a ‘’one man show.’’

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Don’t you dare touch Maumoon, Umar Naseer tells President

Deputy leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Umar Naseer has warned President Mohamed Nasheed against putting “one step outside  of the chart” in his handling of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Naseer, who has recently faced factional difficulties within his own party after it voted to send him before the DRP disciplinary committee, threatened that Nasheed did so, “it will be the end of his regime.”

President Nasheed spoke yesterday at the launch of historian Ahmed Shafeeg’s book alleging that 111 Maldivian citizens were held in custody and tortured by the former administration.

Nasheed stressed that Gayoom alone could not be blamed for all the human rights abuses that occurred under his watch.

“It was not done by him alone. It was a whole system that did it. It was Dhivehi tradition that did it. It was Dhivehi culture that did it,” he said.

Nasheed’s use of the phrase “outside the chart” in an earlier speech has been widely interpreted by the opposition as “acting outside the Constitution”, ostensibly in his detention of the Gayoom’s brother and People’s Alliance MP Abdulla Yameen on charges of treason and bribery, after he was released by the court.

Naseer said that if Nasheed acted in such a fashion with Gayoom, “there will be consequences.”

‘’We have seen Nasheed arrest some of our leaders and MPs, out of the chart,’’ Umar said. “We waited patiently and tried to set them free smoothly, and eventually we made the President release them.’’

Gayoom was a different matter, he suggested.

‘’The next day we will file a no-confidence motion against the President and we will make it the end of his regime,’’ Umar said. “Rephrase: do not touch our beloved honorary leader out of the chart.’’

While the opposition has a parliamentary majority and has dismissed former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem with a majority vote, it presently lacks the two-thirds majority it would require to dismiss Nasheed or Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan. However the government has previously accused the opposition of attempting to buy the cooperation of MDP MPs.

Speaking at a rally yesterday, Naseer also strongly criticised the president for climbing onto the roof of the president’s residence to install solar panels.

‘’I wasn’t astonished to see how fast he climbed up the roof, because he is a pro-tree climber,’’ he said.

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President returns to Male’

President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Male’ last night after attending the opening of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.

Speaking to press upon his arrival, Nasheed revealed that the Indian government has pledged to build 400 housing units in the Maldives.

During his visit, the president met with the Prime Minister of India as well as business leaders and Indian infrastructure companies.

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President outlines transition to programme budgeting

President Mohamed Nasheed on Friday announced the transition from line-item to programme budgeting in 2011, a process that began in 2006 under the previous government.

In his weekly radio address, President Nasheed explained that the new budget will be based on the Strategic Action Plan formulated in 2009.

The purpose of a programme budget is to determine and identify means of achieving targets of government offices and institutions.

“After identifying the target, objective or the aim, what offices have to do is determine the work that will be needed to achieve it,” he said. “And then they have to determine the expenditure required for it such as machinery, services, people. That is what we consider the budget. But what is important are the programmes.”

Following the valuation of the estimated cost of government’s projects for 2011, said Nasheed, the provisional budget will be submitted to the People’s Majlis.

As next year’s budget will include projected revenue from newly introduced taxation, he continued, it will be “a budget with a completely new form.”

Overhaul

An IMF Public Financial Management Performance Report, made public in May 2010, meanwhile recommends an almost complete overhaul of the existing public finance management system in the Maldives.

The assessment found that budget credibility was weak as revenue fell well below estimates in each year except 2006, while budget documents for 2005-2008 showed “no clear linkages between budget figures and underlying policies.”

In 2007, actual primary expenditure deviated from budget estimates by -13.7 percent, while domestic revenue collections were below 92 percent of budgeted estimates in the same year.

Moreover, as funds for discretionary spending was released on an ad hoc basis, “there are critical weaknesses in the management of government cash, debt and guarantees.”

Among its other findings, the report states that “efficient service delivery has not been prominent priority for public financial management in the Maldives” as the emphasis has been on inputs as opposed to output or results.

While strategies and goals had been identified in national development plans, it had not been costed and “linkages to the budget have been unclear.”

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Letter on baibalaa and gang violence

Dear President,

Why do you have to appease to the thugs and gangs that rule or streets? Do you have to personally fight for the cause that has been the single main reason for increase in mob rule and gang violence?

Do you remember the thugs that held bats and clubs on the day returned from your self-exile? The police that day took no action and these are the same people that are trying to hold this mayhem festival called “baibalaa”.

The people that you shook hands with were the same people who have been arrested and charged, and then set free due to lack of evidence. What evidence will be there with the intimidation?

The judges then were the same people who were rumored to be corrupt remnants of the previous regime.

When the government does not get its way it’s always corrupt judges and incapable police work. I know there is an election on the horizon, but do you have to be able to control these gangs just like you accuse the previous regime?

It’s time you teach Maldivians to vote in elections, not through fear. How do you think these gangs come up with the amounts that they pay the players with? When will the countless number of murdered people ever get justice or their families closure when the current government takes up the cause of these thugs and starts fighting the police for their cause?

We hope for much better from you Mr President. So much hope for change for the better.

I know I’m writing a lost cause as a law abiding citizen in this country I carry no POLITICAL WEIGHT to influence the current government’s thought process.

The press secretary mentioned that you will listen to arguments against it, but the current state of lawlessness makes it impossible to speak out against these thugs. I know for one thing that I will be beaten up and stabbed if they know who I am. This is the reality of law enforcement in this small little country of ours.

No sensible citizen of this country wants to see the deaths of these youths on the streets, and now it’s not something that causes outrage amongst the people? Every month a youth gets killed right in the open and how many convictions have there been during the past five years?

I don’t want to see a bleeding kid on the pavement. The people who are against it won’t speak out – how many eyewitnesses come out to give evidence? Why would anyone speak out because they know they will be attacked and probably stabbed?

The police and law enforcement are incapable of dealing with these people and that’s why they are against the event. The opposition won’t say a single word as they are in bed with these gangs as well. How many MPs even from the ruling clan have these groups on the payroll?

You talk about their word. Why is the weight of the word of these thugs so important to us?

I voted for you because I believed in you, not because my neighborhood gang head said to vote for you. Not because the “geydhoshu haru meehun buneema”. Protect the rights of the people who live by the law.

Thanks,

Aishath Maleesha

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to submit a letter, please send it to [email protected]

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