President Yameen rebuts accusations of injustice, scorns opposition's vows of "independent" institutions

Denying the accusations levied against his government by opposition parties claiming that violence and injustice have become commonplace, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Monday declared otherwise.

Speaking to citizens at Mahibadhoo, Alif Dhaal Atoll, to mark the completion of the island's road development project, President Yameen pledged to invest in the island further, stating that he would reclaim the congested island and provide housing for the residents should he be given another term as president.

The incumbent president also pledged to increase the price per kilo wage of fish for the tuna fisheries industry, assuring that these are not just false promises as confirmed by the development brought about in his administration over the past five years.

Mahibadhoo is a fishing island with many yellowfin tuna fishing vessels.

In response to opposition presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (Ibu)’s statements, President Yameen denied that injustice has increased in the five years that have passed under his reign, and that there is no environment for opposition leaders to state that institutions are not independent.

Ibu had stated that any individual who bends to political influence will not be granted positions in independent institutions should he succeed the upcoming election. Challenging his proclamation, President Yameen on Monday demanded the opposition to explain the February 1 landmark ruling of the Supreme Court, which the state alleges had been manipulated opposition politicians by bribing the top court judges.

President Yameen further stated that if former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration did not fall on February 7, 2012, then Nasheed would have replaced the entire Supreme Court bench with his own selection of judges.

The president stated that the country should remain independent, as opposed to the opposition's calling for international armies to take over Maldives. He added that if Maldivians were suffering, then the people would come to the president and say “I am suffering” instead of the warm congratulations he receives from the citizens, and that he would not be seeing happiness in the faces of those who come to greet him on his visits to their islands.