The new opposition alliance formed against the government’s alleged forfeiture of Maldivian territorial waters staged a rally in Malé’s carnival area.
The alliance accused President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration of “treason” and “selling Maldivian seas” in the maritime boundary dispute with Mauritius, insinuating a hidden agenda in the reversal of a decades-old stand to recognise Mauritius’s sovereignty over the neighbouring Chagos archipelago.
Ahead of the gathering, the police warned against disrupting public order, citing information about plans “by some participants to carry out illegal activities”.
The rally started with a video of jailed former president Abdulla Yameen’s farewell address from November 2018 and featured speeches from former attorneys general Dr Mohamed Munavvar – an expert on the law of the sea – and Aishath Azima Shukoor as well as Maldives National Party leader Mohamed Nazim, former home minister Umar Naseer, MP Mohamed Waheed from the new party formed by supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed, Jumhooree Party MP Ali Hussain – who joined the rally in defiance of the party leader’s wishes – and Progressive Party of Maldives-People’s National Congress coalition acting leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla. They vowed to claim Chagos for the Maldives and to hold the president accountable for the alleged loss of territory.
It was the first time that Nasheed’s loyalists – who recently resigned en masse from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party to form The Democrats – participated in a political event with the opposition PPM. Senior MPs from the newly-formed party were seated in the front row.
Supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed who resigned en masse from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party submitted 3,560 membership forms to register The Democrats, a week after the Elections Commission authorised the new party to gather the minimum 3,000 signatures needed for formal registration.
A membership recruitment drive will be launched nationwide and the party hopes to reach 10,000 members during the presidential election campaign, MP Hassan Latheef told the press.
Speaker Nasheed, who has yet to resign from the MDP and remains its president, is widely expected to be the presidential candidate.
A record 479 student loans have been approved for pilot training, Higher Education Minister Dr Ibrahim Hassan told the press, a day after the president assured loans for all 1,225 applicants who met the criteria.
This year’s student loan scheme initially offered 720 loans to pursue higher education in the Maldives or overseas. More than 1,500 applications were submitted by the deadline in March.
The first electric bus charging station in Malé was opened at the Hulhumalé ferry terminal.
For the first time in Malé, the Raajje Transport Link started using electric buses for its Sosun Route on Friday.
The charging station was funded by Japan as part of the UNDP’s ‘Climate Promise Project.’
A 27-year-old man died after he was stabbed in the neck with a scissor.
Ahmed Shuveyb, 27, from the Maradhoo Feydhoo island of Addu City, passed away around 4:00 a.m. while undergoing treatment. According to the police, Shuveyb was assaulted by his brother around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. He was brought to the hospital shortly after midnight.
His brother, Hussain Mawaz, turned himself in to the police after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
A video of the victim lying on the pavement emerged on social media.
Speaker Mohamed Nasheed parked a no-confidence motion against Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath after opposition lawmakers objected to the AG submitting a written response in lieu of appearing in person. An advisory opinion would be needed from the Supreme Court, Nasheed decided.
The constitution grants cabinet ministers the right to defend him or herself “both orally and in writing” during the debate on a no-confidence motion. But opposition lawmakers contended that parliament’s rules lack a procedure to follow with written responses, whereas 30 minutes are allocated for responding in person.
Ruling party lawmakers accused the speaker of manufacturing a legal dispute as a pretext to delay the vote. A minister has the discretion not to exercise the right to a defence, they argued.
On Thursday, Riffath asked parliament for the opportunity to appear in person.
The Supreme Court ruled that a woman could seek reimbursement from her ex-husband for investments made during marriage for the couple’s shared livelihood.
The judgment came in a dispute where a woman sued to recover MVR1.2 million (US$77,821) spent on building a home in Dhaal Kudahuvadhoo that was to be held under joint ownership with her husband. But the couple divorced before the joint registration and the man refused her request to endow part of the house to their two children.
She appealed to the Supreme Court after both the island’s magistrate court and the High Court ruled against her.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir cited the Quran on the sacrosanct nature of the marriage contract.
Former attorney general Dhiyana Saeed hailed the precedent as a “groundbreaking and historic judgement” that “signifies a watershed moment in our longstanding struggle to have matrimonial property rights recognised by the community, Majlis and the courts and will certainly redress the suffering of many.”
The Malé City Council decided to charge a fee for expatriates and tourists to enter the Sultan Park and Lonuziyaaraiy Park, drawing accusations of xenophobia and discrimination. But Dr Mayor Mohamed Muizzu insisted it was “normal practice” in “civilised countries” as the decision sparked debate on social media.
Expatriates with work permits would be charged a lower fee than tourists with effect on 15 June, the opposition-majority council decided.
The Supreme Court overturned a death sentence after the family of a murder victim forgave the convict for the first time.
Abdulla Nazeef was sentenced to death over the murder of Ahmed Miruza Ibrahim, who died of injuries sustained in an assault at a Vilimalé park in April 2011. After Nazeef was found guilty, Miruza’s family opted for retaliation in kind under Islamic Shariah. The criminal court’s verdict was later upheld by the High Court.
But when Nazeef appealed to the apex court, Miruza’s family told the Supreme Court that they no longer wished to seek the death penalty. Miruza’s father confirmed that he has forgiven Nazeef upon request by the convict’s family. Miruza’s siblings concurred with the father’s decision.
Under Islamic shariah, the death penalty cannot be implemented against the wishes of the victim’s heirs. The Maldives has a de facto moratorium on capital punishment and convicts sentenced to death are instead imprisoned for life.
Former president Abdulla Yameen challenged the admissibility of bank account statements submitted as evidence in his bribery and money laundering case over the lease of Raa Fuggiri island.
The statements should be inadmissible because they were obtained without a court order, defence lawyers argued. But the prosecutors noted that the law allows banks to divulge information upon written request by the prosecutor general or an investigative agency.
In late December, Yameen was convicted in a separate trial involving the no-bid lease of Vaavu Aarah. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The High Court is due to hear an appeal of the guilty verdict.
Both cases stemmed from a corruption scandal in which US$90 million was stolen during the former president’s administration. In the Fuggiri case, Yameen is accused of accepting a US$1.1 million bribe to lease the island for resort development. The Sun Construction and Sun Investment companies of resort tycoon Ahmed Siyam as well as businessman Ahmed Riza were charged as co-defendants.
Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim urged party members not to attend a mass rally planned by a new opposition alliance formed against the government’s alleged forfeiture of Maldivian territorial waters.
In a message to the party leadership’s WhatsApp group, Qasim warned that the opposition protest on Friday could escalate and threaten public order and stability, referring to an anti-government protest in May 2015 that led to violent clashes.
Appearing on his Villa TV on Friday afternoon, Qasim said he agreed with the opposition that the Maldives has lost part of its exclusive economic zone and that the president violated the constitution by recognising Mauritius’s sovereignty over Chagos without parliamentary approval. But the rally would not achieve any outcome other than “sowing discord and division,” he said, adding that the UN tribunal’s judgment on delimiting the maritime boundary would remain unchanged.
All seven members of the Kulhudhuffushi City Council resigned from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party and joined The Democrats, a new party formed by supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed. Along with 13 MPs who left the MDP to form The Democrats, members from the Malé City Council and the council presidents of Haa Alif, Shaviyani, Noonu, Baa, Vaavu and Laamu atolls have also switched sides.
The president inaugurated the first-of-its-kind Tree Top Hospital Fertility Centre, which was developed to offer IVF treatment for the first time in the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced plans to launch a national fertility care programme to offer government assistance.
The new fertility centre charges about MVR46,000 (US$2,983) – significantly lower than upwards of MVR100,000 spent overseas – and intends to serve six to seven patients a day.
The Democrats took over the Maldivian Democratic Party main meeting hall in Malé. The new party set up its own meeting hall at the warehouse building in front of the artificial beach, removed the president’s posters, repainted the walls and promptly set up a desk to collect membership forms.
Shafiyya Zubair, the owner of the property, ordered the MDP to vacate the premises in March. The party challenged the eviction order but the civil court refused to grant an injunction.
Shafiyya told reporters who were invited by The Democrats to the meeting hall opening ceremony that she has leased the building to a businessperson with the authority to sublease it. The Democrats rented the building under a sublease agreement, the party confirmed.
The government started sacking political appointees who resigned from the Maldivian Democratic Party to join The Democrats. The appointees were filling MDP slots and the dismissals were made at the request of the ruling party, the president’s spokesman told the press.
The Democrats harshly condemned the dismissals as “cowardly” acts of intimidation intended to discourage people joining the party.
The sacked officials included deputy environment minister Mohamed Ansar, home ministry policy director Aishath Alaika and environment ministry senior executive director Mohamed Hamdhaan. All three were young political leaders who worked hard to bring the MDP to power, former president Mohamed Nasheed tweeted, praising them as “capable people who know how to implement the MDP manifesto”.
After state minister for environment Ahmed Mujthaba was sacked on Monday, Nasheed called him “one of the most important pillars of the whole reform movement” and suggested that the president should be “ashamed”. He also criticised the dismissal of Ali Hashim from the tourism ministry and Mohamed Ibrahim Manik as chairman of the Waste Management Corporation.
Ahmed Mausoom, chairman of the Malé Water and Sewerage Company, meanwhile resigned from his post after joining The Democrats, saying that he thought it “would be best to give up the post that I got by virtue of being an MDP member.”
A third suspect was arrested over the murder of Naeema Moosa, a 62-year-old woman who was found dead in her home in Manadhoo on 7 April.
Hassan Fawaz, 21, was arrested in Malé two days after the police chief revealed the arrest of two suspects. Ahuzam Abdul Shukoor, 23, and Abdul Wahid Rifas, 21, were both arrested from Manadhoo, after which the police soon discovered the murder weapons. Two knives were dug out along with the clothes worn by the assailants, which were burned and buried in a hole at the beach.
According to media reports, a breakthrough in the investigation came after Ahuzam was arrested over the possession of drugs and confessed while in custody.
The broadcasting commission ordered the opposition-aligned Channel 13 to stop airing songs that called the president a thief. The regulator launched an inquiry into alleged violations of the broadcasting code of practice.
During Monday’s sitting of parliament, opposition lawmakers accused the commission of “censorship” and infringing on freedom of speech. Speaker Mohamed Nasheed listed pejorative nicknames used against former presidents, including the ‘Ganjabo’ epithet employed during his presidency.
A Hulhumalé highway accident that led to the death of a 43-year-old man on 27 May occurred when his motorcycle crashed into a stopped police pickup, the police revealed. The pickup was impounding a car on the four-wheel lane when the motorcycle came at a high speed and collided with it. The pickup was flashing the four signals to indicate that it was at a stop, the police noted.
Nilandhoo MP Abdul Muhsin Hameed joined the Maldivian Democratic Party during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s visit to the Faafu Atoll constituency. At the signing ceremony, the president announced plans to reclaim land from Nilandhoo’s lagoon and develop two resorts in the atoll.
Hameed was elected to parliament as an independent. After a previous term in parliament, he served as deputy youth minister during former president Abdulla Yameen’s administration.
Hameed’s signature brings the number of MDP MPs in the 87-member parliament to 55, including Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, who has yet to resign after 13 of his loyalist MPs left the MDP to form a new party under his leadership.
During the president’s two-day visit to Faafu Atoll, Bilehdhoo MP Ahmed Haleem also declared his allegiance to President Solih. Haleem was formerly a close ally of Nasheed.
