Members of the opposition coalition have formulated and delivered a response to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's Third Presidential Address, which was read at the first sitting of parliament for the year on February 4.

Member of Parliament for the Eydhafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem delivered the opposition's response to President Solih's third Presidential Address on Wednesday, in his capacity as leader for the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)'s parliamentary group, as well as the minority leader of the People's Majlis at this time.

It can be noted that the response delivered to this year’s presidential address by PPM MP Ahmed Saleem neglected to include a lot of points covered by President Solih in his initial reading of the address earlier this month. Instead of this, the opposition chose to echo their earlier calls to have former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom during the opportunity. MP for Eydhafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem also went on to present allegations of creating false evidence, exerting political influence on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to the government, in addition to criticizing the work being done by presidential commissions across various key areas.

The opposition's response to President Solih's annual Presidential Address also nudged around at the aid being received by Maldives from India in this critical time, alleging that un-Islamic activities had been conducted during the inauguration of the Ekuveni Synthetic Track. These allegations are especially surprising as the event, which was covered live by almost every major media network in the country, had not featured such articles.

In their response to the presidential address, the opposition went on to declare that it was a misstep on behalf of the government to afford so much authority to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and healthcare workers, during a global pandemic, and cast them as antagonists that had upturned the lives of citizens, the economy and Maldivian society with their restrictions as opposed to Covid-19 itself. Further, the opposition claimed that the government's visits to islands had been the reason that Covid-19 was spreading in outlying atolls. MP for Eydhafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem also criticized development and changes being implemented within the fisheries industry, in addition to framing the work being conducted to support farmers in the Maldives by Agro National Corporation Limited (AgroNat) as disadvantageous to the government.

The list of baseless arguments presented by the opposition in response to President Solih's Third Presidential Address also included them calling out sustainability-oriented explorations being conducted by the government in association with the Blue Prosperity Coalition as dangerous to the seas of Maldives, and a risk to the nation's sovereignty.

Following the conclusion of the opposition's response to President Solih's Third Presidential Address, Former President and Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed thanked Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem for his contribution. This year's Presidential Address had received heavy criticism from the opposition coalition, with opposition MPs going as far as to boycott the President's Address, though it can be observed that arguments with substance were largely missing from their formal response to this year's Presidential Address, which was delivered at the first sitting of parliament earlier this month.