THE AFTERMATH

THE AFTERMATH - OF 1ST FEBRUARY 2018 SUPREME COURT RULING
Written by: Ali Assad

The development racecar galvanized by President Yameen’s aspirations had to divert into a pit stop, due to the black flag shown by Supreme Court on 1st February 2018.

Without doubt the cabinet of “pit crew” chosen by President Yameen proved to be more than capable of handling any unforeseen circumstances manipulated by the competition, on the track of progress.

After carefully maneuvering along the legal boundaries, calculated driving, corruption repairs, minor adjustments and a few changes, a more determined President blazed back into the political circuit.

Judicial Coup orchestrated by the opposition, can now be clearly stated as a complete failure. But was it a complete failure? Are there no contingency plans?

Most important part of the coup, which was designed to topple President Yameen has been completely unsuccessful. In the aftermath of the attack against the presidency, President Yameen has emerged unwavering and more purposeful in delivering his visions of a peaceful and prosperous future to the Maldivian people.

However, from the ashes of failure, the opposition has scavenged a sharp thorn that can be used to intensify and escalate multiple attacks against democracy.

Maldivian Democratic Party and powerful Western friends of former President Nasheed, had been searching for a chance to provide a legal window of opportunity, for him to participate in the next presidential elections in 2018.

Western backers of Nasheed had even pressured former President Waheed to create a slot for him in the 2013 presidential race. Nasheed’s trail for kidnapping a serving judge was delayed and he was allowed to participate in the election to satisfy the whims of Nasheed’s powerful friends.

International observers declared the 2013 election free and fair. President Yameen won the 2013 election. A badly defeated Nasheed still claims that he won the elections because in the first round he won the popular vote.

Nasheed is a self-confessed convicted kidnapper, without any possibility of participating in the 2018 elections according to the Maldivian constitution or internationally practiced norms.

Alleged bribed ruling of Supreme Court has bestowed Nasheed with grounds to claim, another shot in a presidential race.

Nasheed’s allies have been quick to pull strings and produce a report from the United Nations Human Rights Committee to declare that Nasheed is eligible to participate in the next election. The outcome of the report was publicly announced by Nasheed even before the UN appointed committee deliberations were finished. This is not surprising because the person in charge of this at the UN, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed is Nasheed’s close ally and he also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, under Nasheed’s regime. Initially it was during Nasheed’s reign that Dr. Shaheed was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, Iran refused him entry into the country and has declared him to be an agent of both the CIA and Israel. This is not so shocking considering the person who propelled him to this position is Nasheed and he is also the only Muslim president who did not vote for Palestine, in the UNESCO vote to admit Palestine as a member state.

Dr. Shaheed was later nominated for the post of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, which further explains the sequence of events unfolding after the judicial coup.

With the 2018 presidential election looming ahead and with little to spare, the trues desires of Nasheed’s financiers can be clearly seen in EU’s election recommendation report on Maldives. The desperate wish for religious freedom or to be precise the establishment of Christianity in Maldives. Further, statements in the UK parliament highlighted that it would have been much easier to allow multiple religions, if Nasheed was in power.

Even with the initial failure to overthrow President Yameen, the backup plans of the failed judicial coup seem to be in full swing.

Nasheed seems to be the chosen driver for this crusade, a puppet willing to do anything for fame and power.

For many years, we as a nation with one language, one culture and one religion, have survived many an attack from hostile powers.

The aftermath of the 1st February judicial coup, has revealed a more sinister and darker plot to attack the heart of Maldives - Islam.

DICTATOR MAUMOON VS DEMOCRATIC NASHEED

Written by: Ali Assad

Some of the fundamental aspects that are seen in a dictator, especially the characteristics which the opposition branded former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom as a dictator compared with the supposedly champion of democracy former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Nepotism - the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs. Maumoon had family members in cabinet and so did Nasheed. Nasheed’s cousin Kerefa Naseem was Foreign Minister. Whilst his cousin by marriage Aslam Shakir was State Minister for Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, Health Minister Aminath Jameel is another family relative. Even Sabra Noorahdheen, Head of Police Intel was from Kerefa family. The list is endless. So, who had more family and friends in appointed political positions, Maumoon or Nasheed?

Corruption - dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) labelled Maumoon as one of the most corrupt Maldivian President. There were very highly publicized corruption scandals during Maumoon’s presidency. However, MDP faces a blind spot, when it comes to the fact that high level MDP founder members or people funding the party were involved in these corrupt deals. The first time Maldives was internationally ranked for corruption was in 2007 by Transparency International and Maldives got 84th position with a score of 33 from 100 (a perfect score of 100 meant very clean & 0 meant very corrupt). Opposition MDP was jubilant with the ranking and highly criticized Maumoon for being more corrupt than neighbouring India, which was in 72nd position. When MDP came to power, the ranking skyrocketed and in 2010 Nasheed beat Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe ranking of 134th with 143rd position. The most corrupt Maldivian regime’s score of 23 was also achieved by Nasheed in 2010. In 2016 Maldives was ranked at 95th position with the best anti-corruption score of 36 in Maldivian history.

8 Presidential Members Of Parliament - Maumoon had 8 appointed members in parliament representing him. MDP was against this and campaigned hard to remove this from the constitution. This was done when the new modern constitution was prepared but during the power struggle to democracy, it was basically agreed for the interim period to keep Maumoon’s MP’s, as a safety net for someone leaving from power after a long time. This was clearly written in the constitution for the interim period - Maumoon’s 8 Presidential MP’s were to remain in their seat until the new Parliament was elected in 2009. However, within 24 hours after Nasheed took the oath as president he went against the constitution and appointed his own 8 Presidential Members. After this the opposition claimed that in cohesion with the former Election Commissioner (who was a founder member of MDP), Nasheed delayed the Parliament vote for about 6 months to take advantage of the Parliament majority he had seized. Eventually Nasheed’s appointed Supreme Court bench ruled that Nasheed’s actions were unlawful and the illegally removed Maumoon’s 8 Presidential MP’s were to be given due compensation.

Non-Independent Judiciary - Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary needs to be kept away from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government, or from private or partisan interest. Maumoon was the head of the Judiciary under the old constitution. Under the new constitution the Judicial powers were separated from the Executive. Nasheed was maybe alien to this concept because in his short term, he locked up the Supreme Court, kidnapped the serving Chief Judge of the Criminal Court and didn’t heed to any of the court orders to release arbitrarily detained political prisoners.

Absence Of Freedom Of Speech - Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorships. During Maumoon’s first four presidential terms this was not allowed. Nor were we an educated or developing country. As the times changed, Maldives transformed into a developing nation. Even though the lid on free speech was kept tightly squeezed, with an educated younger generation emerging and with mounting pressure for democracy, the last 5 years of Maumoon’s era saw some level of free speech. With Nasheed in power he extended free speech to new heights. Anti-Muslim bloggers were encouraged to mock Islam. Anti-Muslim/Islam Facebook pages were run by Nasheed loyalists who were hardcore MDP supporters. Maldives was getting overdosed with free speech but when it came to criticism of Nasheed over his Islamophobic rants and iron fist rule, he could not digest it. Nasheed even started a campaign “Thihineh Nukiyene” meaning “You can’t SAY that” to crack down on opposition.

Absence OF Press Freedom – Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through various mediums, such as electronic media and published materials. During Maumoon’s terms this was nonexistent. Under the new modern constitution these rights were given almost without any limits. Nasheed was also a writer/reporter but when in power he did everything in power to stop free press. Most printed media were run through advertisement money received by government to print notices for jobs and bids. One of the first thing Nasheed did was to stop this indirect funding in the name of cutting government costs. It was not a bad move but the purpose was suspiciously doubtful and opposition rightfully claimed a move to stifle free press. Incidents of press who covered opposition demonstration being attacked by police increased dramatically. Opposition TV stations were attacked and burned by Nasheed’s loyalists. The attacks against media were so brutal and frequent during Nasheed’s regime, the media even carried out demonstrations against the oppression of press freedom.

Control Of State Media - State-controlled media is media which is owned, dictated, and managed by a government. State-controlled media uses propaganda- information, which is usually biased or misleading, to promote a political cause or point of view to control its people. Maumoon controlled the state media with a tight grip until his last term, which saw encouraging levels of freedom and opposition coverage. Nasheed inherited the state media while it was moving in this positive direction. With Nasheed in power, the state media did not take an immediate U-turn from this reformation but slowly the breaks were placed down and subtly the direction diverted to full government control again. First it was a yellow banner on the state TV channels, which is the official colour of MDP. By the time Nasheed resigned it was strictly 100% government controlled media or just another MDP channel. Even if an opposition member is given an opportunity to go on a state TV or radio program, Nasheed loyalists made sure that it was under police protection that he has to go in and out of the station, after taking part in any political program. The audiences chosen supposedly from the general public in all the state media programs, were handpicked from Nasheed’s campaign office adjacent to state TV station. After this fake general public audience finished their participation and questionings in programs, tea and other special benefits were made available from MDP campaign office / Haruge next to TV Maldives.

Absence Of Freedom Of Expression – Freedom of expression is the right of every individual to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. This was not allowed during Maumoons presidency. Nasheed campaigned hard to grant freedom of expression but when in power and when the people protested against Nasheed’s unconstitutional acts, it turned out to be difficult for him to digest. His regime has the worst record for the highest number of tear gas used against protesters and the first and only president in Maldivian history to use Water Canon and rubber bullets against protesters. Not surprisingly Nasheed won a place in top ten, in the biggest crackdowns of the decade listed by The Washington Post.

Absence Of Free & Fair Elections – An election is considered “free” and “fair” when you can decide whether to vote or not to vote, vote freely for the candidate or party of your choice without fear or intimidation and all registered political parties have an equal right to contest the elections, campaign for voter support, hold meetings and rallies. The old constitution only allowed for referendums which asked whether the population wanted Maumoon in power or not. Opposition was harshly critical of this, calling it a “Bodu Kaafu Kuda Kaafu” vote. “Kaafu” is a Dhivehi letter. The above saying literally translates into capital “Kaafu” and simple “Kaafu” vote. The Divehi letter “Kaafu” looked like a “correct” tick. Even though Dhivehi does not have capital and simple letters, the joke is that the public was asked to vote for a simple “kaafu” if “No” and a capital “kaafu” if “Yes”, leading to a yes vote for Maumoon, whichever way the public voted. In the first multi-party 2008 elections, Maumoon won most votes but not enough to win the election. Under a coalition Nasheed won the election but Maumoon accused that Nasheed had rigged the election using Election Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeg’s influence, who was a former MDP founder member and a harsh critic of Maumoon and members in the elections commission like Saabe who was Nasheed’s cousin MP Eva’s husband. When Nasheed came to power he publicly said that he will directly influence the votes. There is even a leaked audio of allegedly Fuad and Nasheed discussing election fraud.

Arbitrary Detention & Arrests – is the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that he or she committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law. During Maumoon’s era literary the constitution allowed this. Maumoon was famous for arbitrary detention and arrests. When Nasheed came to power the constitution protected against such arrests but he did it anyway. All the well-known leading political figures were arbitrarily arrested and detained during Nasheed’s regime. Some of the more prominent figures include the current President Yameen, whilst he was a MP and leader of People's Alliance. Another was leader of Jumhooree Party and also an MP, Qasim Ibrahim. Nasheed even used military tanks to arrest the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, MP Ahmed Nazim. Former VP Jameel was arbitrarily arrested 6 time in a week before Nasheed’s most famous act of the extrajudicial arbitrary detention / kidnapping of Criminal Court, Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Island Chiefs / Councilors – Maumoon had a political appointee in charge of every inhabited island, called an Island Chief. The new constitution allowed only an elected local council system. However, when Nasheed came to power he appointed the councilors to the islands just like the appointed Island Chiefs. Hardcore Nasheed loyalist were appointed and most of them were not educationally or in any other way fit for the job. Even people with criminal record for drugs offences were appointed. Nasheed’s suspiciously close relationship with former Election Commissioner Fuad, is accused as a factor which delayed having local council elections as per the constitution mandated dates, thus providing an outrageous excuse for Nasheed to appoint councilors.

Multi religious freedom – Maldives constitution did not allow multi-religious freedom. However, Nasheed employed consultants like Benedict Rogers who was Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s East Asia Team Leader and David Hardingham – a previously blacklisted and deported missionary worker from Maldives. Nasheed loyalists ran blogs and Facebook pages to promote multi-religious freedom and LGBT rights.

Torture in prisons – According to recent Maldivian history, one of the most famous Maldivian president for torture in prisons is president Nasir. This system was passed on and inherited by the next president Maumoon. Supporters of Maumoon claim that compared to the Asian region, Maldivian prisons were much better. However, the killing of an inmate, Evan Naseem by prison police led to one of the worst riots in Maldivian history. The riots started in the prison after Evan Naseem was beaten to death and due to the riots in prison, police were forced to use live ammunition which led to more deaths. Thus, eventually the riots escalating into the streets of the capital city, Male’. During Nasheed’s era there were a few cases of prison deaths but no proof that it was due to torture but probably just natural deaths. In Nasheed’s regime the prison was torched about 3 times, costing millions of Rufiyaa in damages to tax paying Maldivians. His critics claimed that during his regime the prisoners had more power than the prison guards. Adding weight to this claim is the fact that in election votes Nasheed and his party always wins the majority votes from jailed convicts.

Gangs/militia force – During Maumoon’s era there was gang violence (not well-organized criminal groups but just friends from the same neighbourhood). However, this was non-existent in the political arena. Nasheed came to power with the promise of change and mainly with the support of the younger generation. This also included the gangs. Nasheed used this gang force to intimidate and terrorize his political opponents. For the first time in Maldivian history opposition MP’s like MP Ilham, MP Mahloof, MP Thasmeen, Senior politicians and political leaders like leader of Islamic Democratic Party Umar had to employ personal body guards. It seemed like the use of gangs was not enough and Nasheed created a program called “Dhevanafurusathu” (Second Chance) to facilitate the release of hardcore criminals without proper probation assessments. During the last days of Nasheed’s regime, in addition to gangs, these released criminals were used to attack opposition protesting against the kidnapping of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah Mohamed.

Long Rule – Maumoon ruled for 30 years. One of the characteristics that Nasheed opposed before coming to power. When in power the political rhetoric from MDP changed. They were calling to change the constitution and make way to elect Nasheed for 3 terms or more. On the extreme side in their political podiums they were calls to elect Nasheed for 500 years.

Economic problems – The Maumoon presidency was considered days of prosperity and peace. With the democracy illusion came violence and instability. Nasheed regime saw the worst inflation in Maldives history. Corruption became common place. Purchasing of MP’s was fashionable. The Maldivian currency saw more than 20% devaluation. Dollar rate soared to MVR15.42, while in the black market it went as high as MVR20.00. The construction industry collapsed. Debt was at worrisome level. Budget deficit reached a record level. The country faced an economic meltdown during the short 3 years of Nasheed’s regime.

So, is the characteristics of a dictator an almost perfect fit for Nasheed?

THE DEMOCRATIC DICTATOR

Written by: Ali Assad

What is a dictatorship?

Is it just a word reserved for the opposition to call the incumbent president? A word that the rich and powerful or especially the West can use to topple governments that is not in line with their views or interests?

The line between a democratic leader and a dictator is so blurred politically these days that the best solution is to take a more scientific approach, like when identifying a species and thus categorizing a dictator using the characteristics of one.

A dictatorship is a form of government characterized by the absolute rule of one person or a very small group of people who hold all political power.

One of the most famous Maldivian “dictator” is President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, but to his supporters he was the leader of the golden 30 years of Maldives.

Why was former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom called a dictator?

Let’s compare the characteristics of “why” Maumoon was branded a “dictator” with the factual characteristics of another leader. The first person to be elected under the new modern Maldivian democratic constitution is former president Mohamed Nasheed and hence a good guinea pig to compare democracy and dictatorship. So, if there is such a thing as a “Dictator meter”, and Maumoon was used as a measuring weight to gauge dictatorship, what would be Nasheed – a dictator or democratic leader?

Main characteristics of “why” Maumoon was branded a dictator are; nepotism, corruption, 8 appointed Presidential Members of Parliament, non-independency of judiciary, absence of freedom of speech, absence of press freedom, controlling state media, absence of freedom of expression, absence of free and fair elections, arbitrary detention and arrests and appointed Island Chiefs. To someone new in Maldives politics, it would be a surprise to know that, in the short 3 years of Nasheed’s regime, he displayed all these traits and even some more than Maumoon. A detailed analysis of these characteristics of Maumoon as a dictator, compared with the supposedly democratic leader Nasheed is reviewed in another separate article (DICTATOR MAUMOON VS DEMOCRATIC LEADER NASHEED).

The difference is that even though Nasheed demonstrated his true self as a full-fledged dictator, there were democratic values that he upheld, which made him a champion of democracy to his Western backers.

What divides the two leaders cum dictators are while Maumoon was against multi-religious freedom, it was one of Nasheed’s most praised character according to his Western friends. Nasheed was also in favour of providing LGBT rights. And as an additional plus point, in Nasheed’s short term in office, he did not torture prisoners in jail.

From this tangled and politically divided mess of democracy and dictatorship, it is very difficult to make out head or tail. Furthermore, the possibility of finding a leader, who calls him or herself a DICTATOR is not theoretically possible. Instead, dictators have ordinary titles such as “My President”, “Supreme Leader”, “Inthihaabee Raees” (Elected President) and other similar monikers. That's because 'dictator' has become a pejorative term assigned to certain rulers by their opposition and other powerful nations, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Israel and many others to promote their agenda.

Sometimes, it is questionable what is better, a dictator or a democratic leader. Most of the countries recently destroyed or are being destroyed by powerful countries in the name of importing democracy was thriving economically under the so called “dictatorships”. Good examples are Libya and Syria.

In the name of regime change or importing democracy, Iraq was destroyed. The domino effects of chaos, famine, refugees are still continuing today. What is worse the torture by Saddam in Abu Ghraib jail or the torture by US forces in Abu Ghraib jail? It would not be unfair to state, for wealth, power and domination sometimes democratic countries use imaginary Weapons of Mass Destruction or an imaginary dictator.

Some dictators see themselves as a transition to democracy – Nasheed’s rants about democracy to gain power and later him becoming allergic to democracy when in power, is a good example.

Others even allow limited freedom of expression, as long as the expression, written or spoken, doesn’t directly challenge the dictator’s rule. This resembles the “Thihineh Nukiyene” or translated as “You Can’t Say That” campaign run during Nasheed’s regime by his party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to thwart opposition’s freedom of expression.

There have been dictators who got there legally. Adolf Hitler, for example, was appointed chancellor, or head of government, by President Paul von Hindenburg in 1933. After Hindenburg died, Hitler made himself Fü­hrer (a combination of president and chancellor). Nasheed came to power after winning an election, which his opponent Maumoon claimed was rigged. Indirectly the finger is pointed towards the former Elections Commissioner, ex MDP founder member Fuad and former Elections Commission member Saabe (Nasheed’s cousin MP Eva’s husband). Hence a democratically elected leader or one claimed to be democratically elected does not necessarily have to be democratic.

Mostly a dictatorship is commonly thought of as one person, the dictator himself. Usually, there is one man at the top, but occasionally the top ruler answers to some extent to a dictatorial political party. The leader of the party has no named successor. The dictator almost never has a named successor - one oddly common trait among different types of dictatorships. MDP has an appointed one and only supreme leader called Nasheed, making him the unquestionably uncontestable unelected leader forever.

Many of these dictators foster cults of personality, a form of hero worship in which the masses are fed propaganda declaring their leader to be flawless and in some cases divine. Nasheed has the worst record in Maldivian history as the leader who went against Islamic principles and values but his Muslim support base is completely blind and oblivious to this fact.

Depending on which side of the fence you stand, the hazy line between a dictator and a democratic leader is warped and distorted, until it fits to your supporting beliefs.

So, is Nasheed a dictator who wants to look democratic or a democratic dictator?

MALDIVIAN THREESOME COUP

As the dust settles from the hectic judicial events that recently unfolded in paradise, people are wondering what really happened?

Is this an attack on democracy? Was this a coup? Did someone bribe the Supreme Court? The answers are entangled in the love and hate triangle between former Presidents Maumoon, Nasheed and leader of Jumhooree Party, Qasim Ibrahim.

On 1st February 2018, SC of Maldives, released a ruling that rocketed the country into political turmoil. Facts that we know are, SC’s decision about 12 members of Parliament not losing their seats were already being deliberated in the bench and their decision whichever way is of no surprise. On the other hand, the out of the blue verdict to release 9 convicted criminals was quite a bombshell, no new evidence or incident has happened for SC to backtrack on their own previous decisions that the judicial process for completed trials of some of these criminals were free and fair. Anywhere else in this world it will definitely ring alarm bells, when a SC decides to announce a ruling on their own regarding selected powerful criminals without any formal due judicial process. The final absurdity for democracy is that the power of the Judicial Service Commission was annulled, which is unconstitutional. This destroys the check and balance system of separation of powers in a democracy.

Why the SC ruling looked like a mixed salad, drafted for the benefit of specific filthy rich powerful people, is a mystery. Even more suspicious is that the SC ruling coincided on a weekend and during night, which will definitely create maximum havoc within the government.

The scenario of MP’s losing their seat in Parliament, if they change parties is widely agreed upon by pro and opposition supporters. This is something that even Nasheed said is required to improve the democratic process in Maldives. Surely a good antidote to killing corruption within the Parliament. During Nasheed’s regime, opposition members changed party overnight becoming suddenly rich enough to purchase plots of land worth millions of dollars. Maldivian Democratic Party former chairperson, Ali Waheed is a good example of such a transfer from opposition political party Progressive Party of Maldives to MDP. When President Yameen came to power, his former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb was accused of continuing this precedent of Parliament corruption set by Nasheed. The most famous transfers are the recent transfer of 12 ruling party MP’s to opposition. The group have travelled abroad to Sri Lanka and then announced the deal.

List of criminals ordered by SC to be released includes people like Nasheed, who is a self-confessed convicted kidnapper of a serving judge and Adheeb, who is the mastermind behind the bomb assassination attempt on President Yameen and 1.2 billion Rufiyaa Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.

What does Maumoon, Qasim and Nasheed gain from the SC verdict?

The power war between Maumoon and President Yameen within the ruling party is no secret. Maumoon wanted people loyal to him in key positions like the Prosecutor General & Speaker of Parliament. President Yameen did not yield to his elder brother’s pressure, thus creating a huge drift between the half-brothers. Another crucial factor is Maumoon’ son, Farish Maumoon, now being groomed for the presidential position. Farish can be seen as a stepping stone for Maumoon to grasp power again.

Qasim has been chasing the presidents seat for a long time now. After becoming one of the richest business tycoon in Maldives, his quest for more power has seen him indulge in politics. He has filled ministerial positions in all recent governments but the top position of president is a trophy he has not achieved. Problems facing Qasim when in politics is his commercial interests outweighs his public responsibilities as a politician. Critics joke that Qasim as Transport Minister signs deals for Villa Air, and on behalf of Villa Air signs as Qasim the Chairman. In all recent governments, he has flexed his financial influence to get tax exemptions, one way or the other. Currently he owes the state about USD200 million in unpaid tax money. A fraction of which could be easily paid to SC judges to carry out a ruling in his favour, so the balance becomes unpaid history. His intimacy with SC judges goes deeper, with his interest to remove the article in the constitution that stipulates people above 65 is not eligible to contest in the Presidential race. This can be very easily achieved through a SC under his payroll.

Nasheed is a self-confessed convicted kidnapper of a serving judge. Holds the record for most corrupt leader of Maldives according to Transparency International. The Washington Post listed Nasheed’s regime in its “Crackdowns of the decade” list, due to his violent crush of opposition protests. During his regime, Maldives succumbed into nearly total economic failure. However, Nasheed is a wild card, that is crucial in the quest to defeat Yameen, because of his wealthy powerful friends in the West. Nasheed’s party MDP was developed with the backing and help of Western powerful parties, and surly they will take care of their begotten child. Billionaires like Richard Branson, share Nasheed’s dream of full LGBT rights to Maldivians. Nasheed’s close adviser and best friend in UK, Benedict Rogers, is the East Asia Team Leader at the international human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), where he specialises in Burma, Indonesia, North Korea and Maldives. Their mission is religious freedom for all. Therefore, it is no wonder that Nasheed called on the Jesuits for help during a visit to Denmark. The molestation and rape of children by priests in America, over the past 15 years is estimated to result in more than USD3.3 billion of settlements to silent the victims. Hence, it is not a wild guess to say that the funds involved for an opportunity for a church in Maldives will be enormous. Nasheed gets freedom or a chance to be installed as President of Maldives by his Western financiers.

Agreeable common grounds between Qasim and Maumoon, is the opportunity of Farish becoming running mate of Qasim. Where does Nasheed fit in this love embrace between Qasim and Maumoon? The answer maybe, an unlimited supply of funds and backing from the Western countries rooting for Nasheed. Will Nasheed agree for Qasim and Maumoon to be on top position? In this power struggle who will come first? Whatever the answers might be, it is definitely a very volatile threesome political love affair.

So far President Yameen has been able to hold on to power from a well-organized and orchestrated wave of attacks to topple him.

What climax will the three mighty opponents reach in their lust for power?

HOW DR. AFRASHEEM WAS STABBED IN HIS GRAVE

Written by: Ali Assad

Dr. Afrasheem Ali was controversially one of the most prominent Muslim scholars in recent history of Maldives.

His fascinating style of revealing Islam through argumentative answers lured a huge fan base, while creating an ever-growing number of hardliners hell-bent in staining his credibility and even disowning him as a Muslim.

The way Dr. Afrasheem portrayed his religious answers using critical thinking; the Quran, Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and analyzing the views of major imams/scholars of Islam was astoundingly beautiful. His stunning explanations untangles many misconceptions, misunderstandings and also closes the doors to extreme thinking in the religion of Islam.

Difference between Dr. Afrasheem and existing Islamic scholars in Maldives was that his answers were not limited to a black and white line between halal and haram. His explanations dived deeper into the turbulent differential opinions of the leading Islamic scholars in debatable topics of Islam. Based on these views, the predominant view that is most harmonious with the Quran and authentic Sunnah of the prophet is presented to his audience captivated in awe to decide.

To some, he was an oasis to quest their thirst and enthusiasm for religious knowledge.

On 2 October 2012, Maldives woke up to the shocking sad news of the brutal and violent murder of Dr. Afrasheem. He was hacked to death by multiple attacks on the head and upper torso using a machete. In the record books his name will be written in blood as the first Member of Parliament to be killed in Maldives. He represented Raa Atoll Ungoofaru Constituency, in the 17th sitting of the Maldives Parliament.

The Burial service of one of the bravest Muslim scholars of Maldives was seen by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Adhaalath Party (AP) - as the opening ceremony of the blame game.

As soon as the dust settled on the grave of Dr. Afrasheem, supreme leader of MDP and former president of Maldives, Mr. Mohamed Nasheed was quick to declare that the killers have already left the country and were residing in a Middle Eastern country and that they were affiliated to the extremist elements of AP.

Sheikh Imran Abdullah the leader of AP squashed such assaults claiming MDP and Nasheed were the harshest critic of Dr. Afrasheem and thus, didn’t have any room to loosen the noose of suspicion around their necks.

How Nasheed was able to prophecies such valuable information must be considered the 8th Wonder of the world, considering the fact that the investigation of the murder of Dr. Afrasheem was carried by Maldives Police Service with close collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of United States.

At that time, the president in office was Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and his government launched the largest most intensive investigation with the highest manpower in the history of Maldives. They were vigorously looking for the perpetrators and promised to let no stone unturned in apprehending the slaughterers.

Why MDP and AP tipped the scale as prime suspects for foul play in the homicide of Dr. Afrasheem is well known by most Maldivians.

Initially it was AP members or sheikhs closely associated with AP that denounced Dr. Afrasheem as a true Muslim scholar. They went as far as nicknaming him “Ibileese”, which in English means devil.

The way Dr. Afrasheem answered religious questions was new and alien to the existing old religious scholars.

During Friday prayers, he was once verbally abused and physically assaulted while his young scared son stood crying by his side.

MDP came into a head-on collision with Dr. Afrasheem, as soon as he walked into politics.

Dr. Afrasheem became the most vehement critic of MDP and he was very outspoken about it. He even called for the investigation of Mr. Nasheed over accusation of drinking Sula Shiraz, while on a state visit to India. Drinking alcohol is haram in Islam.

When Dr. Afrasheem was appointed Vice President of Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Ms. Velezinee (Nasheed’s appointed president’s member) was accused of allegedly pushing a pencil inside her private parts and shoving it towards Dr. Afrasheem’s face. A strong MDP parliament then removed him from JSC claiming that he was destroying the judiciary.

Used engine oil referred to as “kalhu theyo” by Maldivians was thrown at his car by MDP demonstrators and his car window was also smashed in another attack by MDP demonstrators.

During live programs by Dr. Afrasheem on TV channels such as DhiTV, MDP supporters gathered outside the station protesting against him.

Rajje TV, a pro-MDP channel funded by MDP elite ran the most hostile anti Dr. Afrasheem reports and programs.

After the disputed resignation aka “coup”, Nasheed’s increased the tempo of attacks against his arch-enemy. The feeling was mutual as Dr. Afrasheem revealed that while in JSC, Nasheed ordered him to cooperate to remove Judge Abdullah Mohamed from office.

The battle progressed with attacks by Dr. Afrasheem for Nasheed’s support of Ms. Navi Pillay’s (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014), to her contradictory speech against Islamic Sharia and values. Verbal aggression amplified to such extents as Dr. Afraheem suggesting that Nasheed might have gone outside the boundaries of being a Muslim for his speeches against Islamic law.

Nasheed was summoned to court for his role in the kidnapping of Judge Abdullah Mohamed, and subsequently during a MDP rally in GDh. Fares Maathodaa, he got the last chance to strike the final blow in a speech reiterating his claim that it was Dr. Afrasheem who ruined the judiciary while in JSC.

Soon afterwards Dr. Afrasheem was neutralized.

Police apprehended the killer in the early stages of the investigation and identified as Mr. Hussein Humam of H. Lobby. While in police custody Humam confessed to the crime. According to Humam’s confession, he had an accomplice and a lookout placed outside Dr. Afrasheem house. The alleged accomplish and lookout were apprehended. Furthermore, two hardcore MDP activists were implicated from his story and also the high-ranking son in law of then Vice President of MDP, were arrested. Another person who acted as an agent to broker the deal was also arrested.

Even Humam later confessed in front of the judge and also asked forgiveness from Dr. Afrasheem’s family.

According to Humam, 4 million Maldivian Rufiya was proposed as the contract price to kill Dr. Afrasheem by Jaa, the son in law of MDP Vice President.

It was a planned attack and the police were unable to find enough hard evidence to convict the other arrested alleged suspects in a court of law.

Unfortunately for Humam, blood on his clothes linked him directly to Dr. Afrasheem’s murder, plus his initial confessions to police and in front of the judge was enough to guarantee a conviction.

It was much later that Mr. Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was introduced into the scene as a scapegoat by a fierce opponent. The competitive battle for the presidential ticket of 2013 from Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), contended by Mr. Yameen and Mr. Umar Naseer, became the center stage used by Umar to hint that his challenger was somehow involved in the death.

Later Umar apologized and retracted his comments explaining it was purely for political purposes as a last-ditch effort to beat his powerful opponent.

Damage was done; accusation was enough fuel for political rivals to produce flimsy stories and unjustifiable tales to implicate Yameen.

Adding fuel to the fire, Mr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who was at that time the Home Minister of Dr. Waheed’s cabinet, stated that Maldivians will be surprised if they knew who was behind the attacks. The reaction from Dr. Afrasheem’s family was unanticipated by Jameel and he was quickly forced to shamefully admit that it was just political rhetoric and apologized to the family.

These remarks provided enough breathing space for MDP and AP on whose doormat laid the bloody wreaths of suspicion. MDP propaganda machines started rolling slowly and it was in full gear by the time Yameen became president.

The final and most lethal attack was from the former Commissioner of Police Abdullah Riyaz, under whose close supervision the whole investigation was carried out. His cunning and devious statement to the effect that he will reveal the truth when the time is right was enough, to sow the seed of doubt even in diehard president Yameen’s supporters.

However, when the final verdict of the Supreme Court delivered the death sentence to Mr. Humam, unbearable pressure pressed down on Riyaz to reveal the truth.

Opposition and especially MDP supporters played the drum roll to a crescendo and when the curtain opened to the truth, it was just a ‘pop’- the soap bubble of false hope for the opposition burst into nothing.

Riyaz reluctantly admitted that president Yameen had no implication in the murder of Dr. Afrasheem.

Why any of these allegations failed to permanently dent the president’s reputation was the simple fact that the opposition could not come up with any concrete motive for their case.

Allegations such as that it was because Dr. Afrasheem had higher political ambitions does not carry any weight because even when he was given the opportunity of Deputy Leader of Z faction of DRP he said “let me be as I am”.

Another reason was that initially MDP painted a picture that the murder was by religious extremists who had gained a foothold after overthrowing Nasheed’s government. The murder was also used by Nasheed to justify and sell his version of religious extremism in Maldives.

Even though all the suspects apprehended were from MDP and the suspicious fact that Mr. Humam’s lawyer is a founder member of MDP, the highest step in the ladder of suspects, was the son in law of MDP chairperson and went no further. There is no concrete evidence that it was orchestrated by Nasheed.

From the information unearthed, the likelihood is that this was just a politically motivated revenge killing for maligning their political camp by a lone group of individuals who acted alone with no affiliation to their political party.

We may never know the real reasons why Dr. Afrasheem was killed, a wife widowed and his children orphaned or all the killers involved might never be caught and their ugly secrets might stay hidden in Dr. Afrasheem’s grave forever.

But what is most disturbing is that, Dr. Afrasheem is being politically stabbed in his grave not only by his enemies but also by his so called “friends”.

Written by: Ali Assad

Is President Nasheed a friend or foe of Israel?

Let’s dive in and see the famous Island President for what he truly believes in based on facts and facts only.

Maldives and Israel first established diplomatic relations in 1965, the year in which Maldives gained independence and joined United Nations. Many countries were opposed to such a small nation joining the UN and it is widely believed that Maldives made a symbiotic diplomatic deal with Israel for acceptance in the UN. Israel was the third state to recognize the Muslim island nation and its ambassador was the first to present his credentials.

However, after the Arab-Israel war of 1973, Maldives suspended diplomatic relations with Israel in 1974.

Following Israel's recognition of and entering into negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), their relationship with Maldives can be best described as unofficially cordial-at the best of times, from around 1993 onward.

After 35 years’ ties improved again; the 2008 government of Mohamed Nasheed started maintaining a healthy relationship of appreciation and friendship with Israel.

In 2009, diplomatic ties with Israel were established again and in May 2011, the Maldives’ then-foreign minister, Kerefa Ahmed Naseem (Nasheed’s uncle), became the nation’s first top official to visit Israel. During his four-day stay he met with President Shimon Peres and then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, laid a wreath at Yad Vashem and visited other sites throughout Israel.

During Nasheed’s short term in office, the two states signed three agreements in the fields of health, tourism and education.

A delegation of eye doctors from the Israeli humanitarian aid organization Eye from Zion visited the Maldives and performed eye operations. Israeli tourists were now able to visit the Maldives without a visa. Nasheed even tried to facilitate direct transfer of Israeli flights to Maldives which were halted largely due to opposition from the general public, who had negative sentiments towards an unexpectedly hurried, suspiciously over friendly relation with Israel, while the Palestine situation was deteriorating.

Nasheed’s friendship with Israel became so strong that he betrayed Palestinians in the UNESCO vote to admit Palestine. It was rumored by Maldivian opposition that USD900 million payment was agreed with Nasheed for the vote sale and subsequent unconditional support of Israel.

All this changed, when pro-Israel stance Nasheed was replaced by Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik in 2012. An independent inquiry commission report into the resignation of Nasheed rejected the allegations of coup.

In stark contrast to Nasheed’s uncle Kerefa Naseem’s visit to Israel, President Mohammed Waheed Hassan’s four-day visit included trips to Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and laid a wreath at the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He skipped visiting Israel altogether.

To the present day, the atmosphere remains as nothing more than “plain diplomatic relations”.

So why did President Nasheed call for Jihad against Israel?

The answer lies in the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge and local Maldivian sentiments of a 100% Muslim nation.

The predominant view or belief in Maldives is that Israel must lift the siege in Gaza and accept a two-state solution. The versions that Israel is “defending” itself against stone throwing Palestinians using state of the art sophisticated military weapons is not digested well locally within Maldivians.

To please the masses, Nasheed’s first tweet on 9 July 2014 condemned Israel - “I call on Israel to cease hostilities in Gaza. Both sides must work for peace, a two-state solution & credible Palestinian state”.

Maybe due to backlash from Western friends and the United States, the tone in Nasheed tweet changed the very next day. It was very diplomatic and balanced, denouncing violence from both sides - “All human rights defenders must raise their voice against the indiscriminate killings in Gaza.”

From the experience of the first tweet on the subject, a far more enlightened Nasheed was clever to use the Maldivian language Dhivehi as a smoke screen to fool internationally the Israelis and the West, while generating support from the local masses. The same day the tweet in Dhivehi was a far cry to the one in English.

Translation of Nasheed’s second tweet on the same day on 10 July 2014: “I request the people of Maldives to raise their voice against Israel, for the crimes against humanity conducted by Israel in Gaza.”

As the war progressed and the calls for peace reverberated, so did the ferocity of Nasheed’s local rants and tweets conducted safely in Dhivehi, even calling on the Maldivian National Defence Force to wage war against Israel. With the new-found courage in the protection of the language barrier camouflage, his tweets climaxed by calling his political party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members for Jihad against Israel.

Translation of Nasheed's tweet on 13 July 2014: “In 1943, 12 Maldivians went to defend Ceylon. Today there is no reason why an MNDF squad should not be sent to Gaza. MDP is ready to go.”

Translation of Nasheed's next tweet on the subject on 17 July 2014: “The current (President Yameen’s) government cannot care for Gaza. I request for volunteers from MDP, who must be the first to recruit “Human Shields” and arrange to send to Gaza.”

The so-called friend of Israel even rallied to boycott Israeli goods and stop Israeli tourists visiting Maldives.

Translation of the final tweet on the subject on 29 July 2014: “The current (President Yameen’s) government has lied to its people, saying that they have stopped trade with Israel. Israeli tourists are coming to Maldives.”

Clearly Nasheed is neither a friend or foe of Israel and even though he looks beautiful in his democracy makeup, he is nothing more than just a political prostitute.

A Westerner new in Maldivian politics might get deceived by Nasheed’s web of lies that Islamist radical elements within President Yameen’s government is waging war against Israel and the West. The reality is that the so called “radical Islamists party” claimed by Nasheed, the Adhaalath Party came to power in coalition with Nasheed in 2008. And what’s more, they are currently in a coalition with Nasheed to topple Yameen off his office.

President Nasheed is a vulture disguised as a white dove, circling the political arena, scavenging for wealth and power.

Why is still US Foreign Policy DICTATED by a celebrity?

Amal Alamuddin Clooney has been twirling her fingers around US foreign policy in Maldives.

Like most human rights activists’ wildest dreams, Amal’s resume reads working for the UN, defending ambassadors and heads of states.

The term “human rights lawyer” is sometimes misunderstood by the general public to mean an “angel.” Her list of clients whose human rights violations make it clear that she is their defense lawyer, not prosecutor. Questionable characters like the King of Bahrain, Abdullah al Senussi and Mohamed Nasheed, shadows her illusion of an innocent image.

She served as Bahraini King Hasan bin Isa al Khalifa’s legal advisor. Yet in this context, Alamuddin worked not on behalf of the violated but the violator, advising the King on human rights, presumably in order to absolve him of as much responsibility as possible, as any good defense lawyer does. Bahraini security services are accused of crushing the 2011 Bahraini protesters using excessive force, killing many civilians, and wounding and jailing thousands. The Bassiouni Commission itself found that people had been tortured to death in police custody.

Abdullah al Senussi, another one of Clooney’s clients, served as Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence chief and was captured in Libya in 2011. The International Criminal Court charged him with crimes against humanity in 2011 for his role in Gaddafi’s brutal government as well as the Lockerbie bombing.

In Maldives, she chose to defend the democracy advocate turned dictator President Mohamed Nasheed. Notorious for his human rights violations. Literary speaking Nasheed’s 3 years’ reign of atrocities is far worse than the 30-year authoritarian rule of President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. Corruption, suppression of press, arbitrary arrests, arbitrary detention, kidnapping and crackdown on protesters peaked during Nasheed’s regime. Not to mention his coalition partner Adhaalath Party or more popularly known as the Islamist Party. During Nasheed’s Presidency they were given the Islamic Affairs Ministry and a say within the Education Ministry! The radical indoctrination that went to schools and mosques were the same! From a fatwa by Islamic Ministry, one cannot hold any party or concert in Male’ during Nasheed’s tenure! The result was very obvious, radicalization of the youth in the Maldives. The current administration had to deal with the consequences of his blunder. And who is putting the blame on the current government of radicalization of the youth? Non-other than Ms. Clooney. What a travesty!

Amal stepped into the limelight when she became involved with superstar actor and famous bachelor George Clooney. The couple was married in Venice, Italy, in September 2014 and shortly thereafter moved to a multimillion dollar estate built on a small island in the Thames in London

What makes a great Human Rights activists? Wearing a £925 red Dolce & Gabbana dress, a £625 Jimmy Choo bag on the hand and huge sunglasses worth more than the annual income of a poor family.

The UN’s Geneva-based Human Rights Council announced that Amal would serve on a three-member commission of inquiry looking into possible violations of the rules of war during the Israeli offensive against Hamas. But hours later Clooney’s Hollywood agent, issued a statement on Amal’s behalf saying she had declined the post because she was too busy.

Amal Clooney looked as though she was strolling on the Red Carpet of a Hollywood event rather than on her way to meet a jailed convict Nasheed, when she arrived in Maldives. Maldivian government allowed and bend rules for Amal to visit Nasheed, though foreign lawyers have to be registered in Maldives to advocate. She didn’t had the decency to even acknowledge the security and usual Maldivian hospitality that was extended to her, instead, she accused that Nasheed’s conversations were ‘tapped’ in his prison, that was the best she could come up with. She failed to share that Nasheed was kept in a 2-bedroom apartment with his own garden, 20 meters away from the beach!

Of course, there are plenty of clever lawyers out there, many with considerably more impressive human rights records than Amal Clooney, but they are not married to a Hollywood heart-throb called George Clooney, hence, the fees she commands on such work is in millions.

The only reason Amal gets high-profile cases is because of the publicity to their case, as she is married to George Clooney. It is nothing more than an advertising gimmick. Lets not talk about the undisclosed ‘fee’ Ms. Clooney received from Nasheed for her work.

Therefore, it is high time that people like the US Ambassador to Maldives, Atul Keshap to stop releasing Hollywood style stories fed by a celebrity. The time has come to premier a balanced report based on actual facts on the ground rather than releasing fiction. One can understand why US Ambassador to Maldives wants to take snaps with Amal Alamuddin Clooney. But I wonder how the new US President Trump would see it. President Trump came on a platform to free US foreign policies from these celebrities endorsed views. President Trump wants to remove the lobbyists dictating US foreign policies. But the sad reality is that some are still stuck with their old habits.