Umar: No plan B, will go home if defeated in election

Former Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has stated that when it comes to the upcoming Presidential Elections he does not have a ‘Plan B’, and the only option for him was winning. 

Speaking at SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ programme, Umar reiterated his already declared intentions of contesting the Presidential Elections. He went on to state that he has been advocating to bring the “right” changes to the country for 18 years. 

Furthermore, Umar said that even in a scenario where he loses the election, he does not have any interest in forming a coalition. 

“There is no ‘Plan B’. I only have a Plan A. I only have the option of winning the election. I have no intentions of getting into any governments, form coalitions and sit as a minister. I do not want to gain 20 to 30 percent and have ‘my people’ appointed to different posts.”

In addition to this, Umar talked about different issues in the country, and said that there were five main things to be noted in this regard. 

The issues he noted are; the widespread problem of drug addiction, the high increasing rate of debt in the country, military personnel from another country being stationed in Maldives, expatriates taking over businesses in the country, and the lack of enforcement of Islamic Sharia in Maldives. 

He claimed that to date, no government has worked towards a permanent solution for the drug addition, and attributed that to be the reason why the issue is so widespread within the country. He added that the danger was not just that, but today, Maldives being a transhipment hub for the drugs was also a big part of the problem.

Umar said that none of the prior governments have been able to say how this can be solved, and added that all the other candidates who announced their candidacy were working with a ‘failed formula’.

“Its has been 15 years of dragging this on with older methods. Every government that gets elected says, we will do this... we will expand rehabilitation... we will build prisons. This has been going on for a long time now.”

He revealed that his preferred methods to tackle the drug epidemic would be a mix of those adapted by Singapore, as well as the rulings in Islamic Sharia.

Further shedding light on the issue of foreign military, he claimed that there are soldiers based in Maldives, and said that there is too much Indian influence in Maldives now. He also said that in a government formed by him, no such foreign military presence would be allowed.

Elaborating on businesses being operated by expatriates, Umar stressed that this was a major problem. He went on to note that foreigners conducting business in itself was not an issue, but rather allowing undocumented migrants to do so in Maldives.

The unusually high rates of debt in Maldives was also a major problem, said Umar. He highlighted that the loans taken from countries like China and India were too many. 

“Hence, we have a very high debt. It has increased to a level where it could even impact our independence. So, this needs to be managed. Every government that comes talk about distributing things for free. Free rice, flour, sugar, so they just talk about giving away things for free. Behind each and everything given for free, there is debt.”

He stated that none of the candidates were talking about increasing income. 

While anyone can contest in the elections, he said that they must come with solutions for the bigger issues within the country. 

Umar who has been vocal in his advocacy for enforcing Islamic Sharia, he said that in his government, this would be carried out without differentiating anyone. He said that he would not give heed to what the western powers and organizations might have to say regarding it. 

He asked not to have any questions whether the things included in the manifesto would be addressed or not. 

“Its a 100 percent (certainty). There is truth in what I say. God willing, till date, if I have said I would do some thing in a certain manner, I have always done so and shown.”