Minority Leader of the Parliament of Maldives Ahmed Saleem has expressed concerns about the way the country is being run by the government, stating the country is being navigated without any clear destination.
In the opposition response to the presidential address delivered by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at the parliament, Saleem said the opposition has major concerns about the way the country is being run. He remarked the government is navigating the country without any destination.
Saleem, who is the Parliamentary Group Leader of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), thanked the Speaker of Parliament for providing the opportunity to issue a response to the presidential address. In his speech, the minority leader noted former President Abdulla Yameen is the opposition leader and reiterated calls to release him from prison.
Noting the development projects conducted by the administration of former president Yameen, Saleem expressed concerns about the pace of development projects conducted by the current administration. He also proposed to deduct USD 1 million from the state budget as part of the policy of the administration to reduce expenditure following the global outbreak of Covid-19.
Speaking on the changes brought to the decentralisation system in Maldives, Saleem said decentralisation has been practiced for several years, although the reluctance of some presidents to release authorities to councils have led to an ineffective decentralisation system.
Following the minority leader’s response to the presidential address, Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed thanked the 65 parliamentarians of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for listening to the opposition response without creating chaos inside the parliament. Noting MDP members did not act the way opposition members did during the presidential address, Nasheed said the party showed a good example of a proper democracy.
This was the first time since 2011 that the opposition has been provided an opportunity to respond to the presidential address at the parliament.