Male’, Maldives – The opposition coalition have said that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih lied about the former President, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and that they would press charges against the president over this.
The coalition said that President Solih lied when he mentioned that former President Yameen gave out 85 tourism lands at an unfair rate and that Yameen had gained profit from the money that was earned by those lands.
While speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Hoarafushi Airport, President Solih said that the 85 islands that were sold by the previous government are still not finished and that the state did not receive the money they are supposed to get from these islands.
President Yameen also took the money he received by unfairly giving out those lands at a low rate. If only we had that money included in the proposed budget, then atleast, we could have used it for expenses.
President Solih stated while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Hoarafushi Airport
However, in response to President Solih’s statements, the opposition coalition released a statement which read that President Solih should be ashamed to talk about what Yameen achieved in the tourism and business sectors of Maldives.
The statement read that during Yameen’s 5 year presidency, he worked hard to completely develop the resorts in 35 islands and also managed to complete and open several resorts in the country.
The coalition said that during Yameen’s presidency, he managed to increase the bed capacity from 24,000 beds to 48,000 beds and that Yameen had grown the tourism industry of Maldives during his presidency more than any other President in the history of Maldives has ever done during their presidency.
When President Solih took over the government, the sovereign development fund made by Yameen had more than $100 million in it.
The statement revealed by PCC read.
The coalition said that the this can be proved with the budget research that was done by the then Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Ahmed Naseer on November 22, 2018. In addition to this, they said that Yameen also saved $178 Million in the reserve of MMA when he finished his first term, and that all of these statements can be authenticated by MMA.
The coalition also noted that when President Solih came into power, the debts were at 74% compared to the GDP, however, just after two years of President Solih’s presidency, this has increased to a world record rate after the debt rate increased to 107%.
In addition to this, the opposition also noted that after President Solih came into power, 45 loans were taken till date, and that all of these loans amount up to $1.6 Billion and that this debt record is an embarrassment to the citizens.
The Presidents before President Solih have also taken loans to pay for recurrent expenditure. But they spend no more than 15% of the loans. However, over 50% of the boat load of loans that President Solih took are being spent as recurrent expenditure.
The statement revealed by PCC read.
The coalition said that the incumbent government is using all these loans as a waste by giving it to their relatives, paying their party activists and by going on holiday trips. The opposition further stressed that the citizens of Maldives deserve to know the truth about what is being done with all these loans.
