President Abdulla Yameen has provoked outrage over a statement he made which was seen as belittling women.
Giving a speech in Th. Madifushi on August 15, President Yameen said that if some opposition coalition members are too “shy” to talk about the controversial GMR deal, they should wear a burqa and stay home.
“Why has that issue been forgotten today? Are such shy people coming out as the opposition? Isn’t it better [for them] to wear a burqa and stay home?”
Responding to the statement on Twitter, North-Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla said President Yameen had dismissed the contribution of every woman who has ever stayed home and dismisses every burqa clad woman as being a waste to society.
“The sexism piles up from the Yameen camp.”
The sexism piles up from the Yameen camp.
— Eva Abdulla (@evattey) August 19, 2018
With yet another deragotory sentence, President Yameen dismisses the contribution of every woman who has ever stayed home, and dismisses every burqa claid woman as being a waste to society. pic.twitter.com/1AhKUgaLkg
President Yameen had also courted controversy for a statement he made on 20 May 2016 at a sports festival by saying that men who go to Thailand “do not get women for free.”
Also, speaking at a party event during his campaign run in 2013, President Yameen told the audience it was Autism Day and that anyone who did not have autism could see the 30 years of development in the country. He later apologized for this statement.
