President: No “uncle from a faraway land” is coming to reform Maldives

“No uncle from a faraway land” is coming to reform the Maldives, and it is the people of Maldives who need to reform the country, not some foreigner, says President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

President Yameen made the comment during his address to the people of N. Hen’badhoo – his second stop in his current tour of islands in N. Atoll, B. Atoll and Lh. Hinnavaru – this Sunday.

He said the people of Maldives needed to make it their mission to remain keep up with the changing world.

He said only Maldivians would have the best intentions for the country at heart, and that no one should expect a stranger to come to reform the country.

“Looking back at the long history of Maldives, we see the despair under which the people had to live under foreign influence. We therefore do not want these unlawful foreign influences,” said President Yameen.

President Yameen said he did not believe any foreigner should have a say in any decision made by the country. He said that foreign influence affected Islamic values of the country. And that “history shows how alcohol was forced down throats” of Maldivians.

“If we want progress, we need to create an environment which will facilitate progress,” said President Yameen.

He said the environment to accommodate progress and development can only be created through peace and respect for the rule of law.

He said democracy involved progress to all islands, even small isolated ones.

“But when all that is talked about is complaints over being unable to demonstrate in a certain location or reducing the sentence of a prisoner, then our ears will be quite full of earwax indeed,” said President Yameen, challenging the opposition.