Leader of MDP's Parliamentary Group and South Hithadhoo constituency Ibrahim Nazil stated today that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's 2026 Presidential Address that was held at Parliament is a monochrome copy of the past two addresses, and that incompetence at such a level has not been seen to date.
The Constitution states that after the President gives the annual Presidential Address, the majority or minority leader of the political party, aside from the party the President is in, with the highest number of members is to respond to the address.
While responding in his capacity as the Parliament's minority leader to the Presidential Address that was held on 5th February, Nazil said that the address did not cover the state of the nation and what was to be done to rectify it was not mentioned either.
Nazil stated that the 2026 Presidential Address is a black and white copy of the 2025 and 2024 addresses, and that the President spoke on "dreamt up stories" that were changed here and there.
"It is because of this that I have to say that the 2026 Presidential Address is a black and white copy of the 2024 and 2025 addresses. I say that it is a black and white copy because the President has repeated the same dreamt up stories in different ways in the last two years in front of the Parliament members and in front of the entire nation," said Nazil.
According to Nazil, the government has not done any of the things they said they would do and have instead simply given new dates. Nazil also said that the Presidential Address did not share their policies regarding national issues and their solutions.
"The address did not include the issues that plague the nation and the policies of the government in order to solve them."
The leader of MDP's parliamentary group said that the current government has a level of incompetence that has never been seen before, and that President Muizzu has failed on an economic and societal level.
Nazil said that stories of people being unable to get Aasandha as their health deteriorates and people being unable to get medication as per their prescriptions are a daily occurrence. He also said that the government has turned a deaf ear to those complaints and that Aasandha as a service has declined after the announcement was made that it would be reformed.
Nazil went on to say that it has been two years since the government said they would import quality medication from Europe but the current situation is that medication that used to be imported is unavailable as well. And so, he called on the government to focus on real work instead of talking about baseless dreams.
Nazil stated that at the time, it was said the 2025 budget is a housing budget, but that no one who received housing has been handed their housing and that none of the projects that have begun have been finished. He also stated that work on the underwater tunnel that would connect Male' and Rasmale' has not progressed either.
While speaking on the current government, who had criticized the previous government for taking out loans, Nazil said that even though President Muizzu stated that he knows how to run a government without taking out loans, many loans have been taken out in a short amount of time. He also said it is because of a high amount of wastage that they have been moving forward by taking out additional loans without being able to manage with the state revenue.
"Let us take Velana International Airport as an example, one of the most profitable airports in the country and the most profitable business in Maldives. The airport brings in millions of Dollars. Even so, what we have seen as of late is the government taking on an additional loan to pay off the USD 40 million loan for the repair of the duty free stores," said Nazil with criticism.
"And so the question is, what is happening to the money that is coming into the airport company."
Nazil stated that the USD rate has not gone down even after the government said that it would not go up any further. He went on to say that the USD rate has risen to 22.40, and the steps that were taken did not solve anything and that the situation has gotten worse.
He expressed that all trust has been lost in the financial system. He also expressed concern that no action is being taken in accordance with the recommendations given by foreign parties in regards to the economic state of Maldives.
