Will move forward even without majority support in Male' City: Pres.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that his government will continue to serve the citizens of Maldives despite main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) having lost majority support in the capital Male' following Saturday's Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made the remarks in a press conference held on Monday afternoon. The President affirmed that MDP remained committed to their vision of decentralizing the Maldives, and that the party would continue to empower local councils in order to strengthen decentralized governance. President Solih also assured that all councilors would receive support of the central government regardless of their political affiliations, and that the government will continue to coordinate with them and ensure that they can implement effective local governance across atolls.

As such, the President highlighted that the government had not discriminated among islands in initiating PSIP projects.

On Monday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih acknowledged that the loss of Male' was the result of difficulties faced by citizens, and highlighted the housing crisis as one such issue of critical importance to his administration. The President also highlighted that delays in investigating the MMPRC grand corruption case, and failure to facilitate justice in the deaths of Minivan News Journalist Ahmed Rilwan and democratic activist Yameen Rasheed, had also been key reasons for voters in Male' shunning MDP.

President Solih went on to outline solutions to such issues, including the 5,000 housing units being developed in the Male', area, in addition to 13,000 housing units also projected as a potential future project. The President also stated that the issue of housing in Male' had festered to be more detrimental than they had previously expected.