Services to the people have come to a halt: former President Nasheed

Former President and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed has said that all the services provided by the government to the people have come to a halted since President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has come to power.

Speaking at a MDP “Dheythin Fahethi” campaign event held in Lhaviyani Kurendhoo, the former president said that the Maldivian people have been deprived of one and half years of prosperity by Waheed, as that the current government has halted all of the initiative by the former administration.

“President Waheed has neglected the most prosperous one and a half years of this nation. Since my government was changed through a coup, I can only perceive this coup [government] as something that has come to halt. Every island that I go to, I see commenced projects unfinished. Harbours have come to stop. Sewerage systems have come to a stop. The change of school sessions to a single session have come to a stop. Aasandha has become a Baasandha. Transport has come to halt, everything has stopped. So I think Waheed’s campaign slogan is Halted,” Nasheed said.

He said that although his opposition had deprived him of his presidency in the guise of nation and religion, the change has brought a halt to all processes in the country. He said that one of the first things he saw after stepping down from power was the deterioration of relations between neighbouring countries, and that all the governments around the world are aware that the change of power was illegitimate. He said that the reason the governments had recognized Waheed’s administration so promptly was because they did not want to witness the administrative branch going into a void.

Speaking about his competition for the upcoming presidential election, the former president said that all parties of his opposition do not accept the current political system. He said they do not wish to accept a multi-party system, and that they have now curbed the freedom of expression and other fundamental rights. Nasheed bid the people to be weary of such things while casting their vote in the upcoming presidential election.

His policy is to facilitate ways for those who want to do businesses and other activities, Nasheed said, and to ease their way into entrepreneurship, such as people who want to go into fisheries and set up small businesses, he said. These things however need to done systematically, said the former president.

Speaking of an inter-island transportation network, Nasheed said that several different surveys on transportation have been conducted in the Maldives since the 1980s, but said that he does not believe that setting up a transport network need a large number of studies, as the country is been divided into small different islands located far apart. He said that a MDP government will establish perfect transportation system in the Maldives.