President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has been caught spreading a blatant falsehood about the 2024 state budget, sparking controversy and raising questions about his credibility.
He spoke to the residents of Thoddoo island in Alif Alif atoll on Sunday as part of his ongoing tour of some islands in Alif Alif atoll and Kaafu atoll.
In his speech, the president spoke misleadingly about the 2024 budget passed by the 19th People’s Majlis assembly.
He claimed that appropriate actions couldn't be taken in 2024 because the budget that had to be implemented was not one passed and finalized by the current administration.
Muizzu asserted that they had to implement a budget that was not passed and finalized by his administration and that even with this month of this year, it's a budget that was proposed to a People’s Majlis assembly with a majority of the previous government by former Minister of Finance, passed without any consideration of what the Muizzu administration proposed during the transitional period.
Further, he claimed that it was a budget passed in a way that no work can be carried forward “at all” and that this fact “doesn’t change.” Muizzu noted that even if a parliament with a PNC majority was elected, the budget phase ends at the end of this year.
Refuting these statements, former Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer asserted that this is an “outright lie.” Ameer said that both the supplementary budget submitted during the transition period and the 2024 budget were submitted in consultation with the Transition Committee.
Ameer took to the social media platform ‘X’ in response to the president’s claims, noting that the list sent by the Muizzu administration was included in the budget submitted for 2024 as it was.
Even if that wasn't the case, when you say things couldn't be done due to how the budget was, we came to this situation precisely because of doing new things not even included in the budget. If the budget plan was followed, economic activities would have continued without stopping. Individuals and companies wouldn't have gone bankrupt,"Ibrahim Ameer, former Finance Minister.
Shedding light on some of the things the Muizzu administration has done without including them in the budget, Ameer questioned which part of the budget these things were included in to be carried out and noted the expenditure of hundreds of millions on reclaiming Fushidhiggaru lagoon, and the mention of drones brought from Turkey at a cost of USD 37 million.
The former minister stressed that compared to last year, MVR 1.425 billion more has been depleted on salaries alone so far this year.
Ameer noted that there are several more things done that weren't included in the budget. He called on the president to stop blaming the former administration when questioned about projects not progressing on islands.
Noting that when it comes to doing something for the people, nothing can be done because of the previous government's budget, Ameer said that what has been done so far wasn’t even included in the budget.
The former minister stressed that the country is now struggling to recover from that and that whatever the government failed to do this year they wouldn’t be able to complete in the next four years either.
Ameer highlighted that projects wouldn’t abruptly start when the government changes and a new person submits the budget.
Further, the former minister claimed that the incumbent lacks the mindset, capability, and sincerity to do anything.
Speaking to the Thoddoo community, Muizzu highlighted that the 2024 budget was passed in a manner that prevented any work from being done with a political agenda. However, he said that the current budget was designed to implement projects next year in a way that will benefit the people.
He said that 2025 will be the year to fulfill the promises made to the islands during the presidential election.
