President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik during his visit to Lhaimagu. PHOTO/ PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has said that former president Mohamed Nasheed wants to "come back to power by force," and that no one should pay much attention to it.
“Which is why we’re hearing all these commotions,” he said, addressing the people of Shaviyani atoll Lhaimagu this morning.
The president has recently started a tour of North Miladhummadulu.
The President said that his government would also be fully inclusive. In this regard, he said, all major political parties were already part of the unity government, while the Maldivian Democratic Party had been invited to join his Cabinet.
“For the past three years this is not how we saw matters progress. Power was obtained through a coalition of various political parties. Even I wasn’t a member of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). I joined forces with him on his request. The people voted for all of us, on just one piece of ballot paper. Two people received the votes, me and Nasheed, thus the constitution stipulates that if the office of the president becomes vacant for any reason, the vice president shall succeed to the office of the president. I was sworn in by the chief justice in front of the speaker of parliament and thus I have been assigned the duties of the president today,” he said.
Speaking of the promises the previous government had made to the people of Lhaimagu, President Waheed noted that none of the promises had been fulfilled, while even funds were not allocated for those projects.
He said he would not make any empty promises, but the government would try to address at least one major issue faced by the people of Lhaimagu.
Focusing on environmental problems faced by the islanders, President Waheed said his policy was to advance action over words.
“While we keep saying at international forums that the Maldives is a vulnerable state, we’ve neglected addressing environmental issues in various islands. We’ve just been telling other countries that the Maldives is at the forefront of the fight against climate change”.
The President said his policy for that reason would be to plan special projects to address environmental issues faced in the islands.
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