Tag: supreme court

Backlog of cases at PG’s Office reaches over 500

The backlog of cases pending at the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has reached 533 as a result of the Criminal Court’s refusal to accept cases, Deputy PG Hussain Shameem has revealed.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Maldives Police Service (MPS) on Thursday, Shameem said that the growing backlog included 196 cases of suspects in pre-trial detention.

Expressing concern with the stalled process, Shameem noted that the Supreme Court on February 6 ordered trial courts to proceed with cases submitted by the PG office.

“I couldn’t think of what else I could do apart from getting a [court] order from the highest stage [of appeal] in the country. I can’t grab their hand and force them to accept,” he said.

The PG’s office was filing cases at the Criminal Court every day despite the court’s refusal to accept them, Shameem said, adding that a case involving the stabbing of an MPs’ wife and child was submitted on Thursday.

“So what do they do now, it would not be fair to keep [suspects] in [remand detention] until the parliament comes back to work from recess after three months and appoint a new PG,’’ Shameem told Minivan News previously.

An official from the Criminal Court meanwhile told local media last week that the Supreme Court order stated that lower courts must accept cases filed in accordance with regulations.

“The cases being submitted now in the absence of a prosecutor general are not in line with regulations,” he was quoted as saying by online news outlet CNM.

Shameem however told Minivan News that the court should specify the clause of the regulation it was accusing the PG office of violating.

“There is no such regulation. I have not seen a regulation that says so,” he insisted.

Vacant PG post

Shortly before parliament was due to vote on a no-confidence motion against him, former PG Ahmed Muiz submitted his resignation in November last year.

A month later, the Criminal Court decided not to accept cases filed by the PG’s office as the post had been vacant for 30 days, noting that the constitution stipulates a PG must be appointed within that period.

In December, President Abdulla Yameen nominated his nephew Maumoon Hameed for the post, but parliament broke for recess at the end of the month after forwarding the nominee for vetting by the independent institutions committee.

The committee’s chair, MP Ahmed Sameer – who recently defected from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to the government-aligned Jumhooree Party – told newspaper Haveeru shortly after the Supreme Court issued its order that the vetting process was stalled due to lack of cooperation from political parties.

While a committee meeting scheduled to take place during the ongoing recess to interview the nominee was canceled upon request by pro-government MPs, Sameer said a second attempt to hold the meeting was unsuccessful because MDP MPs opposed it.

New mechanism

Meanwhile, at Thursday’s press conference, Shameem said the PG’s office has been working with the MPS since November 25 to expedite the filing of cases at court.

In the past, Shameem explained, police forwarded cases upon completion of their investigation, after which the PG office either sends it back to clarify further information, rejects the case or files it at court.

The slow process prompted complaints from the public and posed challenges to securing convictions as trials often began months after the crime occurred and witnesses were unable to recall what they saw, Shameem said.

However, he added, investigations of serious crimes now proceed under the guidance of prosecutors.

Under the new system, police officers have been meeting with state prosecutors at the earliest stage of the investigation to discuss cases, Shameem said.

After mutual discussion, the PG’s office decides whether or not to prosecute based on the available evidence, Shameem explained.

Since the new mechanism was put in place, Shameem said police officers and prosecutors have held 195 meetings to discuss 164 cases, out of which the office decided to file 32 cases.

“Now we don’t send cases back to clarify further information. The 21 days it normally takes to make a decision regarding a case has been shortened to three or four days,” he said.

Following initial consultation with investigating officers, Shameem said the prosecuting attorney asks the police to clarify further information within a specified period.

“The police have been very good. They find the information within that period and get back to us. After clarifying all the information, we then decide whether to prosecute the case at court or not,” he said.

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EC contempt case postponed as election preparations continue

Today’s hearing in the Supreme Court’s contempt charges against the Elections Commission has been postponed, as the commission continues preparations for next month’s Majlis elections.

Elections Commissioner (EC) Director General Mohamed Shakeel told Minivan News today that today’s summons order had been cancelled, and that the commission’s schedule for the March 22 polls was continuing as planned.

Meanwhile, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has described the court’s latest actions as “highly alarming”.

Majlis candidates will be assigned numbers today and Saturday, and the deadline for accepting amendments to the current voter register lists is also today.

Yesterday’s surprise hearing was adjourned after the EC’s lawyer Hussein Siraj requested the four members be given time to respond to the charges.

The MDP has accused the court of attempting to “further subvert the authority of the independent Elections Commission in the run up the Parliamentary elections due next month.”

“Today’s [February 12] arbitrary summons of the Election Commission by the Supreme Court over an allegation of contempt of court effectively turned into a trial where the Supreme Court was both the plaintiff and the judge,” read an MDP press release.

Yesterday’s proceedings were both initiated and presided over by the Supreme Court, using new suo moto regulations introduced on February 6 which allow the court to initiate trials against any organisation or individual.

The penal code – currently under review by the People’s Majlis – prescribes a sentence of six months in prison, banishment, or house arrest for contempt of court – or a fine of MVR150 (US$10).

“With respect to this Supreme Court’s history of arbitrarily interfering in the country’s election process, the MDP find the Supreme Court’s latest actions highly alarming,” said the MDP.

The press release made reference to the 16 point guideline introduced during the court’s annulment of the September 7 presidential election first round, last year.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek has previously criticised both the guidelines themselves, describing them as “impractical”, as well as the evidence used to annul the vote.

The presidential election first round had been deemed free and fair by a host of international observers, while  UN representatives have subsequently dismissed the court’s evidence and described the guidelines as “onerous”.

In October, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accused the court of “interfering excessively” in the elections, and “subverting the democratic process”.

March’s vote will see 85 Majlis seats divided amongst 311 candidates. Shakeel explained that the EC had accepted 85 MDP candidates, 7 Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party candidates, and 122 independents.

The progressive coalition has submitted 50 Progressive Party of Maldives applications, 28 Jumhooree Party forms, and 7 from the Maldivian Development Alliance, he said. Meanwhile, estranged coalition member, the Adhaalath Party, has submitted applications for 13 constituencies.

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Supreme Court initiates contempt charges against EC, begins surprise trial

Read this article in Dhivehi

The Supreme Court has pressed contempt of court charges against the Elections Commission (EC) and held an unannounced hearing today under new regulations that allow the apex court to initiate charges and hold trial.

“The [Supreme Court] judges believe comments made by the Elections Commission in various forums on the court’s decisions and orders are contemptuous of the court. Today’s hearing is on our own initiative,” Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz said.

In addition to allegations of contempt of court, the EC is being charged with allegedly violating a Supreme Court order by dissolving eight minor political parties.

All four EC members were handed summons yesterday to attend the Supreme Court. However, Minivan News understands EC members and lawyers were not informed the Supreme Court would hold trial today. Case documents were only given to the commission a few minutes before trial began.

EC lawyer Hussein Siraj requested the Supreme Court to allow the commission an opportunity to research case documents and respond accordingly.

After a five-minute discussion break, Faiz agreed to the commission’s request and adjourned the hearing. He said a date for the next hearing would be announced later.

Five of the seven Supreme Court judges presided over today’s hearing, including Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz, Judge Ali Hameed, Judge Abdulla Saeed, Judge Ahmed Abdulla Didi, and Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla.

Sumoto regulations

New regulations, titled ‘sumoto’ and publicised on February 6 allow the Supreme Court to initiate trials against any organisation or individual.

The defendants must be allowed the right to defend themselves, the regulations state.

The seven-member judge panel will preside over sumoto cases unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise.

“[The Supreme Court] must refer to how free and democratic countries act in such cases, in a manner that does not contradict the constitution of the Maldives,” the regulations state.

Contempt of court

Faiz said that the EC had made remarks in various press conferences that amounted to contempt of court, and which violated Article 145 of the constitution which states that the Supreme Court shall be the final authority on the interpretation of the constitution.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek has previously criticised evidence used by the Supreme Court in annulling the first round of September’s presidential elections.

Four of the seven judges claimed that dead and underage voters had been allowed to vote, though it later emerged that several of those listed as deceased were in fact alive while several individuals listed as minors were in fact eligible to vote.

The EC has also said a 16-point electoral guideline imposed by the Supreme Court was “impractical”.

A leaked report by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has also questioned the evidence, noting that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to delineate guidelines.

Political Parties Act

The EC is also being charged with violating a January 9 Supreme Court order, which invalidated an EC order to smaller political parties requiring raising their membership to 10,000.

The EC had sent the letter as per Article 27 of the Political Party Act that states that it must give political parties a three-month deadline to increase party membership to 10,000.

The Supreme Court on January 9, however, ruled that the letter was invalid as the apex court had in September struck down Article 11 of the Political Party Act. Although the Supreme Court had not expressly struck down Article 27 in its initial verdict, the January 9 order said Article 27 was no longer functional.

Speaking to Minivan News before today’s trial, Fuwad said the EC had not disobeyed the Supreme Court’s order, saying that he believed the court may be referring to the EC’s decision to dissolve eight parties on February 6 for failing to reach the mandatory minimum of 3,000 members.

“While most of these parties are not active at all, the Elections Commission made a public announcement in 2013 to find out where their offices were located as letters and other documents sent to the parties were not being delivered,” the EC stated in a press release at the time.

“We also note that these parties to whom funds have to be released every year from the state budget have not been regularly submitting audit reports to the Elections Commission.”

As inactive parties were provided large amounts of state funding, the EC noted that dissolving the parties would alleviate the strain on the state budget.

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MDP should boycott polls unduly influenced by Supreme Court, says Nasheed

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) should not participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections if the Supreme Court exerts undue influence over the Elections Commission (EC), former President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Speaking at a campaign event in Male’ last night, Nasheed contended that the Supreme Court’s summoning of EC members over alleged contempt of court was an attempt to “intimidate” the independent institution.

The apex court, in collusion with the ruling coalition, was planning to “play the same game they played in the presidential election,” the MDP’s former presidential candidate alleged, adding that the ‘Progressive Coalition’ was certain of facing defeat.

“In my view, an election conducted with the Supreme Court exerting influence over the Elections Commission to deliberately commit electoral fraud or rig the vote will not be a legitimate election – in my view, MDP should not participate in such an election,” Nasheed said.

Neither the international community nor the Maldivian public would accept general elections boycotted by the MDP, Nasheed said.

Nasheed referred to new regulations (Dhivehi) formulated by the Supreme Court last week to specify procedures for initiating cases on their own accord, correctly predicting that the court was planning to prosecute EC members.

“If the Supreme Court delays the election, meddles with the voters list and commits fraud after summoning the Elections Commissioner tomorrow [Wednesday] and intimidating Elections Commission members, I would say that the damage to our democracy and our country from participating in such a election would be greater [than not participating],” he said.

Nasheed claimed that the MDP lost last year’s presidential election because of “fraud and deception”.

“In my view, if we give up the Majlis election the same way, we are losing our future, the future of our children and children’s children,” he added.

A free and fair election in which the public has confidence is the foundation of democratic governance, Nasheed stressed.

“When there is no justice in voting, everything loses legitimacy,” he said.

Nasheed concluded his remarks by calling on the Supreme Court not to “muddle the entire future and hope of this nation.”

Meanwhile, appearing on MDP-aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV last night, MP Ali Waheed claimed that the government was conspiring to postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 22.

The MDP parliamentary group’s deputy leader said he had learned of plans to delay the polls in certain constituencies in a bid to ensure that the ruling coalition secures a majority.

“If they carry out these efforts again this time, we will bring the whole country to a halt,” he warned.

Troubled polls

Last year’s presidential election was marred by repeated delays, cancellations and police obstruction.

On October 7, the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first round of the polls conducted on September 7 in a controversial 4-3 decision – citing a confidential police report – despite unanimous positive assessment of the polling by more than a thousand domestic and international election observers.

While the secret police report alleging irregularities – which was not shared with the EC’s defence lawyers – was dismissed by a UN expert review, the credibility of the evidence cited by the apex court was also questioned by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives.

Following the first round in which Nasheed emerged the frontrunner with 45.45 percent of the vote, third-placed candidate Gasim Ibrahim sought annulment of the results alleging widespread electoral fraud.

Pending a ruling on the business magnate’s appeal, the Supreme Court indefinitely suspended the second round scheduled for September 28 and issued a supplementary midnight ruling ordering the police and military to forcibly prevent the EC from conducting the polls.

The EC had said it intended to comply with the constitutionally-mandated deadline for the run-off, but was forced to capitulate after it was surrounded by special operations police with orders to storm the building, arrest officials and confiscate ballot papers.

The eventual revote on October 19 was also obstructed by police, after Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Abdulla Yameen and Gasim refused to sign the voter registry – a requirement from a 16-point guideline imposed on the EC by the Supreme Court judgment.

The guidelines also compelled the EC to consider the Department of National Registry’s (DNR) database as the primary source for compiling the eligible voters registry.

While the revote was eventually held on November 9 and a second round was due to take place the next day, Yameen refused to sign the voter lists hours before polls were to open and the Supreme Court ordered the EC to conduct the run-off election on November 16.

In what was the EC’s sixth attempt in two months to conduct polls, Yameen narrowly defeated Nasheed with 51.39 percent of the vote (111,203) to the MDP candidate’s 48.61 percent (105,181).

Meanwhile, on January 18, Nasheed told reporters that the MDP suspected electoral fraud using fake national identity cards in November’s polls.

Nasheed contended that non-existent people were added to the database at the DNR as part of “efforts to rig the election through the Supreme Court.”

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek told the press last month that the commission was was forced to consider the DNR list as legitimate despite errors, such as citizens deemed deceased while alive.

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Criminal Court ignores Supreme Court order to begin trials

The Criminal Court has today refused to accept cases sent to the court by the Prosecutor General’s Office despite the Supreme Court’s insistence that the court start accepting cases.

A media official from the court has told online newspaper CNM that the Supreme Court’s order stated that cases must be accepted according to the regulations, but that cases accepting cases in the absence of a Prosecutor General would violate court regulations.

The paper reported that the court had received the Supreme Court order.

Speaking to Minivan News Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem said he had sent a letter informing the Supreme Court of the Criminal Court’s actions.

‘’Following the Supreme Court order, I was expecting the court to resume accepting cases as usual to establish justice,’’ he said.

Shameem also said that if the Criminal Court was accusing the PG’s Office of violating a regulation, then the court must specify the article and name of the regulation.

“There is no such regulation,’’ he said. “I have not seen a regulation that says so.’’

He said that 30 cases were sent to the Criminal Court today, and all were rejected.

“There are serious cases in there such as the recent incident where the wife of an MP was stabbed,’’ Shameem said, adding that there were over 400 cases pending in the PG’s Office to be sent to the Criminal Court.

On November 25, former PG Ahmed Muiz submitted his resignation, shortly before parliament was set to debate a no-confidence motion against him.

On January 8, the Criminal Court decided not to accept any cases submitted by the PG’s Office and to halt all existing cases because the position of PG has been vacant for over 30 days

On December 10, President Abdulla Yameen proposed his nephew Maumoon Hameed for the post of Prosecutor General and submitted the name to the parliament for the MPs to approve.

The issue was sent to parliament’s independent commissions committee, with the committee decided to seek public opinion before sending Hameed’s name to the parliament floor for voting.

However, the parliament is now on recess and will not re-commence work until March.

On January 9, the Supreme Court had ordered the Criminal Court to continue pending trials in the court.

Article 4(a) (4) of the Contempt of Court regulation states that willful failure to obey an order of the court or a court verdict will be considered as contempt of court.

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Supreme Court orders Majlis to expedite PG appointment

The Supreme Court issued an order Thursday night instructing “all relevant state institutions” to expedite the appointment of a new Prosecutor General (PG).

The apex court order (Dhivehi) noted that the constitution did not envision the post remaining vacant and stipulates that it must be filled within 30 days of a vacancy.

Referring to the “principle of necessity” and the importance of the criminal justice system continuing to function to ensure rule of law, the Supreme Court also ordered trial courts to accept and proceed with cases submitted by the Prosecutor General’s office.

Following the lapse of the 30-day period for the parliament to appoint a replacement for former PG Ahmed Muiz, the Criminal Court decided to halt all ongoing cases pending the appointment.

Muiz submitted his resignation on November 25 last year, shortly before parliament was set to debate a no-confidence motion against him.

In late January, Deputy PG Hussain Shameem wrote to the Supreme Court seeking its assistance in resolving the dispute.

Shameem told Minivan News at the time that there were more than 150 cases at the office that needed to be filed at the Criminal Court, including cases of suspects held in pre-trial detention.

“So what do they do now, it would not be fair to keep them in there until the parliament comes back to work from recess after three months and appoint a new PG,’’ Shameem said.

On December 10, President Abdulla Yameen nominated his nephew Maumoon Hameed to the post of Prosecutor General.

The nominee was forwarded to parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee for review.

The committee’s chair, MP Ahmed Sameer – who recently defected from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party to the government-aligned Jumhooree Party – told newspaper Haveeru shortly after the Supreme Court issued its order that the vetting process was stalled due to lack of cooperation from political parties.

While a committee meeting scheduled to take place during the ongoing recess to interview the nominee was canceled upon request by pro-government MPs, a second attempt to hold the meeting was unsuccessful because MDP MPs opposed it.

“I am ready to hold the meeting even tonight if they request it,” the MP for Haa Alif Dhidhoo was quoted as saying.

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Elections Commission dissolves eight parties

The Elections Commission (EC) dissolved eight parties on Thursday for failing to reach the mandatory minimum of 3,000 registered members.

The eight parties were the People’s Alliance (PA), Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), the Maldivian Labour Party, the Social Liberal Party, the People’s Party, the Maldivian National Congress (MNC), and the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Social Democratic Party.

The EC explained in a press statement that the eight parties were removed from the political parties registry after providing a three-month period to increase party membership.

“While most of these parties are not active at all, the Elections Commission made a public announcement in 2013 to find out where their offices were located as letters and other documents sent to the parties were not being delivered,” the EC stated.

“We also note that these parties to whom funds have to be released every year from the state budget have not been regularly submitting audit reports to the Elections Commission.”

As inactive parties were provided large amounts of state funding, the EC noted that dissolving the parties would alleviate the strain on the state budget.

In December 2012, parliament passed the Political Parties Act with a clause requiring a minimum of 10,000 members for registration.

The Supreme Court however struck down the article in September 2013 and the EC decided that the minimum party membership would fall to 3,000 as stipulated in the previous political party regulation.

The commission decided to dissolve the eight inactive parties last month and asked the parties to inform the EC of any debts or assets before February 7.

“We sent a letter to parties with membership below 10,000 to increase their members. But these parties are not being dissolved because they do not have 10,000. It is because they do not have the 3,000 member minimum,” EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz explained at the time.

The councils of the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) and the Gaumee Iththihaad Party (GIP) meanwhile voted to voluntarily disband in December.

With the dissolution of the eight parties, the Maldives currently has six active political parties. They are ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) and its coalition partners – the Jumhooree Party (JP), the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), and the Adhaalath Party. The remaining parties are the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Among the six, only MDA has membership below 10,000. According to the EC website, MDA currently has 7,537 members.

President Abdulla Yameen formed the PA in 2008 following a disagreement with half-brother and then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Yameen resigned from the party and joined the newly-formed PPM in 2011.

Gayoom’s Attorney General Hassan Saeed set up the DQP in September 2008 ahead of his presidential bid. After unconditionally backing MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed in the run-off against incumbent Gayoom in the 2008 presidential election, the party left the MDP-led coalition and became a vocal opponent of the Nasheed administration.

The party backed Yameen during the second round of the 2013 presidential polls after its coalition partner JP failed to make the run-off.

Current Home Minister Umar Naseer set up the IDP in 2005 and ran for president in 2008. He quit the party to join the DRP in 2010.

PPM MP ‘Redwave’ Ahmed Saleem established the Maldivian Labour Party in 2008 while the Social Liberal Party was a splinter from the MDP – founded by former MP and presidential candidate, Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail.

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Chief Justice calls on Majlis to hasten PG appointment

Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz has called on the parliament to hasten the appointment of a new prosecutor general (PG).

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Drug Court’s development structure, the Chief Justice noted that parliament had been conducting extra sittings to conclude unfinished work, and that it was possible to appoint a PG during one of those sittings.

The Criminal Court decided in January that it would not accept any cases submitted by the PG’s Office, and that it would halt all existing cases as the PG position had been vacant for over 30 days.

Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem today said that he was yet to receive any response from the apex court regarding an appeal for assistance in the matter, made over two weeks ago.

Faiz noted that each day that passed without a PG was a day on which he felt concern. He expressed regret that one half of the criminal justice procedure was now ineffective, and that the constitutional time frame to appoint the new PG had passed.

Furthermore, Faiz said that if the constitution mandates to do something during a specific duration of time it has to be done in that period. The constitution states that if the position of PG becomes vacant a new person must be appointed in 30 days.

Faiz presided over Supreme Court proceedings during the annulment of the 2013 presidential election first round – though the chief justice himself opposed the ruling. The delays resulting from the verdict’s guidelines subsequently led to the extension of the legally mandated presidential term of office, prompting fears of a constitutional crisis.

Speaking to Minivan News today Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem said that the Supreme Court had still not responded to a letter sent by his office complaining about the Criminal Court’s decision.

‘’We called the Supreme Court today also to ask about the response but we were unable to get a word from the Supreme Court regarding the issue,’’ he said.

He stated that it was not for him to make the Supreme Court and parliament accountable and there was nothing he could do about it.

‘’Next week we will decide what to do,’’ he added.

On November 25, former PG Ahmed Muiz submitted his resignation just as parliament was set to debate a no-confidence motion against him.

Last month, Shameem said that the laws did not prohibit the deputy from taking over the responsibilities of the PG should a new person not be appointed within the required 30 days.

He also expressed concern that there were people held in pre-trial detention who were to be kept there until their trials were concluded.

“So what do they do now, it would not be fair to keep them in there until the parliament comes back to work from recess after three months and appoints a new PG,’’ Shameem said.

On December 10, President Abdulla Yameen proposed his nephew Maumoon Hameed for the post, submitting the name to parliament for MPs’ approval.

The issue was sent to the Majlis independent commissions committee, with the group subsequently deciding to seek public opinion before sending Hameed’s name to the parliament floor. The Majlis is now on recess and will not re-commence work until March.

On January 9, the Supreme Court had ordered the Criminal Court to continue pending trials, saying that the criminal justice system must proceed in order to maintain constitutional rule.

The Criminal Court announced it would not reconsider its decision to stop accepting cases, but decided to continue with cases that were already filed at the court.

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Week in review: January 18 – 24

The biggest headline of the week was captured by Home Minister Umar Naseer after he ordered correctional authorities to make preparations for the implementation of the death penalty – currently under a sixty year moratorium.

Speaking with the media upon his return from Sri Lanka – President Abdulla Yameen said that the home minister’s decision had not been discussed with the cabinet.

During his state visit Yameen was reported to be considering access through Maldivian waters for passing Sri Lankan fishing vessels. He is also said to have revealed his decision to reject the proposed status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the United States.

Opinions on the president’s fisheries policy – as well as the policies of Malé city council – were expressed this week as Minivan News visited the capital’s famous fish market to talk about the state of the industry.

The government’s plans to expand the tourism industry were discussed this week as Minivan News interviewed cabinet minister Ahmed Adeeb, while the Home Ministry’s focus on the illegal drugs trade continued as police seized MVR300,000 worth of drugs – along with an endangered primate – from a house in Malé.

The president’s foreign policy also took shape – with a clear emphasis on economic self-sufficiency to facilitate independence and protect sovereignty.

Whilst bilateral ties between India and the Maldives were celebrated with the launch of the Dosti-Ekuverikan week, opposition spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor told Indian media that the country had “failed” Maldivian democracy during recent political turmoils.

Local elections

The week began with the local council elections, and finished with the final results of the 1,100 contests still not yet known. What was clear was that turnout was low on the day – a report from Transparency Maldives suggested the system was failing up to one third of voters who live and work away from their registered island of residence.

The Elections Commission (EC) introduced the public displaying of ID card photographs to help prevent voter fraud, though the decision quickly brought complaints from religious leaders regarding the exposure of women who have since started wearing the veil.

November’s second-placed presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed subsequently suggested that the clear existence of voters without photographs in the presidential poll registry indicated “serious fraud in the presidential election”.

The Maldivian Democratic Party figurehead went on to suggest that victory for his party in March’s parliamentary elections would see impeachment proceedings initiated against President Yameen.

Minivan News’ series of MP interviews continued this week, with Rozaina Adam, Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed, and Ahmed Abdulla all taking their turns.

Despite his Progressive Party of Maldives expressing confidence that they would win the majority of council seats, Yameen noted that party members standing as independent candidates had cost seats.

Supreme Court

Never far from the headlines, the Supreme Court’s role in the recent presidential elections continued to make news. The EC suggested that the Police Integrity Commission had shied away from examining key evidence used to annul the first round for fear of casting doubt on the court’s verdict.

Criticism of the verdict broadcast on Raajje TV resulted in this week’s decision by the broadcasting commission to order an apology from the station. Villa TV was similarly ordered to offer apologies for comments said to have defamed MDP candidate Nasheed.

Former Attorney General Husnu Suood was suspended from all courts pending the police’s investigation into his alleged contempt of court during the annulment trial. Suood suggested the decision may be linked to his role in the investigation of Justice Ali Hameed’s role in a sex tape scandal.

The Judicial Services Commission – charged with investigating the Hameed case – revealed its new regulations which will involve the periodic review of judge’s performance.

Meanwhile, the deputy prosecutor general appealed to the Supreme Court after the Criminal Court failed to resume normal activities – having previously halted proceeding pending the confirmation of a new PG.

Elsewhere…

Elsewhere in the Maldives this week, the auditor general revealed that the Defence Ministry had illegally purchased nearly MVR7 million of goods during 2011. This week also saw the first case of unfair dismissal filed in relation to the nine senior military officers removed amid internal murmurings during the controversial presidential race.

Finally, the Maldives was selected for a US$6million concessionary loan from Abu Dhabi for assistance with clean energy projects.

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