Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Maldives’ former AG set to become SAARC Secretary General

Maldives’ former Attorney General Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed is now set to become the first ever woman to hold the post of Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), when the summit opens tomorrow in Thimphu.

Dhiyana is part of the official delegation accompanying President Mohamed Nasheed to Bhutan, reliable sources told the Asian Tribune, confirming her nomination to the post.

Dhiyana will assume key post when the 8 member South Asian grouping endorses her name.

The key post is rotated among the member countries and it’s the Maldives turn this year to nominate the Secretary General.

Dhiyana was appointed the Maldives’ Attorney General on 12 November, 2008 - -a day after Nasheed took oaths as the country’ new President.

In May 2009, the President dismissed her from the post, after she fired a strongly-worded letter to him, alleging political appointees including ministers and councilors were abusing their positions to influence the May 9 parliamentary elections. Nasheed then called her letter “politically motivated.”

Since then, relations between the two have been restored with Dhiyana becoming the government nominee for the post of SAARC Secretary General.

Former Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party member Parliamentarian, Dhiyana was a president appointed member to the House, under the Gayoom administration.

Ahead of the 2008 presidential elections, she joined the newly formed Republican Party – a party that backed Nasheed for presidency at the run-off.

Meanwhile, President Nasheed who has been spearheading calls to arrest climate change is due to “lobby an Asian perspective” with key Cop 15 issues at the top of his agenda, during the 2 day SAARC summit.

Source: http://www.asiantribune.com

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