Ambassador Robert Blake meets with Maldivian press
The Ambassador of the United States of America to Maldives and Sri Lanka, His Excellency Robert Blake Jr. met with Maldivian government officials and was a guest speaker at the "Partnering for a Safer Sea" Conference organized by the South Asia Regional Port Security Cooperative on May 18-20, 2008. On May 20, 2008 Ambassador Blake met with members of the Maldivian media including Dhi FM, Minivan News, Miadhu Daily, Haveeru Daily, Maaluafaanu.com, TV Maldives and Voice of Maldives Radio to discuss his visit.
Ambassador Blake’s Remarks:
I am happy to be back here in the Maldives. As you all know I try to come quite regularly. But I had two specific purposes in mind on this particular trip. First I was one of the Chief Guests at the first meeting of the South Asia Regional Port Security Cooperative which is a meeting that’s going on now in Sun Island. The first day of the conference proceedings was yesterday and that will be going on until the end of this week.
This cooperative is bringing together the countries in South Asia that border the sea, as well as Oman, Madagascar and Mauritius. The purpose of the conference is really for all of these countries to share information on threats to the security of their ports. Those threats range from everything from terrorism, to piracy, to various other kinds of threats that will be discussed in detail at the conference. The idea was to have these countries share information with each other, but also there are several other international organizations that are there including the US Coast Guard which is one of the co-sponsors. Also the International Maritime Organization, Interpol and other international organizations who have great expertise in this area. Our hope is that we will begin to help facilitate developing relationships; not only professional relationships between these countries, but also personal relationships that again will facilitate common action against threats to these ports.
Why are we emphasizing this? Half of the world’s shipping goes through the Indian Ocean. The protection of the sea lanes and the ports of the Indian Ocean is of great importance to the United States and I think to all of the international community.
Secondly, 95% of international cargo is carried by ships. So obviously any attempt to threaten ports, or to threaten their trade, would have a very considerable impact not only on the local economies but potentially on global trade as well. So we thought it was time to begin to work on a regional level to address this issue. I want to thank the President of the Maldives, His Excellency President Gayoom who took the time to come to inaugurate the conference yesterday and underlined his country’s support for the initiative. I also want to thank the Ministry of Port and Communications, which was instrumental in hosting the conference, and really bringing everybody together.
I told President Gayoom that we in the United States really welcome the Maldives initiatives. It was important for two reasons. First, Maldives is a country that has good relations – friendly relations - with all of the countries that I have mentioned and therefore is very well placed to undertake these initiatives.
And secondly Maldives is a country, perhaps like all of the countries that I had mentioned, that relies on the seas for its livelihoods. As you all know, Maldives derives most of its national income from both tourism and fishing, therefore has a great stake not only in the protection of the international sea lanes but also in the security of its ports.
In my own speech I emphasized that there is no one formula for protecting port security. But that most international authorities agree that there must be cooperation between governments, between their militaries, and between the private sectors in all of these countries. And that formula is generally a winning recipe to confront these global challenges now to the security of our ports.
I also want to thank the US Coast Guard, which has been expanding its activities in this part of the world, and was instrumental in facilitating and organizing this conference, drawing on its own considerable expertise in the area of ports security. We were very fortunate to have a very senior Admiral, Rear Admiral Bone, who came all the way from San Francisco to offer his insights into this very important problem.
My second purpose in coming to the Maldives was to talk with members of the government, also with members of the political parties, about the very important common efforts that they are now undertaking to finalize the Constitution of the Maldives – the new Constitution of the Maldives - and also to prepare for Presidential elections that will take place later this year. The United States believes that very important progress is taking place so far in getting to this stage. As all of you know the parties and the government have been working for more than four years now to prepare for this crucial stage. But I underlined in all my meetings that the time is very short to complete the agenda that remains. And I emphasized both to the government and to all the political parties that they must work together and work cooperatively, not only to finish the constitution, so that the President can ratify it as expeditiously as possible, but they also need to work together to enact the many important laws that will create the independent institutions that will oversee this election.
From the perspective of the United States and I think from the perspective of most of the parties, and indeed the government, the most important institutions will be – firstly – having an independent Elections Commission and a new electoral law, and we certainly hope that the government and the political parties can work collaboratively together to fashion this law.
Secondly, a new Supreme Court - as in any country having an independent Supreme Court is really the foundation of the rule of law. And I think that will give great confidence to the people of the Maldives and to the international community that the conduct of these elections will be in independent and capable hands.
Third – I think it is vitally important - I heard this from many of the parties that the government work consensually with the parties to develop guidelines that will govern equal access to the media particularly to television in this very important election. Most Maldivians have access to television, and in a country where so many islands are spread so far and so wide, equal access to the television not only to the state media but to some of these new private television stations that I understand will be opening up will be extremely crucial in ensuring a free and fair election.
I must say I am very impressed with the excitement that I feel from the many Maldivians that I have spoken to over the last several days about prospects of a new constitution, and about the prospects for a free and fair election. I have been told that many of the candidates are already appearing on radio, on TV, and I think we can expect a lot more than that as the campaign draws closer. That’s a very, very good thing – as we know from what we are experiencing in our own country right now with our own Presidential elections that we are going through.
I am also given to understand that two new private television stations will be starting very soon - Dhi TV and Villa TV. Again I think that is a very encouraging sign - independent media taking hold here in this country that is a friend of the United States and so I was very pleased to hear about that. I think all of these trends underline the very high expectations that the Maldivian people have for these elections; and that they have not only for their elected representatives but also for their political parties. So the eyes of the Maldives are on all of these people as they work to finalize the constitution, as they work to draft these very, very important laws and as they work to ensure a free and fair campaign, and free and fair Presidential elections.
So let me stop there and I will be glad to answer any questions that you may have.
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Transcript of Press questions and Ambassador Blake’s answers:
Q: What kind of assistance will the US provide towards the upcoming Presidential elections?
Ambassador Blake: We are looking now to see what kind of observers we might be able to provide. I know that the EU countries and the Commonwealth are also considering sending election observers. So we have been in touch with them and we are working with the appropriate authorities in Washington to see if we can make available the funding to send observers. You know the USG will not send observers; we have private institutions like the National Democratic Institute, the Carter Center and other groups like that, that provide observers, but funding has to be identified to allow that. So we hope to be able to do that. And even if we are not able to send observers from the United States certainly the United States Embassy in Colombo will have our observers here. So we look forward very much to working with the Commonwealth and whatever other international observers are here. This, as I say, is an extremely important election.
Q: When the President ratifies the new Constitution what kind of technical support will there be from the United States to make new laws?
Ambassador Blake: Well the Government of Maldives has not really requested international support or American support in drafting these laws. I think that there have been several experts from the Commonwealth, and the EU and Canada who have been already assisting in the constitutional process. And to my knowledge, no further assistance has been requested. Certainly in my last two meetings in the last two days no such assistance was requested. I think the government and the political parties are fully capable of drafting these laws, it’s more a question of time; just finding the time and properly setting priorities to make sure that they pass the most important bills expeditiously, such as the electoral law.
Q: The Attorney General said yesterday that they were now aiming for ratification of the constitution by the end of June. They are also talking about an election on August 9.
Is there any chance of ensuring a free and fair election?
Ambassador Blake: I think there is. But that’ll be up to the Elections Commission, once it is established to set a date. No date has been set. I understand that August 9th is really a rumor at this point. And once the elections law has been passed and the Elections Commission has been set up, that commission will then determine an appropriate date. As you know the Commission will be composed of five members, drawn from the political parties and chosen by parliament, and so that will be an independent commission. And it will be up to that Commission to decide when the elections can be held. Obviously, as I said earlier, the timetable is very short to get all these important tasks done.
Q: Do you think this limited time is going to have some problems? Or do you think with this time table it is possible, because there are already some doubts especially by opposition parties saying free and fair elections is not possible given the short time frame. What is your assessment on that?
Ambassador Blake: Well, again I do believe that free and fair elections can take place, but it’ll be up to these institutions, such as the Elections Commission, to really determine the time table and make that judgment. And a composition of the commission will by definition be a multi party commission. So I’m sure they will have the benefit of the advice of all the political parties before they make any decisions. So, it will be up to them. Maybe they will decide that it has to be held in September. And it is not really for the United States or any other member of the international community to try to dictate that.
Q: Sorry, just a follow up on that. The Elections Commission has set the dates to come into being with the constitution. And the government is saying because of the timing of Ramadan there is no real time but early August for the elections to be held. That could leave exactly two weeks for the Elections Commission to be in place. Is that not a matter of concern for you?
Ambassador Blake: Well, again, what is important is a lot of this work can start to happen right now. Even though the new constitution has not been ratified, a lot of the work on drafting these new bills can begin right now, in fact I think it already has begun. So even though it might take a little longer to get the Constitution done, a lot of more important work for drafting of these laws should take place right now. And again, I hope that all can take place in a collaborative fashion so that the political parties that are part of the process are satisfied with the arrangements that are made.
Q: You also said you wanted both parties, especially the opposition and the government, to work together. How do you see the present level of cooperation between the two parties? I mean not the two parties – but all opposition parties and the government?
Ambassador Blake: I think the level of collaboration has been pretty good. I have been in touch with them all over the last two years. Certainly they have had their ups and downs. But that has to be expected in any process including in my own country. So in general, as I said when I began my remarks, the parties and the government need be congratulated for the tremendous progress that has been made over the last several years. And they have largely kept to the time table they have set for themselves. Given the magnitude of the issues and the changes that are being contemplated in the new constitution, I think that’s quite an achievement.
Q: As you’re probably aware - the clause in the new constitution that is referring to the non-Muslims’ – it’s an issue the American government is concerned about. Your thoughts on this?
Ambassador Blake: As you know the United States stands very firmly for the freedom of religion. And I also understand that those laws are in conflict with some of international obligations that the Maldives has already signed up for. So I’ve spoken to the government about this. They are aware of that inconsistency. I think they are exploring now how they can try to resolve that. But certainly we in the United States firmly believe in the importance of freedom of religion and we will continue to stand for that.
Q: Did you raise that matter when you met the President?
Ambassador Blake: No, I have not spoken to the President about it. No.
Q: You mentioned that you spoke about the freedom of religion to the government? Did the government give any commitment to that?
Ambassador Blake: I don’t want to get into my private discussions with the government about these sensitive issues. I’ll limit my comments to what I have already said.
Q: I am sure the opposition must be keeping the US Government informed about the developments of the government. You must have been watching the attempts to have a common opposition candidate which many thought will be a sign of vibrant democracy. And now we see a bit of a shake up in that. How do you see this as a political happening? It may not be up to you to comment on that. But what is your observation? Your thoughts about that?
Ambassador Blake: My observation is that it’s a very healthy thing that is taking place. Here every party is trying to figure out what is best for them and best for the people that they represent; and I think it’s very normal for a lot of jockeying to be going on, especially since you have a multi party system. So I predict that you will see more of them in the days to come. And again, that’s a very normal and a very healthy thing. I think that is something that should be applauded. By the way the government also meets with us and not just the political parties. We have a very good dialogue with the government as well.
Q: I believe you have a very close contact with the President and the government and the opposition. And you are well aware of the situation here. For the elections, I think the DRP candidate is the main issue. What does US government think of this?
Ambassador Blake: I’m not getting into which candidate is getting chosen by individual parties. That obviously is up to individual parties to decide. I’ll take three more questions.
Q: I have two short questions. Firstly, the regional decision to protect for safer seas you were talking about before. Is there any reason why this cooperation is happening now and any particular thing that has happened or any development of threats?
Ambassador Blake: Not really. As you probably know in neighboring Sri Lanka, there are quite a number of threats against their ports. There was an attack just ten days ago on the port of Trincomalee by the LTTE where they came in with a semi-submersible – I’m not sure what exactly it was. They are still studying that. But it was some sort of explosive device that had a little motor in it and they managed to sink a cargo ship in the port of Trincomalee. So that is still being investigated by the Sri Lankan government; but it does underline the potential threats that all ports face, particularly the port of Sri Lanka; since they are one of the major ports in South Asia. And it also underlines that this kind of technology can be certainly copied by other terrorist organizations, and so it is important that governments share information about such threats and that they again work cooperatively to try to stop them.
Q: Another question. We have seen an increase of human rights abuses and detention centers in prisons again. And the Maldives has not had a great track of this in the past. Many organizations have acknowledged that. What do you think of this? Is it a concern for US?
Ambassador Blake: Yes, it is always a concern when one hears of human rights abuses. Let me say that I think Maldives went through a difficult period several years ago, when there were many, many reports of human rights abuses in detention. Then the record improved quite dramatically – I’d say in the last year and half or so there have not been many reports. Then as you say there has been a recent spike in reports of such abuses and so I raised that in my dialogue with my friends in the government to express our concern about that. I think that an important part of creating the democratic institutions here is to ensure that there is respect for human rights. I think they agree with that and they promised to look into that.
Q: If you say they agree with that, why do you think a that measures to protect people in prisons have not been implemented already?
Ambassador Blake: I don’t want to speculate on that. I don’t really know. Last question?
Q: Is there a particular framework that will come out of the conference? What will be the final outcome? Will there be a framework where they will agree?
Ambassador Blake: I cannot really say. The conference is not over yet. We have to leave it to them to decide. Again, May 22nd is when the conference ends. Our goal was to put all of these countries together with the appropriate members of these international institutions that I talked about, and to facilitate this initial information exchange. It’s really up to these countries themselves to determine where they want to take this. Certainly our hope is that they will come together again under the SAARC umbrella and that they will seek to establish mechanisms whereby they not only exchange information but work together to address these. It will be whatever they ask us to do; it is really up to them to decide. If they ask for help, I’m sure we will be glad to consider that. Thank you all very much for coming. And I appreciate your taking the time. Thanks a lot.
Good Bye.
