Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the public have lost confidence in the government. He said that the public is regretting having elected this government and is despairing their decision.
Solih made these comments while speaking at Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) mayoral candidate Adam Azim's final campaign rally held last night.
He said that the government had come into power, even if on the strength of lies, and that the people had had hopes and expectations of them.
"The people hoped that this government would serve them even better than before. However, the government has driven the public to despair even in this short period they have been in power. All hope is lost. We are seeing lie above lie," Solih said.
"Not just the residents of Male'. The entire people of the country are now worried about the decision they made then."
Solih said that MDP being the opposition party now, they would ensure to do everything necessary to hold the government accountable. He stated that the party would hold the government accountable within the laws for every action they make, and added that MDP is well aware of how to do so.
The former President went on to criticize the Male' City Council. He said that the council had failed to bring about any solutions to the numerous issues faced in Male'.
"The person who has filled the mayor's position till now did not work to run the council as defined in the law. The aim was to bring in other powers not specified in the law under their administration. That is not how we introduced decentralization," he said.
"It is MDP who introduced decentralization to the Maldives. We are the people who know how to implement it. Adam Azim has come forward to do that work."
Solih expressed confidence that Azim will fulfill the duties of the mayorship in a way that the people desire, in accordance with the party's principles.
Stating that Azim will be conducting work as mandated by the law for a mayor, and not 'attempt to form a separate government within the council', Solih said, "Azim is not going to be obstructing the incumbent government. He will be there to serve the people. To find solutions."
Solih said that under his administration, he had worked to resolve the housing crisis by giving land plots and housing units. He criticized the incumbent government for delaying those projects, adding that it can only be expedited through the election of an MDP mayor.
"In order to lessen congestion in Male', services need to be provided in other regions of the country. There is no other way to provide a permanent solution to the problems faced in Male'. That is the work we were doing in our administration," Solih said.
"It is regrettable that the incumbent government has decided to halt much of the work that we initiated. These are not issues that can be resolved just through reclaiming some land around Male'. A permanent solution can only be found through developing the entire nation."
Stating that neither the public nor MDP would continue to just watch and wait as the government continues to bring to a halt multiple projects, Solih said that if the government is not held to account, Maldives will 'fall into a deep pit' developmentally.
"We have stood back so far because we believed we must give the government some time as they were elected by the people. I still think we should maybe give them some more time. But I don't think we can afford to continue to hold back and watch."
Sign In