Fooling SOME of the people ALL of the time
It is still surprising how so many people can still be made to believe in something if enough people go around shouting about it.
A case in point is this piece of legislation about revisions to Law No. 31/79, Import Export Law of Maldives. Submitted purely in order to prevent and delay the passage of bills submitted by Nasheed to protect, in his words, ‘the service chiefs’ (chief of defence and commissioner of police) and the other more ominous bills due to enter the parliament floor soon.
This is a bill that was tabled, debated, argued upon and sent to the relevant committee, where members spent countless hours amending the bill. The committee version of the bill was even finalized and signed and sent to the full majlis. In keeping with the practice of the majlis, the speaker of the new 17th majlis, sent the bill, WITH the committee amendments and their report back the government. However, in its haste to totally prevent, or at least to delay the debate on the bills relating to the protection of the services chiefs and other issues that may be tabled, MDP hastened to re-submit the bill and (surprise, surprise) completely forgotten to include the amendments proposed by the majlis committee. This has confounded so many people, that even MDP’s own MP (Aslam from North Hithadhoo) was complaining about the foolishness in tabling the bill again in its original form without incorporating the revisions and amendments prepared by the majlis committee after so many hours of consultation and debate.
But that only means that some of MDP own has also been kept in the dark about the actual reason why the bill has been submitted, re-submitted, viz. to delay the debate of more contentious issues until the witch hunt commission can put some opposition members behind bars or finally succeed in intimidating them.
There can simply be no other reason. The bill simply does not make any economic sense. No first year economic student in any university would submit such a foolish, irreverent, impudent and irrelevant piece of tomfoolery in the name of economics and good governance.
The objective of the bills is supposed to be, supposed being the operational word here, the attempt to make life more affordable. If that is the case, the bill should be thrown out and the government should be reprimanded for wasting the precious time of the majlis.
Let’s take a pause. How do you make life and living more affordable? If the objective is short term, the solutions are many. Increase Salary. Reduce Prices by abolishing import duty. Prohibit price hikes. Ban Inflation. Oh Yes, increase the value of the currency by lowering the exchange rate by legislation or regulation.
Yeah. Those are the solutions. And they will work, if the objective is short term. Those solutions only work in the short term. Repeat only in the short term. In the long term they will be counter-productive. And the long term refers not to one or more years. Here the long term can be as short as 4-6 months.
The real and only way to make life more affordable is to improve the economy. Increase GDP growth. Get the economy moving. There are no other sustainable solutions. If measures to re-energize the slowing economy is not introduced, and bloody quickly too, the economy is due to come to a grinding halt. Dollars will become more scarce as the reductions in tourist arrivals will really start to bite. Negative effects will be further exacerbated as fishery industry continues its decline and the construction industry grinds to a halt.
Quick and immediate solutions to these problems are the ones that will keep the economy alive. Measures and mature steps to counter those issues are what we need to address now.
However, what is being proposed is a bill to reduce import duty as if that would reduce of the cost of living. It would not. Not even in the short term. Snake Oil and Dragons Claw would work better.
However, campaign promises have to be kept. Superficial, insincere and in the end counterproductive moves designed to show to some people that MDP government is trying to make life more affordable has to be undertaken. The drama has to go on.
Meanwhile the majlis has got caught in the drama. Two and more days of full majlis debates have already been lost- needlessly. More hours will be lost in committee time. The bill would surely pass, as no member has the courage to speak against the utter waste and futility of this bill. They all have to make the grand gesture.
The bill would pass. Government revenue that is already in decline (even while expenditure increases) would decline further. Without effort to revive the economy the currency would further loose its value. And so on and so forth.
Shakespeare or some equally brainy chap once said that, ‘all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players for the grand drama that mdp is playing’. Or maybe I got that wrong.
Citizens of the country. Bend over. You are about to have a warm and intimate feeling in a region where the sun don’t normally shine.
A case in point is this piece of legislation about revisions to Law No. 31/79, Import Export Law of Maldives. Submitted purely in order to prevent and delay the passage of bills submitted by Nasheed to protect, in his words, ‘the service chiefs’ (chief of defence and commissioner of police) and the other more ominous bills due to enter the parliament floor soon.
This is a bill that was tabled, debated, argued upon and sent to the relevant committee, where members spent countless hours amending the bill. The committee version of the bill was even finalized and signed and sent to the full majlis. In keeping with the practice of the majlis, the speaker of the new 17th majlis, sent the bill, WITH the committee amendments and their report back the government. However, in its haste to totally prevent, or at least to delay the debate on the bills relating to the protection of the services chiefs and other issues that may be tabled, MDP hastened to re-submit the bill and (surprise, surprise) completely forgotten to include the amendments proposed by the majlis committee. This has confounded so many people, that even MDP’s own MP (Aslam from North Hithadhoo) was complaining about the foolishness in tabling the bill again in its original form without incorporating the revisions and amendments prepared by the majlis committee after so many hours of consultation and debate.
But that only means that some of MDP own has also been kept in the dark about the actual reason why the bill has been submitted, re-submitted, viz. to delay the debate of more contentious issues until the witch hunt commission can put some opposition members behind bars or finally succeed in intimidating them.
There can simply be no other reason. The bill simply does not make any economic sense. No first year economic student in any university would submit such a foolish, irreverent, impudent and irrelevant piece of tomfoolery in the name of economics and good governance.
The objective of the bills is supposed to be, supposed being the operational word here, the attempt to make life more affordable. If that is the case, the bill should be thrown out and the government should be reprimanded for wasting the precious time of the majlis.
Let’s take a pause. How do you make life and living more affordable? If the objective is short term, the solutions are many. Increase Salary. Reduce Prices by abolishing import duty. Prohibit price hikes. Ban Inflation. Oh Yes, increase the value of the currency by lowering the exchange rate by legislation or regulation.
Yeah. Those are the solutions. And they will work, if the objective is short term. Those solutions only work in the short term. Repeat only in the short term. In the long term they will be counter-productive. And the long term refers not to one or more years. Here the long term can be as short as 4-6 months.
The real and only way to make life more affordable is to improve the economy. Increase GDP growth. Get the economy moving. There are no other sustainable solutions. If measures to re-energize the slowing economy is not introduced, and bloody quickly too, the economy is due to come to a grinding halt. Dollars will become more scarce as the reductions in tourist arrivals will really start to bite. Negative effects will be further exacerbated as fishery industry continues its decline and the construction industry grinds to a halt.
Quick and immediate solutions to these problems are the ones that will keep the economy alive. Measures and mature steps to counter those issues are what we need to address now.
However, what is being proposed is a bill to reduce import duty as if that would reduce of the cost of living. It would not. Not even in the short term. Snake Oil and Dragons Claw would work better.
However, campaign promises have to be kept. Superficial, insincere and in the end counterproductive moves designed to show to some people that MDP government is trying to make life more affordable has to be undertaken. The drama has to go on.
Meanwhile the majlis has got caught in the drama. Two and more days of full majlis debates have already been lost- needlessly. More hours will be lost in committee time. The bill would surely pass, as no member has the courage to speak against the utter waste and futility of this bill. They all have to make the grand gesture.
The bill would pass. Government revenue that is already in decline (even while expenditure increases) would decline further. Without effort to revive the economy the currency would further loose its value. And so on and so forth.
Shakespeare or some equally brainy chap once said that, ‘all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players for the grand drama that mdp is playing’. Or maybe I got that wrong.
Citizens of the country. Bend over. You are about to have a warm and intimate feeling in a region where the sun don’t normally shine.
June 16, 2009 12:58 AM
Another "salhi" bashing. Well done RN team!
With a statistician in charge of finance, a dentist heading Fisheries & Agri, A physiotherapist running Trade & Economy and a Human Rights Expert managing the Tourism Industry.... President Nasheed deserves yet another award - this time from the World Bank & IMF; for sinking the Country's economy.
June 16, 2009 1:02 AM
What anjabo nasheed deserves is a kick on his butt - man! is our parliament unconcious?
June 16, 2009 2:19 AM
dear anon@12;58, award for h.e nasheed for the number one head of state capable of fast track sinking of country's vibrant economy....
June 16, 2009 3:41 AM
Anon @ 12.58 and @ 2.19 - how about awards too for Finance Minister Ali Hashim, State Min for Finance Asad, State Min for Customs Aswan, Three Ay Ali Shiyam (Economic Advisor to the President), one for Ibrahim Hussain Zaki (Special Envoy) and one for Kerafa Naseem (State Min, Foreign) since they are the people advising on the economy and supposedly bringing in the millions of foreign investment? And how about one for the Margaret Thatcher cabinet minister that Ganjabo keeps boasting is his economic advisor?
June 16, 2009 9:46 AM
A double award (with Nepotism) for Mifzal, another Economic Advisor
June 16, 2009 10:09 AM
Yet another hard-hitting article! Great work RN team. Our mainstream journalists need to take lessons from you guys.
June 16, 2009 10:27 AM
I never supported GB & his govt. Now I want to do something very very nasty. I feel so helpless and sorry for my Country. I wish this fruit-cake president would resign and give us back our Country!
June 16, 2009 10:45 AM
Removing customs duty is Ganjabo's favour to the business community. The consumer does not benefit from this in anyway. Prices will remain stagnant(if not inflate) as the $ will still escalate. I agree with anon 10:27. This is a very sorry state of affairs. I feel for the Country too. All we can do is ensure our voice is heard by the international community. We didn't need WB & IMF ever before, more than we need them now.
June 16, 2009 10:53 AM
noonay noonay thikuraa hivvarah saabahay. kithamme molhah liyunas verikameh nugendheveyne. dhen lalalalalala
June 16, 2009 12:00 PM
anon@10:53, dont be too full of yourself. verikamakee hibain libifa oiy kameh nooney buni handhaan nethuneetha? visnaalaafa lalala kiyamaa. goiy husveema lalala kiyaanee dho! dhuvas gunan fashaa. aiyfoaraa fashah verikan miothee aissa ehnu. dhamaa thirives kurevidhaane.
June 16, 2009 12:02 PM
great post RN team. we salute you for in the name of the majority of the Maldivian people who are fed with little sapppalhey's abuse website.
June 16, 2009 12:22 PM
We Maldivians are already experiencing the warm and intimate feeling in the region where the sun don’t normally shine. Ganjabo Nasheed (aka flat Dhombe, aka Bombi Makunu) is having the pleasure.
June 16, 2009 12:51 PM
hmm. i guess it should be stated here that though that warm and intimate feeling isn't familiar to most maldivians, that little sappalhay (aka Moakulhi Sappay) is quite well-versed in that! And ofcourse his old "appaalhu" wizened old mister FK himself Moakulhi Moosabeyya!
June 16, 2009 2:40 PM
Anni you little piece of shit! This Country WILL NOT forgive you for what you are doing ring your to our economy. We WILL bring you regime to an end SOON, InshaAllah!
June 16, 2009 2:43 PM
Guys, Guys. Mind your language!
June 16, 2009 3:05 PM
The proposed Import Export Bill is a massive change from what had been drafted by the Gayoom administration. In the former one attention was paid to decreasing the price of consumer goods to the general public. The bill was purposefully delayed by Gasim Ibrahim when he was Finance Minister. Now President Nasheed's import export bill focuses on business goods, not general consumer goods.So the price for the common man will not go down one iota. It is targeted to benefit wholesale importers like his financier 3A Abdulla Ali, Lily, Dr. Hassan's boyfriend VB Shaweed cronies like that. So think first, when you see something like this from Nasheed's govt. its always double edged, and targeted to benefit his cronies.
June 16, 2009 8:53 PM
when an idiot becomes the head of the nation, this is what will happen! what to do? we wanted a change and we have got one......
June 16, 2009 9:56 PM
Yes and what a change we have got... Now we have State Ministers called Ziney Sappe, Special Envoys called Mahaa Moakulhi Moosabeyyaage Moakulhi Sappalhey, and our very own Ganjabo stoned out inside the precincts of the palace! Well done, Maldives! Soon we can have the pleasure of the Bodu Thadhu all over again!!
June 16, 2009 10:22 PM
The earlier bill was targeted at reducing goods that most ordinary Maldivians buy so it would have helped all our families, but now, after being elected on a platform of reducing the so-called "corner shop debt" President Nasheed again callously disregards the wellbeing of ordinary Maldivians and focuses on reducing the debts of the privileged few, the Koli mahujanun, the 3A Mafia, the Maakun Sato fatoa, and the Keneree bikinis. Yes, all of them have debts, but that is to the Hilton Hotel and Ritz Carlton, not our kanmathee fihaara!
June 16, 2009 10:23 PM
anon@2:43, am shocked at your cheekiness and rude intent. watch your language did you say? do you think little sappalhey's DO abuse is best? no one in his/her sane mind would think so. RN is a paradigm shift interms of language, so watch YOUR language!
June 16, 2009 11:18 PM
Heh heh, all those know-it-alls who "voted for change" screwed up our country just to feel good for a little while, and now they're the ones getting screwed, but for a long long time! a country gets the government it deserves, and boy, do our little smartypants boys and girls deserve this. Dhen lalalaa...
June 16, 2009 11:27 PM
Lot, don't forget that Mahaa Moakulhi Moosabeyyaage Moakulhi Fookuda Sappalhey was personnally trained by Ganjabo BM's daddy Keneree Kulhi Asthaaru... which is why Little Moakulhi has to be looked after by BM...!
June 17, 2009 1:18 AM
have you guys read Haveeru Online report on the IMF news conf today? I have. First. Congratulations RN team. They haven't said anything you guys haven't said way before them. Great work, RN. Keep it going, you have been heard. Next. The two options IMF have given is 1) Airport Privatization. 2)STOP distributing high-salaried political positions to President Nasheed's cronies from MDP (Now this god-forsaken govt is announcing about cutting down on civil service jobs). Bloody hell.... None of these can happen. Now what?
June 17, 2009 1:37 AM
anon@1:18. I read your comment and quickly read the Haveeru article and then amongst other reports, DO also. Quote DO. "Mohamed Zuhair, press secretary of the president’s office, said the cost-cutting measures would include redundancies of both political appointees and civil servants".
(my comment: This marijuana addict is admitting his drug-partner President Nasheed's own mistakes).
“This is to save money,” he said. “There are some ministries with more than one permanent secretary, for example in the health ministry.”
(my comment: ha ha ha. anga fokaakah ladheh nugatheh noon. Look at the home ministry. It's overflowing with ganjabo appointed state ministers. This is what the IMF delegation is talking about, you bloody moron!).
June 17, 2009 1:45 AM
anon@1:18. Cont from my previous comment. I just couldn't retire without answering your question, Now What?
Ans. If one single civil service employee is sent home before one of these bloody MDP political job holders, WE (the entire civil service) GO ON STRIKE.
That's what we do.
June 17, 2009 9:45 AM
Anon 1:45.Go ahead and go on strike. Zuhair has said civil servants and permanant secretaries, not once has he mentioned GB's cronies. Permanant secretaries are also employed by the CSC. Infact he has called upon all the Ministries not to take any place from the private parties for rent. It seems to cut down the cost. President's office will show them the place. Even that benefit for the public he is trying to give it to his cronies. We need devine help to pull him dowm. May Allah Almighty help us and save us from Nasheed and his gang. Aameen.
June 18, 2009 10:48 AM
Good post, but slow moving blog. what happened? RN also on strike?
June 19, 2009 9:47 PM
anon@10:48; no. just researching. RN does NOT fabricate. RN reports facts after finding out.
June 19, 2009 11:43 PM
RN team will u please do the research fast. we look forward to read your articals. Thank you RN team.
July 17, 2009 1:51 AM
our parliament is unconscious in a lot of things. Look how our auditors corruptions are not being investigated and the roles ACC president running up and down. when will some one try and tell us the truth. now it has been two allegations and fake slips released from AG office themselves and they have admitted its theirs. why are these things not investigated. why did a member of ACC had to go to parliament by himself?
http://www.maldivedigest.com/dhivs/anti_corruption_luthfee.php
http://www.maldivedigest.com