It is about time that full inventories of Theemuge and Aarah and all the other presidential compounds are released for public scrutiny!

Just a thought on the Presidential Palace and Aarah:
There are rumors that the outgoing president removed some equipment and items from the President’s Office and the Presidential palace (Theemuge) and even Aarah. It’s about time that the new government answers these rumors and states some facts.

Is it true that Gayyoom, during the last few days of his presidency, removed some expensive furniture and equipment such as large air conditioners from the President’s Office and the Palace? Is it true that the Palace and Aarah have been made thread bare after the outgoing president removed a number of items from these places?

It is about time that the public, and perhaps more importantly, the media are invited and given a tour of Theemuge and Aarah to see in what state those places are after Gayyoom’s departure. It is also about time that full inventories of Theemuge and Aarah and all the other presidential compounds are released for public scrutiny.

Why is the new regime keeping silent on this issue?

Too Many State Ministers & The still-unresolved question of Theemuge and Aarah!

President Nasheed has had three days at the office now. Let’s examine some of his statements and actions during these three days, to see if he is keeping to his promises.

1. During the campaigning for the first round of the presidential election, many candidates (including Nasheed and Dr. Hassan Saeed) said that, if elected as president, they will not reside at the current Presidential Palace (Theemuge). Dr. Hassan of course came third in the first round and so we did not get a chance to see if he would have kept his promise. Nasheed went for the second round and he of course won the lection. Now is the time to see whether President Nasheed would keep to his promise. After being elected as President, Nasheed has said that his government will submit a bill to the Majlis regarding the facilities available for president. This would mean that the Majlis will decide where the president would reside. Some cynics now argue that Nasheed will instruct the Iththihaadh MPs to vote for the president to stay at Theemuge so that Nasheed can blame the Majlis for “putting” him in Theemuge. I do not agree to this. I believe that President Nasheed will make sure that the Majlis rules for the president to stay at Muliaage and not Theemuge!

2. At a press conference after being elected as President, Mohamed Nasheed said that he hasn’t yet decided what the new government’s policy would be regarding the existing presidential retreat (Aarah). I wonder if his answer would have been the same if he were questioned about Aarah during the election campaign! Some cynics say that there are elements within the new government who are influencing Nasheed to make him retain the luxury presidential retreat. Some people say that Nasheed’s Home Minister (Gasim) is still ambitious to become president and that Gasim would like Nasheed to keep the presidential retreat so that this facility will be available for Gasim when Gasim become president. I do not know how far this is true, but judging from Nasheed’s humbleness at the Friday Prayers today – when he stayed with the ordinary people in the mosque – it seems to me that president Nasheed will find a better use for Aarah rather than retaining it for his personal enjoyment!

3. Personally, I think we don't need so many "Minister of State" positions. If we have a Permanent Secretary for each specific area under the ministry, then we can have just a Minister and a Deputy. For example if there is a Ministry called "Minister of Civil Aviations, Tourism and Culture", we could have three Permanent Secretaries for the three areas (1. Tourism, 2. Culture, 3. Civil Aviations). Then if we have a Minister and a Deputy Minister that's enough. Too many State Ministers seem like "political gifts". This makes the government too top-heavy. Sad to see this happening.

4. I would also like to note that – while most of the new appointments to the government are very capable and young leaders - there are some shady characters in it too. Personally I do not endorse the appointment of Kerafa Naseem as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. We all know his shady deals while he was in charge of the Foreign Investment Services Bureau at the Trade Ministry. It's not me who says that he is a crook. I din't say that. At the latter stages of the freedom struggle by MDP, Kerafa Naseem played a significant role. I appreciate that and thank him for that. But that does not justify his appointment to such a post when there are so many people who question his past actions!

Six things that the new government should attend to urgently!

1. Retire the Commissioner of Police Adam Zahir and appoint a new Commissioner of Police. The new appointment could perhaps be Latheef.

2. Retire the Chief of Staff Mohamed Zahir and appoint a new Chief of Staff. The new appointment could perhaps be Moosa Jaleel.

3. Retire some of the leading officers of the Coast Guard (such as Zakariyya) and appoint new officers to head the Coast Guard.

4. Abolish or restructure the Sifainge Ekuveri Kunfuni (SEK) which is a free license for some officers in the MNDF to abuse powers and practice corrupt activities. Also revise the regulation that governs the retirement of MNDF staff which currently favours officers and is plainly unfair to low-rank service people in the MNDF.

5. Dhoonidhoo Island was used by former presidents (Nasir and Gayyoom) as torture chambers for Maldivians. At the dawn of this new era of democratic governance, it will be most appropriate to close the jail at Dhoonidhoo and convert the island as a resort for Maldivians. The island could then be renamed as “Dhoonidhoo Dhivehi Fushi”!

6. At a press conference after being elected as President, Mohamed Nasheed said that he hasn’t yet decided what the new government’s policy would be regarding the existing presidential retreat (Aarah). I wonder if his answer would have been the same if he were questioned about Aarah during the lection campaign! If he were asked about Aarah during the campaign, I’m sure he would not have hesitated for even one second before saying that he would not use Aarah as a presidential retreat and that his government would find a better use for the island. Now President Nasheed is saying that he needs more time to decide what he would do with Aarah. In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that Aarah could be changed as a holiday resort for Maldivians. But now I suggest that Dhoonidhoo-Jail-Island would be a better choice for conversion as a holiday resort for Maldivians. Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires such as Abrahamovich, Prince Al Walid and other billionaires from China, India, United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, etc. The Luxury yacht that Gayyoom used could also be leased along with Aarah. This will bring huge revenue for our tourism industry and provide a new form of tourism as well.

What should we do with Dhoonidhoo and Aarah?

Dhoonidhoo Island was used by former presidents (Nasir and Gayyoom) as torture chambers for Maldivians. At the dawn of this new era of democratic governance, it will be most appropriate to close the jail at Dhoonidhoo and convert the island as a resort for Maldivians. The island could then be renamed as “Dhoonidhoo Dhivehi Fushi”!

At a press conference after being elected as President, Mohamed Nasheed said that he hasn’t yet decided what the new government’s policy would be regarding the existing presidential retreat (Aarah). I wonder if his answer would have been the same if he were questioned about Aarah during the election campaign! If he were asked about Aarah during the campaign, I’m sure he would not have hesitated for even one second before saying that he would not use Aarah as a presidential retreat and that his government would find a better use for the island. Now President Nasheed is saying that he needs more time to decide what he would do with Aarah.

In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that Aarah could be changed as a holiday resort for Maldivians. But now I suggest that Dhoonidhoo-Jail-Island would be a better choice for conversion as a holiday resort for Maldivians. Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires such as Abrahamovich, Prince Al Walid and other billionaires from China, India, United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, etc. The Luxury yacht that Gayyoom used could also be leased along with Aarah. This will bring huge revenue for our tourism industry and provide a new form of tourism as well.

Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires

In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that Aarah could be changed as a holiday resort for Maldivians. But now I suggest that Dhoonidhoo-Jail-Island would be a better choice for conversion as a holiday resort for Maldivians. Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires such as Abrahamovich, Prince Al Walid and other billionaires from Russia, Middle East, China, India, United States, United Kingdom, etc. The Luxury yacht that Gayyoom used could also be leased along with Aarah.

Private body guards and security services could be provided at this luxury retreat and the government could facilitate the provision of MNDF or police personnel for security purposes in this retreat (after charging a fee). Converting Aarah as a luxury retreat for the mega rich could bring huge revenue for our tourism industry and provide a new form of tourism as well.

Thanks to President Nasheed for listening to my idea of a “Maldives Trust Fund”!

While reading through the Haveeru Daily of 10th November, I came across a story in which President Mohamed Nasheed told the UK newspaper (Guardian) that his government will form a Maldives Trust Fund which will basically be a savings account to buy (or reclaim) land that will be used to relocate all Maldivians in case the doomsday scenario of the sea level rise becomes a reality.

I thank President Nasheed for listening to ordinary Maldivians such as myself. This was basically the same idea that I put forward in this blog some time ago.
(Please refer to the blog-post http://clubescapemaldives.blogspot.com/2008/11/establishing-maldives-trust-fund-to.html)

This is an excellent policy statement from President Nasheed. He also listened to my proposal of not staying in the presidential palace (Theemuge). In doing so, Nasheed has shown that he will be a president who will listen to the people. Already we are seeing signs that this will be a government elected by the people, for the people.

The announcement that they will, from 01st January 2009, start giving RF 2,000 to every elderly person above 65 years of age, shows that Nasheed’s government will be a caring government. This is a sign that we may see many such positive and caring gestures from the new government. How about cancelling all the petty little fees that the government charges from ordinary people? After introducing a good tax system, the new government will cancel import duty and we may see a cancellation of petty fees.

We may also see virtually free medical services and free education in all public schools up to grade 12. The new government has made five major promises to the Maldivians, i.e. proper inter-island transport network, low cost of living, affordable hosing for all, affordable (or free) basic health care for all and control the evils of narcotic drugs in the society. The people await signs form the new government that these promises and all other related promises will come to fruition within the next one or two years at most.

We all welcome this new government of President Nasheed with open arms and an open heart. We welcome this new dawn with great expectations and boundless hope. The whole world can be our playing field and we should not be intimidated by anyone or any country despite our smallness or shortage of natural resources. Let’s stop talking about our failure to follow Singapore’s example and start achieving that dream of becoming the “Singapore of South Asia”!

Welcome President Mohamed Nasheed and Vice President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and the members of their Cabinet. Despite our differences of opinion regarding the formation of the new Cabinet we should all stand behind the President and his Cabinet in taking us to the Aneh Dhivehi Raajje!

Not the best Cabinet and three posts should be vetoed by the Parliament and reviewed by the new government!

The cabinet for the president-elect Mohamed Nasheed was announced this afternoon. Following are some of the observations regarding the proposed cabinet. This isn’t the best Cabinet but 11 of the 14 appointments should be given some time to prove their critics wrong while the other three posts should be reviewed by the Parliament and the new government!

1. Whereas Gayyoom’s Cabinet had more than 20 ministries, Nasheed is proposing only 14. This is a positive change which will reduce bureaucracy and reduce government expenditure as well. Hence this change should be welcomed.

2. As far as the allocation of posts to various parties in the coalition is concerned, it is noted that MDP got five posts, and Gasim’s Jumhooree Gulhun got four posts while Dr. Hassan Saeed’s New Maldives Movement got two posts and Dr. Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh got two posts. Finally Ibra’s Liberal party got one post. Considering the fact that Dr. Hassan Saeed got more votes in the first round than the whole of the Jumhooree Gulhun, it seems unfair that his movement got two seats while Gasim’s party got four seats. It could also be argued that Dr. Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh in effect got three seats because Dr. Waheed himself will sit in the Cabinet – as Vice President.

3. To address this imbalance I would humbly suggest that Dr. Hassan Saeed be made a Special Advisor to the President.

4. Overall it’s not the most competent Cabinet that could be selected from the current crop of young and qualified Maldivians. A much better cabinet could have been selected. This selection smells of political string-pulling! Not every minister has to be educated and qualified in the field of his ministry but at least every minister has to be familiar with his portfolio. In this respect, to put it mildly, the appointment of Dr. Ibrahim Didi isn’t the most intelligent appointment as Fisheries Minister. The same could be said about Jameel’s appointment as Civil Aviations Minister. Dr. Didi is a dentist by profession, and one wonders how Dentist-Didi could address the serious demands in the Fisheries industry. A friend of mine jokingly suggested that Dr. Didi could perhaps setup a good dental service for the arcnut-chewing Maldivian fishermen. For grounds of incompetency I believe that the Parliament would veto this appointment.

5. The same could be said about Ahmed Ali Sawad. A graduate in Sharia and Law, one wonders how Sawad could be a good Tourism Minister. He was also the running mate for Gasim Ibrahim when Gasim ran for president in the first round of the election. Gasim is one of the biggest resort operators in the country and many say that Sawad could be Gasim’s proxy in the Tourism Ministry. This wouldn’t be good news for other major resort operators such as Champa, Universal, Sun land, etc. They may not want their direct competitor to be their boss at the Tourism Ministry! For both these reasons I would think that the Parliament would find enough conflict of interest to veto this appointment.

6. I do not believe that Dr. Musthafa Luthfee would be up to the task of managing the Education Ministry. Though he has a doctorate in the field of education, Dr. Musthafa is a slow and very bureaucratic person.

7. The appointment of Dhiyana Saeed as the Attorney General also is a bad choice given the fact that there are some high-profile issues pending at the Attorney General’s Office regarding her husband Abdullah Jabir. One such issue is the case of Vilivaru and Biyaadhoo resort. This leaves a lot of conflict of interest in this appointment. I would think that the Parliament would find enough conflict of interest to veto this appointment.

8. As I said before, it’s not the most competent Cabinet that could be selected from the current crop of young and qualified Maldivians. A much better cabinet could have been selected. I have reservations about some other appointments too but overall those appointments should be given time to prove their critics wrong. But I would suggest that the Parliament should veto the appointment of Dentist-Didi as Fisheries Minster and the appointment of Sawad as the Tourism Minister and the appointment of Dhiyana Saeed as the Attorney General. These there posts should be reviewed both by the Parliament and the new government! This isn’t the best Cabinet but 11 of the 14 appointments should be given some time to prove their critics wrong while the other three posts should be reviewed by the Parliament and the new government!