Maldives President's brother, Mamoon Abdul Gayoom raises objections to constitutional amendment favouring China

The Abdullah Yameeen government's decision to amend the Constitution to allow land holdings to foreigners that may lead to larger Chinese footprints in Maldives have drawn ire from no less than Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, former President and brother of current leader.

Gayoom, former Maldivian strongman and one who still wields influence, has not only tweeted to lodge his protests but also demanded a referendum through a letter to Yameen on the controversial move that has raised eyebrows not in Delhi but also in Male.

Gayoom, the leader of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) and half brother of Yameen, urged the president to seek public opinion on ratifying the constitutional amendment. In a letter sent to Yameen, Gayoom said previous governments had refrained from selling parts of Maldivian territory to prevent influence "over the country's independence, sovereignty, and resources", political sources told ET from Male over phone.

This is the first time Gayoom has publicly opposed Yameen. Sources indicated that Gayoom is also unhappy with the appointment of Ahmed Adeeb as the country's Vice President. Former Tourism Minister Adeeb is the closest political aide of Yameen and wields enormous influence in the current administration. The provisions of the new law will allow foreigners who invest more than $1billion to purchase land. At least 70% of the project site must be reclaimed. The constitution previously prohibited foreign ownership of any part of Maldivian territory, but allowed leasing of land for up to 99 years.

There has been concern within the security establishment at the new law, given that it could, technically, enable a foreign nation to recover land and set up critical infrastructure, including those of a military/surveillance nature on the island chain.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/maldives-presidents-brother-mamoon-abdul-gayoom-raises-objections-to-constitutional-amendment-favouring-china/articleshow/48194982.cms

Maldives allows foreigners to buy land for first time

Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen has approved a law passed by the country’s parliament allowing foreign ownership of land for the first time.

Yameen signed the new legislation on Thursday after lawmakers approved it the previous day.

Those who want to buy land in the Maldives must invest more than USD 1 billion provided that only 70% of it is reclaimed from the Indian Ocean country.

The government says it approved the law only to attract foreign investment on a commercial basis, dismissing fears that it could undermine security in the Indian Ocean region.

"We want to mobilize investments worth at least one billion dollars," the country’s Vice President Ahmed Adeeb said.

The Maldives is a sovereign island country made up of almost 1,200 tiny islands situated in the Indian Ocean south of India and west of Sri Lanka.

It has endured considerable political unrest since its first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, was overthrown in a coup in February 2012.

Source: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/07/23/421570/Maldives-foreign-land-ownership

Maldives government sacks vice president for 'treason'

Mohamed Jameel, until recently an ally of controversial president Abdulla Yameen, dismissed in his absence under unclear circumstaces

The Maldives parliament has sacked the country’s vice president and accused him of treason, as international concern mounts over the state of democracy on the islands.

Legislators voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday evening to oust Mohamed Jameel, who was the running mate of President Abdulla Yameen in a controversial 2013 election but has now fallen out with him.

The 45-year-old vice president, who was abroad at the time of the vote, was also accused of colluding with the opposition, although the precise nature of the charge remains unclear.

Yameen, the half-brother of former Maldivian strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled for three decades until 2008, already faces international criticism for jailing opposition leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed for 13 years on charges of terrorism in March.

In June Nasheed was moved to house arrest to undergo medical treatment.

The United Nations said the trial of Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader, was “vastly unfair”, while the US secretary of state John Kerry warned that democracy was under threat.

Yameen and Jameel have been at loggerheads in recent months even though both had worked together to defeat Nasheed. Jameel accused the president of sidelining him about four months after his November 2013 election.

The vice president, who was not allowed legal representation, said Yameen was undermining the rule of law.

“This is a testament to the state of the rule of law in the Maldives,” Jameel said in a statement quoted by the local Minivan News service, before the vote on his sacking was taken in parliament. “Every act was planned at driving a wedge between myself and the people who elected me. My reputation was threatened and finally I started receiving threats to my life.”

Paradise jihadis: Maldives sees surge in young Muslims leaving for Syria

The image of the Maldives as an upmarket tourist destination has been dented by political unrest since the toppling of Nasheed in February 2012.

Yameen’s defence minister, Mohamed Nazim, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in March this year for trying to topple the government, and another former defence minister, Tholhath Ibrahim, was sent to jail for 10 years in April for terrorism.

Yameen came to power in 2013 after a runoff vote that had been delayed on the orders of the supreme court following a first-round election led by Nasheed.

In a statement issued later on Wednesday, Yameen’s office said tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb had been sworn in as the new vice president.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/22/maldives-government-sacks-vice-president-treason-mohamed-jameel