Yameen: Mandatory enlistment impractical, country needs able soldiers

Former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has called President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s recently announced plan to boost the number of security service personnel through a national service program impractical, adding that the people recruited to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) should be capable individuals.

The national service program was announced by President Muizzu during the Victory Day function on Sunday night. According to him, youth who lack prospects for further education or employment will be enlisted to the Maldives Police Service and the MNDF starting next year.

He said that 1,000 individuals will be enlisted to the MNDF and another 1,000 to the Police Service each year.

Speaking at a People’s National Front (PNF) gathering on Monday night, Yameen said that only educated and capable individuals should be recruited to the security services. He said that youth recruited to the security services should show clear evidence of aptitude based on their educational background.

“The military and police are the two most important institutions of this country. People should be recruited to these institutions based on merit. And there are more than enough people who join these institutions now,” he said.

The second problem he pointed out regarding the program was the cost. Yameen said that while President Muizzu announced the program would be launched next year, the government has not allocated funds for the program in next year’s state budget.

Yameen alleged that the government failed properly consider the responsibility it would entail when announcing the decision to recruit thousands of new servicemen over the course of five years.

“This entails recruiting 5,000 new soldiers in five years. I did the calculations just now. New recruits to the MNDF are paid MVR 13,000 as cadets. They get MVR 15,500 once they complete basic training. This is MVR 186 million in salaries to 1,000 individuals in a year,” he said.

 Yameen said this will raise the annual budget for MNDF and police to around MVR 2 billion each.

“How will this be managed? Many of the members of the Parliament are already complaining that the government had just sent some numbers as a budget. The numbers are budget numbers. It is not achievable,” he said.

“They need to provide details. Only when they sent the details will we able to determine if its achievable or not.”

Yameen said the state is already unable to sufficiently provide housing to all soldiers and police officers. He questioned how the government will manage salaries on housing for the new recruits.

He also alleged that the program isn’t being launched at the request of the MNDF or police, or even with any discussion with the two institutions.

The government was submitted a proposed state budget of MVR 56.6 billion for next year, with the total expenditure listed at MVR 49.2 billion.

In his address at the Victory Day function, President Muizzu announced plans to make an annual budget allocation of MVR 400 million for the national service program. He said that the funding for next year will be arranged under the budget allocation for new policy initiatives.