President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has claimed that there was no party to form an alliance with the ruling party in the past, and that this has been demonstrated in the previous elections.

He said this while speaking at a rally held in Foakaidhoo island of Shaviyani atoll to officially launch his re-election campaign for the upcoming Presidential election.

Taking the podium at the campaign event, the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s candidate for the upcoming September polls, noted that as his five-year term comes to a conclusion, the coalition formed with the ruling party to elect his administration had remained intact.

Noting that this is being observed for the first time in the history of the island nation, President Solih stated that two political parties had made an alliance with the ruling party to win the Presidential polls.

Shedding light on the peace and unity observed throughout the nation during his five-year tenure, the president stressed that in previous administrations, each and every prominent anti-government figure in the political sphere had to sit behind bars and that journalists had to live in fear of doing their job.

However, he noted that his administration has ensured that journalists no longer have to cower in fear and now have the freedom to report. He added that his administration does not slap grand fines on TV stations for simply reporting the truth to the public and that it does not illegally imprison reporters.

President Solih added that he was the leader who ensured the freedom and independence that the citizens were longing for at a time the Maldives had fallen into a dark pit where political freedom was stripped alongside many other rights.

The Maldivian leader asserted that the citizens remained in hopes of seeing peace and unity back then, and that they required basic services.

Noting that his purpose remains to maintain the peace and unity, the president stated that he was inspired to run for a second presidential term by former MP for Komandoo constituency, the late Hussain Waheed.

As such, he noted that the late lawmaker had urged him to run for a second term, every time they met.

President Solih credited the peace and unity observed today, to the presence of the coalition.

The president also remarked that the People’s Majlis was being operated as per the wishes of Speaker of Parliament and Former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Further speaking, President Solih added that 90 percent of the presidential pledges he had made back in 2018 has been completed and is in operation.

According to the president, most of these projects were carried out at a time the entire globe was at a standstill due to crises.

Highlighting that the state reserve had increased with his administration’s diligent efforts, a confident president remarked that the country’s economy will double.

The president poured pledges onto the Foakaidhoo community at the rally, stating that the government would carry out more development projects including road development as well as housing if he is elected for a second term.