Jumhooree Party (JP) leader and their presidential candidate Qasim Ibrahim has announced that all loans issued by him personally or through his Villa Foundation have been waived from now on.
Qasim made the announcement while speaking at a rally held at the party’s headquarters yesterday to release the manifesto for the upcoming presidential election.
Any child who has received a scholarship by the Villa Foundation or Qasim Ibrahim, and those who are currently studying, will be forgiven for everything they have been given until the end of their course. There is no need for a single child to pay any amount of money, whether I get elected or not.
Jumhooree Party (JP) leader and presidential candidate, Qasim Ibrahim
According to Qasim, he is doing so because his manifesto includes student loan waiver and free education up to master’s degree.
Many of the students studied at the expense of the Qasim and Villa foundations with some percentage of their loans repaid over a long period of time, including those with first degrees, masters and PhDs, Gasim said. He said the money spent on educating all these people is estimated at about a billion Maldivian rufiyya.
Qasim has also promised to forgive all student loans issued by the state if he wins the upcoming presidential election. Free tuition up to Masters will be provided, he said.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is campaigning for a second term, has also promised to forgive student loans issued by the government under a certain rule.
The government’s student loan waiver is also a presidential promise of MNP presidential candidate, Dhangethi MP Mohammed Nazim.
