No pressure from parties to government: President

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has said that the government does not face any pressure from the coalition parties.

Speaking to reporters after addressing the nation to mark 100 days of being in government, the President said that because leading positions in the government are held by competent people from different parties, he is not faced with any pressure.

“I get the cooperation of all political parties in the country. Things are being run so smoothly as a result of competent people from all parties having assumed the various posts, and because of the cooperation of all parties except MDP. I therefore thank all the political parties and their leaders,” the President said.

President Waheed said that it cannot be easy to work with a coalition government inclusive of parties of different ideologies, but does not observe much apprehension among party members.

“I have had no pressure from within the coalition. It can’t be easy to lead such a large coalition government. It’s normal sometimes to have small misunderstandings,” the President said.

The President also said that he makes an effort to remain unbiased, the serve all the parties in the coalition equally. If one party is unhappy about another’s actions, efforts are made to resolve such issues by dialogue.

“I am very happy and proud that the coalition has worked together for the past 100 days,” the President said.

He went on to say that MDP attempted to impose foreign influence on Maldives, and that they worked with their associates in Commonwealth to include the issue of Maldives on CMAG’s agenda, against Commonwealth regulations. He expressed hope that Maldives will be removed from CMAG’s agenda soon.