President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Sunday starkly criticized and urged opposition coalition presidential candidate, Ibrahim "Ibu" Mohamed Solih, to be held accountable.
Looking at main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s manifesto, Yameen stated that a lot of policies on it are what MDP had previously tried to implement during their rule, with Yameen iterating this election was not just between himself and Ibu, but rather in the direction of the right to have a say regarding Maldives' cultural identity, tranquility, and its Islamic and nationalist ideologies.
During the ceremony held for ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to officially hand over its presidential ticket to incumbent president Yameen, the president questioned his opposing candidate Ibu during his speech.
Yameen’s queries for Ibu and MDP:
- Can MDP assure that public assets will not be sold?
- Why was Velana International Airport sold (during MDP's government) and why did the treasury receive nominal income from the airport?
- How strongly will Islamic principles be implemented?
- Will the death penalty be implemented?
- Why were corruption cases not looked into during MDP’s presidency?
- What was the reason behind MDP’s influence in the Supreme Court's landmark verdict on February 1?
- Why did civil servants face salary cuts during MDP's rule?
- Why did MDP exempt itself from the vote to pass the state budget?
- Can MDP affirm that they will not influence the judicial process?
President Yameen stated that he would like these questions to be answered on a public platform.
The president claimed that respecting the Constitution is not the responsibility citizens should bare. Moreover he declared that during a time when the opposition expressed their desire to dissolve state companies, it is imperative to accept the real reason behind the development of citizens is due to state companies working independently while being financially capable.
According to Yameen, the opposition-aligned individuals should not lean towards solely ushering MDP’s rise to power and, instead, these individuals need to “tidy” themselves up, to have the courage to seek forgiveness from society for any actions that they may have committed.
Sign In