Presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will ensure that his government holds law enforcement bodies accountable and restores public trust in them, says opposition aligned MP Imthiyaz Fahmy.

Speaking at a Joint Opposition rally in Hinnavaru island of Lhaviyani atoll, MP Fahmy said that they will restore the integrity that the police and military have lost due to the actions of the current government.

“Solih’s administration will not send officers to attack and assault civilians, innocent protestors. We will not send them to disrupt peaceful demonstrations”, Fahmy said.

Having said this, Fahmy heavily criticized the Maldives Police Service and claimed that the institution is incapable of guaranteeing public safety in capital city Malé.

The lawmaker said that the police are more concerned with political matters than tackling violent crimes. Capital city Malé has seen a rise in gang-related violence this year.

In response to a ruling party member’s claim that the ‘local youth has become more responsible’ under President Abdulla Yameen’s regime, Fahmy referred to the recent stabbing of 18-year-old Ibrahim Agil.

“A boy was stabbed in the throat in one of the most secure and surveilled locations in Malé, in front of the MMA! That tragedy alone showed the level of responsibility these people are claiming”, Fahmy continued.

Fahmy said that the nation’s policing and military bodies should ‘serve the public, not individual members of government’ and this is an ideal to which the Joint Opposition’s ‘unity government’ will work towards.