Actions of government past and current officials who took advantage of their position have effectively robbed the Maldivian people of their future, says Kendhoo constituency MP Ali Hussein.

The parliamentarian said, during his speech at a Jumhooree Party rally on Thursday night, that the country’s rising debt and the government’s ‘apparent policy of development on borrowed’ funds is detrimental to the country.

MP Hussain further said that the Maldives is a low-income nation with immense gaps in wealth, adding that most ‘Maldivians do not have access to basic utilities like power and clean water’.

“Our national debt is now at 1.2 billion[US dollars] and the current state of the country requires urgent analysis and addressing” the lawmaker said.

Hussain expressed his confidence that the Jumhooree Party, which is part of a coalition of opposition parties that have agreed to put forth a single candidate for the upcoming elections, will be ‘victorious in 2018’.