Parliament Speaker Abdulla Maseeh and fellow ruling party aligned MP Abdul Raheem are responsible for the ‘neglect’ residents of his constituency face, says Fuvahmulah-North MP Ali Shah.

Speaking at a rally held in the southern city, the parliamentarian said the ‘voice’ of his residents have been constrained by fellow MP Raheem, for Fuvahmulah-South, and ‘rubber-stamp’ Speaker Maseeh.

MP Shah said that Maseeh and members of the ruling party’s parliamentary group have hindered development for southern atolls in the country, and that President Abdulla Yameen had allowed this in the People’s Majlis, Maldives’ unicameral parliament.

“Maseeh and Adhurey [as MP Raheem is commonly known] have taken over the majlis and choked the voice of the Fuvahmulah people. Yameen has neglected to address this and Maseeh blatantly acts as his rubber-stamp. All those who experience the burden of our lacking medical facilities or education know this to be true. It is the weight of the corruption Yameen has allowed”, Shah said.

MP Shah, who resigned from the Progressive Party of Maldives in July last year along with Tulhaadhoo MP Nazim Rashad, said he himself worked in President Yameen’s campaign and support his ideology for progress. Rashad says he has personal experience of Yameen’s disinterest in following through with his pledges.

During the 2013 presidential elections, president Yameen pledged to address the island’s lack of access to adequate water and sewerage facilities and to officially grant it city status. In 2016, Yameen and Environment Minister Thoriq inaugurated the system at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, where both MP Shah and Raheem were present with state minister Ghassaan Maumoon – son of opposition leader, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In his speech there, Yameen pledged to address waste management and develop the Fuvahmulah Aiport – which itself employs a large number of the city’s youth – and expand the island’s touristic appeal, ultimately bringing in six to eight million visitors a year, but MP Shah said Yameen has failed to follow through.

Monday night’s rally in Fuvahmulah was attended by prominent members of the coalition of parties united against corruption and abuse of power in the Yameen administration, comprising of the Maldivian Democratic Party, the Jumhooree Party, the Adhaalath Party, and the Maumoon Reform Movement, which split from the ruling party in 2016 following disputes between presidents Yameen and Maumoon.

After a campaign visit upon being tapped as Yameen’s running mate, former minister Mohamed Shaheem concluded his trip to Fuvahmulah with the impression that residents support Yameen, having said in an interview after that the government has accomplished ‘a development peak’.

A consensus in 2014 shows only 9,000 people inhabit the island and as of 2017 is home to a nature park, along with neighboring Addu City. The city is divided into nine highly distinct wards with loosely-defined boundaries. Historically, it was home to the greatest number of learned individuals who have memorized the Quran, given the title Hafiz.