President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has retorted to comments made recently by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, saying that spending five years as President of a country does not give a person a license to lie to the public.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has retorted to comments made recently by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, saying that spending five years as President of a country does not give a person a license to lie to the public.
The President's words were in response to Solih stating a few days ago that the housing flats and land plots determined to be allocated by the former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s administration is hindered from being "distributed unfairly" only due to the majority held by MDP in the parliament.
Speaking at a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)/ People's National Congress (PNC) rally held last night, President Dr Muizzu responded to this statement by saying that he is working to handover flats and landplots to the recipients just as he had pledged to do, adding an allegation against the former administration to his comments.
"I remember how they proceeded with this [allocating housing]. They made a separate list and granted housing whether or not forms were submitted, is that not what ACC [Anti Corruption Commission] is investigating now? Saying that we are having a separate list to allocate land plots to, that it is only their majority being in parliament preventing us from doing that, these are nothing but bald-faced lies," the President stated.
The President appealed to the former President to be more honest in his remarks to the citizens.
"Everyone must speak with honesty when you come in front of the people and speak. You can twist the truth. You can lie. But you must always remember there is One you can never ever deceive," President Dr Muizzu said.
The President went on to assure that this administration would not tamper with any allocated land plots and that efforts were underway to hand them over as soon as possible.
He added that reclamation work in Hulhumale' Phase 3, Gulhi Falhu and Giraavaru Falhu is also progressing at speed, adding that the area being reclaimed in those locations now are more extensive than was planned by the former government. He went on to note that utility lines in Hulhumale' Phase 2 were being relocated now to solve the issue of some land plots overlapping on those.
He also addressed the matter of flat allocation. He cited the ACC investigation and instructions as a cause of the delays in handover, stating that once these were resolved, the flats would also be handed over to recipients promptly. He reminded that the Constitution obligates him to abide by the ACC's orders.
"So it appears that there is a delay. There is no delay that we are causing with motives of granting them to specific persons. We will not do any such thing. So we must not give space to such lies in our minds," the President appealed to the people.
He reiterated that ensuring all citizens are guaranteed adequate housing is among his key pledges, assuring that no one will remain without housing at the end of his five year term. The President said that he wished for the next parliament to be made up of members who will cooperate with efforts to fulfill this policy.
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