Monday, May 18, 2009

The Case of the Confused Attorney General


Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed is a sharp and smart woman. She would even have made a good Attorney General (AG) had she given more attention to understanding her role and responsibilities as a cabinet appointee. Sad, but her stint as AG has come to an abrupt end Monday when President Mohamed Nasheed sacked her under Article 115(f) and 137(a) of the Constitution, perhaps breaking her grandfather’s record as the shortest serving AG of Maldives in history.

This is not the first time Dhiyana was confused about her role. She was similarly confused when she was serving as an appointed member of the People’s Majlis during the regime of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. From her speeches and voting pattern in the Majlis, it appeared she sometimes believed she was sitting in the opposition benches rather than among the President’s members.

Dhiyana may have had valid legal points on the issues over which her relationship with the president broke down –influencing parliamentary elections and creation of provinces. However, going to the press with her opinions was a different matter. If she was unhappy with the President’s rejection of her advice she could always have resigned.

In an interview given to Miadhu Daily, Dhiyana said “I joined Attorney General’s office as a State Attorney, after which I held the position of Executive Director and today as I leave office I have held the position of Attorney General; I am happy because I know that I have fulfilled my duties and responsibilities as per the constitution and in the best interests of the people, if I weren’t able to do that I would be holding my head down.”

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Dhiyana is sacked so what. She has a bright future ahead. She does not belong to the type of crowd that is running the government. it's good she left.

Anonymous said...

Dhiyana was not confused rather she liked to give a frank legal opinion but it was not done in a conventional way.Whenever she was in government she spoke against government policies and one wonders why she joined the government in the first place.If she want to sit in the opposition and criticise it is alright but when you join a certain government you have to defend their policies or else resign rather than getting kicked out.The way she acted in both the cases show that she is perhaps an attention seeker but how kindly the public and the history will judge her only time will tell.One thing is certain.This may not be what she expected when she screamed at the top of her voice in her election meetings to topple the regime of President Qayoom and now we see her unable to keep her office even for six months but rather being kicked out unceremoniously.History does make about turns.

Anonymous said...

this is a great title!!!

nebula said...

No, definitely Dhiyana was not confused. She understood that the relationship between the State and its Attorney General is very different from that of a private client-lawyer relationship. The Constitution imposes a duty on the Attorney General to act in the best interests of the people and the pursuance of that duty sometimes required proactive disclosure on the part of the Attorney General. She executed her duties with honesty and integrity.

Anonymous said...

Sir, please talk some sense.
If Dhiana is so 'smart and sharp' as you claim, how come she got confused.

Please don't fool Maldivains. She was never good, professionally and morally. She married a gangster, slept her way to the top by aligning with a desperate regime as Maumoons MP.

By smart if you meant she is pretty, that is your own personal 'diagnosis'.

Anonymous said...

Great title. Reminds me of Perry mason mysteries.Or was Enid Blyton. Doesn't matter. When the case is solved we will find out that she revels in headline news and being talked about.Dhiyana is who she is because of Munawwar giving her study chances and giving her work at AG office. She was ever so ungrateful towards Munawwar.Gayoom gave her chances mostly because he wanted to curry favour with Jabir who was financing DRP then. It may have even been kind of pay back on Gayoom's part. Above all Dhiyana's Shrill shouting voice was what DRP really needed then. They had so few 'shouters'.

Anonymous said...

Sign of a Government getting weaker day by day, Sign a Dictator is biegn born, Sign that when a rat is cornered it just lashes out.

Anonymous said...

Dhiyana is a very ambitious woman who achieved things in personal life and public life throgh very dubious means. Tell me just one positve contribution she made to any institution.

Anonymous said...

Nebula,
her record is not so clean when it comes to her opinions regarding the legal issues between government and her husband.

Anonymous said...

i think people are trying to be too polite here ... diyana is an high class ******* , anyone with money and power is welcomed to share ......ppl like gasim , savaad etc had taken the chance ,but beware its an act of symbiosis,examples are munawwar n maumoon-she sucked blood out of them and ditched them , shes confused between her professional life and personal life when shes trying to cover her g******* husbands shortcomings.

Silver said...

Who says that Dhiyana is what she is today because Munawwar gave her study chances? Dhiyana Saeed was in the national top tens with her A-level results and won a scholarship from the Scholarship Board like a lot of other Maldivian students. As the overall top achiever, She went on to win the Best Student Award the first two years of her first degree and topped many classes throughout her law studies. She won a Japanese Government scholarship for her Masters and graduated with high distinction. In fact, Munawwaru tried to divert the LLB scholarship to his secretary but Dhiyana's academic credentials were stronger so the scholarship board awarded the scholarship to her.

For anyone who says she slept her way to the top, she had acquired both her first degree and Masters in law BEFORE she ever met Jabir. She was appointed a member of the Majlis BEFORE she ever met Jabir. She rose to the position of Executive Director of the Attorney General’s Office, before she married Jabir. In fact, she only sustained damage by marrying Jabir but as they say, love is blind.

Monica said...

Dhiyana’s contributions? In 2004 and 2005, she single-handedly ran the legal affairs division of the attorney general’s office. She penned many important reform-oriented opinions issued from AGO those days, including the opinion on the formation of political parties. Hassan Saeed promoted her to the position of Executive Director in recognition of her intellect and hardwork.

In Majlis, she was known to take independent positions and made significant contributions in redrafting laws at committees. For anyone unbiased, Dhiyana must be credited for pushing for the speedy completion of the constitution. She proposed a timetable and deadline and pushed those in the face of several threat of dismissals from her appointed seat.

In whatever position she has served, she has seen the law and the people as her masters and that sometimes has entailed the taking of positions different from those wanted by the person or persons who appointed her to the post.

Her alleged affairs with Gasim and Sawad are complete lies. This is sexist thinking that a woman can only rise to the top by sleeping her way to the top.

Adham said...

Abdullah Waheed is writing so many negative articles on Dhiyana trying to undermine her credibility because Dhiyana is not like his close relatives, Munawwaru and Husnu Suood who are giving ‘legal’ opinions just as the president wishes.

An Attorney General must declare the law on an issue as it is. He or she cannot bend it to please a president. A parliament member, whether appointed, should serve the people.

I’m sure Dhiyana knew that if she is to keep her job, she must bend the law and give opinions that please the president but she was not willing to break her oath to keep her job. It takes courage to turn one’s back on a high salary, car and prestige. Dhiyana had that courage.

Alpha said...

Abdullah Waheed, where were you when the government brought about 119 detainees to Male supposedly on parole without any legal basis? As the Deputy Home Minister, did you not owe a duty to the people to come forward and say it has been done illegally? Were you not quiet because you were scared of losing your position?

Who reviewed the whole thing and said it was illegal? You expect Dhiyana to say what your Ministy did was right? Did she not have to review because you did not have the guts? Talk sense.