VZCZCXRO9957
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHLM #1022/01 3181235
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131235Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8889
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1132
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 8134
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 6341
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4582
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2388
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 4539
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3643
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 8776
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 6175
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO 0771
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3022
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001022 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KDEM MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVES: MAJLIS PROVISIONALLY CONFIRMS NEW 14-MEMBER 
CABINET 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1009 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On November 12 President Nasheed secured approval 
for his new 14 minister cabinet.  The cabinet represents each of the 
six parties and groupings that make up the ruling coalition.  The 
cabinet's approval came amidst a power struggle between Nasheed and 
former President Gayoom's DRP party during which the President 
removed eight non-elected Majlis members who had been appointed by 
Gayoom.  Those members are now challenging their removal in court. 
No matter how the court rules in the case we expect the MDP to call 
new Parliamentary elections quickly.  Embassy recommends short 
congratulatory letters from the Secretary to Foreign Minister 
Shaheed, and from Secretary Gates and Admiral Keating to Defense 
Minister Faisal. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) President Nasheed secured the approval of the Majlis 
(Parliament) for his new cabinet on November 12.  A large majority 
of the 38 members present voted to confirm the 14 ministers as a 
group. (Note: there were discrepancies in various media reports 
about the exact vote count.)  The cabinet has five MDP ministers, 
four from the Republican Party coalition (including one from the 
islamist Adhaalath Party), two ministers from the "New Maldives" 
group, two aligned to Vice President Waheed's National Unity Party 
and one for Ibra's Social Liberal Party.  The confirmation of the 
Cabinet was for a 30 day transitional period to allow uninterrupted 
government operations.  President Nasheed will need to re-submit the 
individual names for parliamentary approval within the 30 day 
window. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The confirmation of the new cabinet came amidst a power 
struggle between the new government and former President Gayoom's 
DRP.  Following the old constitution, President Gayoom had appointed 
eight non-elected members to the Majlis.  Under the new constitution 
which ushered in multi-party elections, there will be no appointed 
members of the Majlis to be elected by February 2009.  With the 
defections of the "New Maldives" ministers and Qasim's Republican 
Party to the opposition alliance, Gayoom's DRP depended on the eight 
appointees for its 27 to 23 majority in the Majlis.  After his 
election, President Nasheed announced his intention to replace 
Gayoom's appointees with his own.  The DRP opposed this move, citing 
the constitutional provision which states, "The People's Majlis in 
existence at the commencement of this Constitution shall continue 
until such time as the first elections of the People's Majlis under 
this Constitution are held."  According to several of the Gayoom 
appointees, each received a call in recent days from a person who 
identified himself only as "Colonel" informing them that their 
services would no longer be needed.  The former appointees have now 
filed suit against President Nasheed before the Supreme Court asking 
to be re-instated. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT: The language in the Constitution, while not 
explicitly barring the replacement of Gayoom's appointees, appears 
to leave ample room for a legal challenge to the dismissal of the 
appointees.  Observers speculate that the recently-established 
Supreme Court, also appointed by Gayoom, may decide to sustain the 
challenge.  In that case, Nasheed may need to offer some concessions 
to the DRP in order to get his individual cabinet nominees 
re-confirmed.  Some senior MDP members have told us the government 
may attempt to move up the date of the Parliamentary elections in 
order to complete the transition more quickly. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Brief biographies of the most important new ministers 
follow, organized by their party affiliations: 
 
MALDIVIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY 
-------------------------- 
 
Minister of Defense and National Security Ameen Faisal is a West 
Point graduate and former officer in the Defense Forces.  In the 
1990s he was a senior member of the National Security Service.  He 
also received mid-career traiing at Fort Benning.  Under President 
Gayoom, he was detained on political charges on four separate 
 
COLOMBO 00001022  002 OF 004 
 
 
occasions, mostly for periods of less than two months.  He served a 
seven-year sentence from 1989-1996, however.  Faisal has served as 
MDP Shadow Minister for Defense since 2006.  Observers call him an 
MDP moderate with broad appeal and good organizational skills.  He 
was elected President of the MDP's key Male' constituency and is in 
charge of all 48 party branches within Male.  In a brief but warm 
conversation with Ambassador following the inauguration he pledged 
to continue the Maldives' close military cooperation with the U.S. 
 
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Ibrahim Didi is a prominent 
dentist from an elite Male family and a member of the MDP National 
council.  Observers describe Didi as a key player in the MDP, who 
was actively involved in the party's fight for democracy.  He was 
arrested during demonstrations in March 2006. 
 
Minister of Finance and Treasury Ali Hashim, a businessman, is a 
former vice president of the MDP.  He was MDP Shadow Minister of 
Finance and Planning from 2006 to 2007.  He has a reputation as a 
shrewd political tactician and strategist.  Hashim was involved in 
the MDP-Government negotiations facilitated by the British at the UK 
High Commissioner's residence in Colombo, Westminster House, in 
¶2006. 
 
Minister of Housing, Transport and Environment Mohamed Aslam was 
born September 30, 1970.  From 2005 until recently, he was MP for 
Seenu (Addu) Atoll and a Member of the Special Majlis that drafted 
and passed the new consitution.  Previously he was MDP Shadow 
Cabinet Minister of Transport, Communication and Technology from 
2006 to 2007. 
 
Attorney General Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed is a lawyer. She was 
formerly a presidential appointee from 2005 and was also an ex 
officio member of the MDP and Executive Director at the Attorney 
General's office. 
Previously she was a State Attorney at the Attorney General's 
office. 
 
"NEW MALDIVES" 
-------------- 
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Shaheed went to school in Male and 
Colombo. He got a BA in International Politics and Strategic Studies 
from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a PhD in International 
Relations from the University of Queensland, Brisbane.  Shaheed has 
spent most of his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  In 
2005 President Gayoom elevated him to Foreign Minister during a 
major cabinet shakeup.  A reformist, he co-founded the "New 
Maldives" movement within the ruling DRP along with his colleague, 
then-Attorney General Hassan Saeed.  In 2006 Shaheed founded the 
Open Society Initiative, which aimed to promote human rights, 
tolerance and democracy.  He resigned from his post in August 2007, 
complaining that a conservative guard within Parliament and the 
Cabinet was resisting his reform proposals.  Embassy maintained 
close and regular contact with Shaheed since 2005.  He expressed his 
personal thanks to the USG and the Embassy for our support of the 
democratic reform program.  Shaheed favors close relations with the 
U.S. and made the decision to open their embassy in Washington. 
 
Minister of Civil Aviation and Communication Mohamed Jameel Ahamed 
(DOB October 13, 1969) graduated from the International Islamic 
University in Malaysia with a Bachelor of Laws in 1996. In 1998 he 
received a Masters in Comparative Law from the same university. He 
specialized in Banking Law.  He went on to get a PhD in Criminal Law 
from SOAS, University of London.  Jameel became an MP in July 2005, 
seving as Minister of Justice in Gayoom's government from July 2005 
until August 2007.  Jameel was a prominent member of the "New 
Maldives" group with Ahmed Shaheed and Hassan Saeed in August.  In 
July 2007, Jameel defied conservative Islamists to nominate three 
women judges to the bench - the first time women were admitted to 
the judiciary in Maldives.  He and Saeed resigned from the 
government in August 2007, accusing President Gayoom of failing to 
act against rising Islamic militancy and of blocking reforms.  Like 
 
COLOMBO 00001022  003 OF 004 
 
 
the other New Maldives Ministers, Jameel appreciated U.S. support 
for democratic reforms in Maldives and favors close relations with 
the U.S. 
 
ADHAALATH (JUSTICE) PARTY 
------------------------- 
 
Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdul Majeed Bari was previously the 
Director of the Centre for the Holy Quran and Director of the 
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.  Dr. Majeed was also a lecturer 
at the College of Islamic Studies and at the Faculty of Shar'ia and 
Law.  He founded the religiously conservative Adhaalath Party in 
August 2005. 
 
JUMHOOREE (REPUBLICAN) PARTY 
---------------------------- 
 
Qasim Ibrahim (born 1950) is one of the most successful businessmen 
in the Maldives.  According, to Maldives' folklore, Qasim started 
out as a servant boy in Gayoom's wife's family.  He set up his own 
business in 1976, trading in commodities such as rice and tobacco. 
His company, Villa Group, has since become the largest in the 
Maldives, with interests in tourism and inter-island marine 
transport, shipping, fishing, and oil, as well as imports and 
exports.  Qasim was a deputy leader of the DRP and Minister of 
Finance and Treasury until his resignation from the party and the 
post in July 2008.  In August 2008, Qasim joined the Republican 
Party and subsequently became the party's presidential candidate, 
securing 15% of the vote in the first round.  His control of 
important ministries and his personal wealth mark him as one of the 
most important power brokers in the new government. 
 
Minister of Tourism Ahmed Ali Sawad has an academic background in 
human rights.  He studied at India's premier law school at the 
University of Bangalore and worked as a journalist for the Times of 
India.  He has a PhD in Human Rights Law from the University of 
Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.  Ali Sawad is affiliated with the 
Republican Party and was Qasim Ibrahim's running mate in his recent 
presidential campaign. 
 
NATIONAL UNITY PARTY 
-------------------- 
 
Minister of Education Musthafa Luthfee was the Tourism Minister 
under President Gayoom.  His background is in education, however. 
He has spent several years working in the Ministry of Education and 
reportedly holds a doctorate in education.  Luthfee became a 
confidant of National Alliance presidential candidate Wahaad Hassan 
Manik. He was subsequently selected as vice-president of the 
National Alliance Party.  In a brief aside with Ambassador after the 
inauguration, Luthfee expressed hope that his Ministry could expect 
cooperation on education with the U.S. 
 
SOCIAL LIBERAL PARTY 
-------------------- 
 
Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports Hassan Latheef worked 
as a secretary in the Attorney General's Office in the 1990s for two 
years, and at the Department of External Resources (MFA) for one 
year.  Latheef left Maldives in 1997 to attend Middlesex University 
in the United Kingdom, receiving a Bachelors in Law in 2000. 
Latheef then returned to the Maldives where he worked at the 
Attorney General's Office as a State Attorney.  His duties included 
drafting legal opinions for various ministries.  He also represented 
private litigants before the Civil Court and the High Court. In 2003 
he returned to United Kingdom to pursue a Masters in Crime, Law and 
Society at the University of Manchester.  Latheef became Assistant 
Director of the Maldives Port Authority in March 2005, advising the 
management on legal issues.  His political career began when helped 
to found the MDP along with Mohamed Nasheed, Ahmed Mausoom and 
others in 2003. He later left the MDP to join the Social Liberal 
Party (SLP), which was registered in May 2008. He served as SLP 
 
COLOMBO 00001022  004 OF 004 
 
 
Deputy Leader and served as spokesperson for Ibrahim Ismail's 
presidential campaign. 
 
BLAKE