A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
Six ministries have been sent right to information requests after refusing to hand over data to the Maldives Independent, which wanted to fact-check claims made by President Abdulla Yameen. Yameen rattled off figures and challenged “political leaders who say they do not see development” at the November 17 rally marking the four-year anniversary of his […]
A Maldivian seaplane operator issued a non-apology Thursday for a crash involving one of its aircraft, as a report surfaced of the pilots abandoning passengers and swimming away and children’s life jackets being given to adults. Holidaymakers Thomas Markey and Sebastian Marczyk had sat through two aborted take-offs before being lobbed into the ocean on […]
A ruling party lawmaker has berated islanders in the south of the country, accusing them of being ungrateful towards the president and telling them to boycott an upcoming opposition rally. The MP and parliament majority leader Ahmed Nihan lashed out Tuesday night at a Progressive Party of the Maldives event, taking aim at the people […]
The High Court Tuesday upheld a 10-year prison term for former defence minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan over the arrest of a judge in 2011. Tholhath was convicted of terrorism and sentenced in April 2015 for the arbitrary arrest of Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed. The judge’s three-week detention at the military training base on the […]
A criminal court order to seize the mobile phone of a prominent social media activist has sparked outrage and concern over the constitutional right to protect sources. Citing a secret intelligence report as evidence, the police sought the warrant to identify Thayyib Shaheem’s sources for an investigation into alleged false claims about President Abdulla Yameen, […]
The Maldives central bank has warned of dwindling national reserves as the rate of foreign borrowing increases. Governor Ahmed Naseer of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) sounded the alarm in a statement sent to the parliamentary budget review committee, which met Monday. The committee cancelled two hearings they had scheduled with him and the auditor […]
A record budget of MVR27.9 billion (US$1.8 billion) was approved Monday without any cuts by a parliamentary committee after opposition lawmakers boycotted meetings. The budget was approved thanks to the votes of 12 politicians aligned with the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) with only change – to a public sector investment project for […]
President Abdulla Yameen promised pay hikes for civil servants at a rally held Friday night to celebrate the fourth anniversary of his administration. Addressing a crowd of thousands at the carnival area in Malé, Yameen pledged a 37 percent hike for civil servants in the lowest salary bracket and a 25 percent rise for the […]
There was a 15 percent rise in reported cases of child abuse in the Maldives in October compared to the previous month, gender ministry statistics have shown. The ministry said 122 out of 272 reported cases were regarding different forms of child abuse – 45 percent of the total reported cases in October. Child abuse […]