Convicted criminals will be rehabilitated in order to prevent them from further crime and become functional members of society, says the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The opposition party’s manifesto for the upcoming presidential election includes a chapter on the judiciary and justice system, that includes the pledge to recognize convicts as vulnerable to further crime and to rehabilitate them.

MDP said in a separate statement on Thursday that their policy has never been to tighten enforcement of laws in order to make more arrests. The statement said that such treatment of criminals only aggravates such activity and yields no positive result.

In its chapter on the Maldivian justice system, MDP’s manifesto also pledges to establish magistrate courts under criminal, civil, and family branches.

The party has also pledged to set up detention facilities at outlying constituencies, which will be managed and maintained by respective local government councils.