Great progress has been made over the past year: President

The President’s Office has said that the unity government formed one year ago on 7 February 2012 following the resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed, has achieved great success over the course of the year.

The President’s Office said in a brochure outlining the government’s success over the year that economic achievements of the government include regaining control of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport from Indian infrastructure giant GMR, securing $131 million from foreign sources for the development of renewable energy, and issuing loans worth over MVR 40 million for the development of small- and medium-sized firms.

The brochure also highlights the government’s success in areas such as democracy consolidation, good governance, rule of law, safety and security, economic development, job creation, health, education, housing and infrastructure, transport system as well as prevention of narcotics.

The brochure notes that as part of the government’s efforts to restore calm in the country following the political turmoil, it returned 215 out of 437 prisoners who had been pardoned under the ‘second chance program’ back to prison. The brochure highlights that the president has not exercised his power to pardon and grant clemency to convicts stipulated in the law, and released any prisoner serving a sentence.

The brochure says that during the past year, the unity government has strengthened diplomatic ties with friendly countries, and defended the rights of Muslims and small states in the international arena. It further notes that the government has reduced the number of political posts and thereby cut down state expenditure by over 2 million Rufiyaa, and worked towards strengthening governance within the structure of the civil service.