President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has room for differences of opinion but that members should always work towards progress regardless of their differences in order to ensure a better future for the citizens.
Speaking at the 4th MDP Congress, President Solih highlighted the work of the main ruling party in the last 17 years. He said that every person who helped to form MDP considers the party their own and that no other party in the country had such involvement from citizens in its formation.
Furthermore, President Solih said that MDP was formed to give citizens justice and equality and urged members to not allow their work towards progress to be diminished. The president noted that one of the reasons MDP was formed was to end the human rights abuses in prisons and end tyranny. He said that at the time state institutions had the authority to arrest and imprison anyone without due process and that the purpose of MDP was to end such abuses by making the police service and the judiciary independent and to stop citizens from having to beg for essentials.
Additionally, President Solih described the challenges MDP faced in the last 17 years, noting that the party has made numerous accomplishments with much work still left unfinished in terms of the party’s internal or state reform. He said that housing projects are ongoing in the Greater Male’ Region and the atolls, water supply and sewerage systems are being established, and over 14,000 students have been enrolled in the free degree programme. He added that the government is building five tertiary hospitals, and the atolls are benefiting from tourism development and the decentralisation act.
In conclusion, President Solih further said the generation born during the formation of MDP will have the right to vote in the next presidential election and that the country has changed greatly in the past 17 years. As such, he said that the party needs to take into account the opinions of the new generation when making policies and should continue to fight for climate change action to guarantee their future, as they are the future leaders of the nation.