Decentralizing power and transferring authority to administrative divisions is not the most appropriate process of government for the Maldives, President Abdulla Yameen has said.

President Yameen, who is seeking a second term in office, said this while speaking at the Maldives National University’s presidential debate event on Sunday night.

Yameen – whose administration has been accused of unconstitutionally centralizing power – claimed that Maldives is a ‘unitary state’, where the central government is ultimately superior.

“I do not believe decentralization is appropriate for the Maldives. I say this because we have struggled to accommodate to this process. My government’s efforts to develop the islands have been obstructed by local council members aligned with the opposition. Maldives is a unitary state, the authority of the executive branch must be respected”, Yameen said.

At the moment, island councils have less control over their resources and services than they had immediately after former president Mohamed Nasheed ratified the Decentralization Act in 2010, with amendments to the act transferring authority to ministries.

These amendments, together with the administration’s restructuring of the Local Government Authority, the statutory regulator to island councils, have been described by critics as an attempt to tighten grips on power.

In mid-2014, the Housing Ministry’s appropriate of lands and property that were constitutionally under the authority of the Malé City Council was described by deputy mayor Shifa Mohamed as an attempt to destroy decentralization and ‘rob ordinary citizens of their power’.