Tag: Sheikh Imran

Adhaalath Party withdraws support for President Yameen

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party has withdrawn support for President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, citing a rise in violence and corruption.

“In the few days that have passed since President Yameen assumed office, corruption and violence has increased, and justice has been abandoned,” the party’s consultative council said in a statement.

“The government is misusing the public’s support and has narrowed basic rights guaranteed by the constitution. It has also undermined the independence of independent institutions and is now attempting to consolidate power by taking over the three branches of the state.”

The AP said it’s attempts to reform the system from within had been in vain.

“We don’t see how we could work with the government anymore,” the statement read.

The Jumhooree Coalition, of which AP was a member, backed President Yameen at the eleventh hour during the 2013 presidential polls. The party received the Islamic Affairs portfolio in return.

In an interview with newspaper Haveeru today, AP President Sheikh Imran Abdulla said that the party would not join the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) coalition, and preferred to work “independently.”

Sheikh Imran has been critical of President Yameen since former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim’s arrest over charges of terrorism and treason. He has now been charged with importing and possessing illegal weapons.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

It’s time for Adhaalath Party to stand up for Maldives, says Sheikh Imran

Accusing President Abdulla Yameen of corruption and violating of civil rights, Adhaalath Party (AP) President Sheikh Imran Abdulla has said the time has come for the religious party to stand up for the Maldives.

“I believe now is the time for the people who value our nation’s freedom and peace to stand up for the country. Maldives is not on the right track. There is fear amongst the people. We should stand up for them,” he said on Villa TV’s Fasmanzaru programme last night.

The AP continues to hold the Islamic Affairs Ministry in Yameen’s cabinet, despite its ally Jumhooree Party’s (JP) decision to dissolve a coalition with the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

The AP was given the portfolio after JP’s Gasim Ibrahim decided to back Yameen during the second round of the 2013 presidential polls. The religious conservative party had backed Gasim in the first round.

“Adhaalath Party was part of the government coalition advocating for justice, for the rights of the people and to end corruption. We stand for ensuring happiness for the people of our nation. The government is straying from this vision. So in my opinion, Adhaalath Party should fulfill their responsibility as they have done before,” he said, referring to the AP’s key role in ousting former President Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

The AP had backed a mass demonstration in 2011 accusing Nasheed of destroying Islam and undermining sovereignty. The party later took part in the 22 days of serial protests that led to a police and military mutiny on February 7, 2012, forcing Nasheed to resign.

Nasheed and Yameen’s former Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim are currently in police custody, facing charges of terrorism and importing illegal weapons, respectively.

Despite having fiercely criticized Nasheed before, Imran last night said he is disappointed by the lack of due process in Nasheed’s trial.

“Even Nasheed should get a fair trial,” he said, and accused the government of framing Nazim.

“We can see the government violating individual rights of the people. We can see corruption within the government in broad daylight. These are the problems that the people are concerned with now,” he added.

Despite the AP’s earlier reluctance to join the coalition JP had formed with Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in February, Imran insisted that now is the time to stand up for freedom and peace.

The AP and JP had backed Nasheed in the 2008 presidential polls against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. However, the coalition dissolved within a year, and the then-opposition questioned the legality of Nasheed’s government.

The JP’s coalition with Yameen’s PPM had similarly broken down, Imran noted last night, and accused the government of increased authoritarianism.

Imran’s statements came after a two-hour meeting with President Yameen at the President’s Office on Tuesday.

In a tweet following yesterday’s meeting, Imran assured that the Adhaalath Party would not make a “financial deal”.

“I am certain before and now as well that Nazim was framed,” he tweeted.

In previous tweets, Imran said former President Gayoom should be “ashamed” of the government’s treatment of Gasim as the JP leader had decided to back President Yameen in the 2013 presidential election run-off after Gayoom “pleaded” with Gasim.

After Monday’s presidential address – delivered in the face of protests by opposition MPs – Imran tweeted: “President Yameen is now feeling the bitterness of dissolving of the coalition that brought [him] to power.”

A day before Imran tweeted: “Adhaalath Party will come out to protest when there’s no other way.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Adhaalth Party meets President Yameen to share concerns with political situation

Religious conservative Adhaalath Party met President Abdulla Yameen today to share the party’s concerns regarding the current political situation in the Maldives.

Speaking to reporters after the two-hour long meeting at the President’s Office, Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla refused to reveal the concerns shared with the president at the meeting, where Adhaalath leadership members including Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem and the party’s Vice President Dr Mauroof Hussein also took part.

Imran has been critical of the government on social media regarding the criminal prosecutions of former President Mohamed Nasheed and former Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim.

In a tweet following today’s meeting, Imran assured that the Adhaalath Party would not make a “financial deal”.

“I am certain before and now as well that Nazim was framed,” he tweeted.

In previous tweets, Imran said former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom should be “ashamed” of the government’s treatment of Gasim Ibrahim as the Jumhooree Party (JP) leader decided to back President Yameen in the 2013 presidential election run-off after Gayoom “pleaded” with Gasim.

After yesterday’s presidential address – delivered in the face of protests by opposition MPs – Imran tweeted: “President Yameen is now feeling the bitterness of dissolving of the coalition that brought [him] to power.”

A day before Imran tweeted: “Adhaalath Party will come out to protest when there’s no other way.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

80 years to save country should Adhaalath Party be dissolved: Sheikh Imran

Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla has warned it could take “80 years” to save the country should the religious conservative party be dissolved under new regulations passed by the Majlis.

If signed into law, the Political Parties Bill passed last month would require a party in the Maldives to have a minimum of 10,000 registered members.

Speaking at a rally held at Ghiyasuddin School Thursday (January 3), local media quoted Sheikh Imran as saying it was compulsory for all citizens to ensure Adhaalath Party was not dissolved.

“It would not be wrong to say that it will take 80 years to save the country and for it to revert to the present situation if Adhaalath Party is dissolved in the current political circumstances.

“Thus it is compulsory upon you to ensure that Adhaalath Party isn’t dissolved. It is compulsory upon all citizens,” he said.

Sheikh Imran claimed that efforts to limit the number of political parties in the Maldives indicated attempts to return the country to an autocratic regime.

“Social values have been torn apart. Conflicts, assault and arguments within parties have become commonplace. Things have gone so far that and mothers and children don’t speak to each other, and mothers ask children to leave their homes. So what I have to say is that a solution has to be sought to the problem of political parties,” Imran was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

Imran encouraged educated people from all over the country to join the party, adding that he would lead the campaign to dissolve political parties if people fail to establish a system by which they can coexist.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

“We will celebrate liberation of airport on February 7”: Sheikh Imran

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Adbulla has said that the people of the Maldives will celebrate the liberation of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) on the first anniversary of the resignation of the previous government – February 7, 2013, local media has reported.

The comments were made at a press conference held by a coalition of NGOs and political parties opposed to the deal with the Indian infrastructure company GMR – signed by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration – to develop and manage the country’s international airport.

Imran predicted there would be “some unrest and damage” on the day the deal is annulled, but urged people to come out and support the calls for nationalisation  – although the GMR deal is actually a 25 year lease arrangement and the airport still belongs to the government.

Minivan News was unable to gain further comment from the Adhaalath Party members at the time of press.

Imran said the Maldivian population would be able to endure economic hardship should the deal be annulled, before threatening “a completely different activity” should the government fail to resolve the issue to the coalition’s satisfaction.

“February 7 this year should suffice to make this clear [to the government],” Imran was quoted as saying by Haveeru.

“We were talking about a particular thing and a particular person completed it. Therefore, when the Maldivian people carry out these activities, too, in a certain way, the people who completes it will decide it a certain way. I hope the President has the courage, ability and steadfastness to take such a measure on behalf of the people,” he continued.

Imran’s comments are symptomatic of the incendiary rhetoric surrounding the airport, the nationalisation of which the Adhaalath Party has previously described as a “national jihad”.

The Civil Coalition of NGOs joined with the seven now-government aligned parties to campaign against the former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) led administration, most famously gathering on December 23 last year to defend Islam against what it perceived as irreligious tendencies in the Nasheed government.

The Coalition explained that it was to conduct a week of activities between November 3 – 9 in opposition to the deal, referred to as “airport week”, rather than the mass protest that had previously been planned.

Sun Online reported that the decision had been made owing to clashes with school exams and the government’s plans to celebrate the anniversary of 1988’s attempted coup on November 3.

The paper also reported that the week would be accompanied by the launching of songs and a special logo in support of the movement.

A large balloon has appeared in recent days over the skies of Male’ reading “GMR go home.”

However, previous attempts to organise demonstrations in opposition to the development met with disappointing results when a September protest was poorly attended.

One government-aligned party, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), refused to join the September protest, arguing that the dispute ought to be resolved through the courts.

DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has previously expressed his concerns that reneging on the GMR deal might have detrimental effects on investor confidence in what is already a perilous financial situation for the Maldives.

Abdulla Jabir, Deputy Leader of the Jumhoree Party (JP), has also been vocal about the economic impact of politicising the deal, criticising the Adhaalath Party.

“Sometimes they are religious experts, sometimes they are financial experts. But everyone loves Islam here. Right now, foreign investors are finding it difficult to understand the climate here,” Jabir told Minivan News earlier this month.

“This is not a perfect time for this issue to be happening with GMR,” he added. “I think these protests [against GMR] are unrealistic.”

The JP were, however, represented at the press conference, with State Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Fuad Gasim reportedly suggesting that senior government figures were being pressured into silence over the deal.

Official government opposition to the deal is currently taking the form of investigations of the $511million deal via the country’s Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) as well as through a Singapore court of arbitration as agreed in the original contract.

However, the Attorney General has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the matter might be dealt with within the Maldivian court system.

Earlier this month, INIA CEO Andrew Harrison told Indian media that the company had received no official word from the Maldivian government concerning a resolution to the dispute.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

State Islamic Minister dismisses party’s demand he resign

State Islamic Minister and former President of the Adhaalath Party, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, has dismissed demands from the party’s council that he resign.

“You will know very well that I did not accept this position with the consent or with an approval of the consultation council, and therefore I do believe that there is a policy that allows the council to ask me to resign,” State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Hussain told the current President of the Adhaalath Sheikh Imran Abdulla, in a letter he send yesterday in response to the one demanding his resignation.

The Adhaalath Party decided this week to break off its coalition agreement with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), after the party’s consultation council voted 32 to 2 to approve a resolution to leave the government.

In the letter Sheikh Hussein said that normally when a coalition agreement is terminated, the President withdraws the positions shared with the party, and President himself would ask the members of that political party to resign from their positions.

“Every citizen has a national responsibility, and the only time he should stop fulfilling those responsibilities are when they are inconsistent with the principles of Islam,” he told the Adhaalath Party president in the letter.

He said that the greatest responsibility of a citizen was to serve the nation and to carry on the duties the he was assigned, adding that the work he was doing “fulfills both a religious and national duty.”

Following in the footsteps of now-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and the Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath is the third major party of the ‘Watan Edhey’ coalition – formed to rally against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the second round run-off of the 2008 presidential election – to leave the MDP-led coalition.

Sheikh Imran last night told Villa TV (VTV) that he had asked Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari and the State Islamic Minister to resign following the party’s split with the government.

Meanwhile, MDP Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik said the MDP regrets the Adhaalath Party’s decision to leave “like a husband regrets for a while when a stubborn wife leaves him.”

Islamic Minister Dr Bari has not said anything on the matter. The media today reported that he had departed to Haa Alifu Atoll with the President.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)