Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) held a ceremony late Tuesday to commemorate its 127 years of service to the nation.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Minister of Defence Mariya Ahmed Didi, and high ranking military officials attended the ceremony.
In her speech, Defence Minister Mariya declared that during her tenure, she would seek to attain job security for military officials away from political motives.
She revealed that upon taking office, she observed the status quo of MNDF and alleged that former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's administration made use of the military to further their political agendas.
She also highlighted that many lost their posts or were shifted to serve in other locations allegedly under political influences at the time. She stated that job security was nonexistent due to the lack of proper systems to submit complaints about wrongful termination of employment.
The Defence Minister revealed that work is currently underway to establish systems to curb such illicit conduct from taking place in the future.
"Currently, we are working on designating proper regulations... working to prepare a foundation to monitor complaints and establish a proper mechanism. The desired outcome is to not allow authorities to dismiss and impeach military officials that have served the country for years for political reasons", said Mariya.
Moreover, President Solih highlighted that the armed forces made many important sacrifices throughout Maldives' history for the security of the nation, and that this fact would never change as he guaranteed that the militaries' aligned formation to guard the security of the citizens would always persist.
He revealed that a high priority for his administration is to secure justice and unveiled a new military doctrine at the ceremony. He highlighted its importance to ensure equality and justice within the military's conduct.
"With the changes brought in by the doctrine, Maldives' defence forces have received the skill, training and the resources to run as an army", said the president.
Furthermore, he condemned the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sunday in neighbouring Sri Lanka as "low atrocious acts committed by an inhumane group targeting and killing innocent civilians".
He declared that although the attacks took place in Sri Lanka, it was a threat felt within Maldives as well and revealed that the administration is working to identify and process necessary countermeasures.
"In relation to the dangerous attacks, Maldives National Defence Force, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and Maldives Police Service are working jointly to take into account the risk, and the necessary measures to undertake in response".
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