No promise is valid without a policy: Nasheed

Former president and Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed has said that unless accompanied by the appropriate policies, no presidential pledge can be viewed acceptable.

Speaking at a MDP campaign event in Fuvahmulah last night, Nasheed said that a campaign promise without a police would have no framework of implementation and thus, would hold no gravity.

“A political pledge is not just saying that you’ll do something. A lot of political leaders, during the last parliamentary elections, and more recently during the presidential elections, have been making promises. They promise you all sorts of things. None of these are valid as long as they don’t tell you a policy, a way to implement that policy and how much it will cost for implementation. A political promise has to come with an implementation policy,” Nasheed said.

He said that MDP’s pledges are achievable and that they have all been put together with the appropriate policies and forecasted budgets for implementation.

“God willing, our government will generate MVR 72 billion within the next five years. Out of this, MVR 30 billion will be spent on those 137 projects. MVR 37 billion will be spent on administrative purposes and MVR 16 billion on repaying debt,” Nasheed said.