President: PPM saw jailing rivals as only path to office

The previous Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) administration had believed jailing political opponents to be the only path to office, said President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Tuesday, adding that Maldives now knew only “freedom”.

The president made the remark at a campaign rally in Sh. Bilehfah.

Addressing the rally, President Solih said that the leaders of the then-opposition coalition had all been jailed in the lead up to the 2018 election.

“12 MPs, leaders of political parties, and anyone with any leadership role in a political party were all jailed. The administration at the time believed the only way they could win the election was to jail opponents,” he said.

The president said that if the first line of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP was to be jailed today, the second line would come to the forefront, and would be just as strong.

He said that the Maldivian people fully enjoy the right to freedom of expression under his administration, and that the press had the freedom to report “whatever they want.”

“In Sha Allah, we will move forward with this freedom,” he said.

The president said that if elected for a second term, he will:

• Develop the roads of Bilehfahi
• Upgrade the island’s health center
• Expand local tourism