Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Newly formed independent commissions lack qualified people!

The new constitution requires the parliament to decide on the names sent by the president to appoint as members of the independent commissions. These independent commissions are Elections Commission, Anti-corruption Commission and Judicial Commission. They will replace the existing transitional commissions set up by the previous parliament which drew up the new constitution.

While contemplating over the names of potential candidates for these commissions we see nothing but party politics. Selfish MPs putting their party policies or agendas before the needs of the country and desires of her people. Each party has been advocating for their agents to get approved by the parliament. At the same time, we have seen the opposition party, DRP, insistent on rejecting the names of the previous election commission based on their own election results in the recent presidential election and parliament election. Mohamed Ibrahim, the former chairman of the Election Commission, who was previously appointed to the post with the full backing of DRP, was rejected by them this time because they feel he betrayed them. Similarly, Hussein Siraaj, the former vice chairman of the commission was rejected by DRP MPs because he voiced not to cancel the candidancy of the opponent of Gassan Maumoon, the son of the former president and DRP candidate for Thimarafushi constituency.

We also notice that the names of the people sent by the president to the parliament are not the most suitable people for those positions. One example is the president's unwillingness to sent the name of Ali Rasheed, the former chairman of the Anti-corruption commission. We have information that while he is one of the few chartered accountants in the country he is not affiliated with any political party and has extensive experience in financial auditing. Also, we have seen the president reconsidering and pulling out the names after sending them to the parliament to consider.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

The judiciary needs swift reform

I'm shocked at some recent sentences passed by the Male' criminal court. Not that I think them to be too harsh or too leanient, but it contradicts common logic. The more stronger reason is that two parties were recently acquitted while some others were convicted for the same charges under the same situations in the recent past. Not years, but only a few months ago. One party were acquitted for possessing fake US dollars, the court saying there is no such penal code to prosecute them. In the other case, some known gang members were acquitted for possessing dangerous weapons, the court saying, again, there is no such penal code to prosecute them. I wonder under which penal codes did the judges convict others in the past.

I know our penal code is outdated and not good for our times. Yet, I believe that does not mean the judges should pass down sentences to encourage or permit the production of fake foreign currencies and gang violence across the roads of Male' using dangerous weapons. There are several ways to manage this if the judges could think outside the box and until the new penal code is approved by the parliament. I call upon the parliament to approve the penal code under debate as early as possible rather than squabbling over the salaries of current and former presidents. Our parliamentarians must put needs of the society before their party politics.

The presidency has changed, the parliament has changed but not the judiciary. The same judges who were promoted to high ranks due to special linkage with the former regime. Their qualification and experience had not been a criteria then. Hence we see today people who have only first degrees and less than 5 years experience sitting as judges at the prominent highcourt. I don't believe a person is fit to sit as a judge as soon as he has arrived from abroad with an LLB. They must undergone proper training to be a judge and obtain enough experience in the legal system. As a person who had managed cases from both the lower courts and the high court I must say the high court is much disorganised and poor in their performance. Several of their sentences are self-contradictory like the case of Velivaru and Biyaadhoo.

Can the new judicial commission bring about the much needed reform the people expect from a court system which many had believed did not serve the justice?

 
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