North Hithadhoo Constituency MP Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe) speaks in an Addu dialect and when the Minister of Health, Family and Welfare Geela Ali was questioned by him, she stated on two occasions the question was not clear to her and today being the second, resulting in Sodiq speaking in formal Dhivehi dialect instead.
When Minister Geela stated for the first time the question asked by Sodiq in Addu dialect was unclear to her, many people criticized her for it on social media.
When Sodiq posed a question in Addu dialect during today's Parliament sitting, Geela requested the question be asked in "a clear manner". The team from the Health Ministry that attended Parliament with Geela stated they somewhat understood the question.
"I request the honorable member to pose the question in a way I can fully understand. I inform the honorable Speaker that otherwise, I may have slight difficulties in answering the question," said Geela.
When Geela made the request, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Saleem gave Sodiq the opportunity to ask her the question a second time.
Sodiq proceeded to ask the question in formal Dhivehi dialect, with him changing to an Addu dialect at a certain point.
"It happens from time to time, I am in the process of learning the Male' dialect after coming to Male'", said Sodiq when some MPs highlighted that his speech had changed to an Addu dialect for the second time.
The first day Sodiq asked a question in Addu dialect, Geela stated the question was unclear to her, with some people criticizing her for it. They said that the minister is supposed to answer the question no matter the dialect being used.
"No matter what island government institution leaders are from, they are to respond regardless of the dialect they are being addressed with. The response given to the MP after they found the question asked in an Addu dialect to be strange is a form of mockery to everyone from Addu. Please do not act this way," as was written on X after the Parliament sitting on 23rd June by former Speaker of Parliament and former Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
In response to Shahid's tweet, people stated that not everyone would know all of the dialects, and they would only be able to answer if they are questioned in a dialect they are familiar with.
One individual responded to Shahid stating that no one is saying the Addu dialect is not a part of the Maldivian language, and that a minister is not necessarily required to know all of the dialects.
