A daily roundup of headlines made by the candidates, running mates and their surrogates on the campaign trail.
August 29
- They tried to perpetrate biggest coup on May Day: Shaheem (Avas)
- On May Day they planned to perpetrate biggest coup: Dr Shaheem (PSM)
- President Yameen knows philosophy of rule of law: Shaheem (Mihaaru)
- Ihavandhoo celebrates getting scan machine (PSM)
- Nihan to opposition: is calling thief good ethics? (Mihaaru)
- The only thing opposition is doing is calling thief (Avas)
- Action will be taken against defamation of government officials (PSM)
- They’re calling thief without evidence, a day will come when they will be questioned: Nihan (Sun)
- What President Yameen said was about developing, not stealing: Nihan (Raajje)
Campaigning in Laamu atoll, the president’s running mate Dr Mohamed Shaheem accused the opposition of plotting a to remove the president from office with the mass anti-government protest on May 1, 2015, calling it the biggest coup attempt in Maldivian history. The country would have been “lost” if it had succeeded, he said.
On the northern island of Ihavandhoo, government supporters marched in ruling party colours to thank the president for delivering a scanning machine to the island’s hospital.
At a press briefing in the capital, MP Ahmed Nihan declared that the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives was keeping recordings of opposition figures calling the president and other government officials thieves. The allegations are slanderous and unsupported by any evidence, he said, accusing the opposition of campaigning contrary to Islamic principles. He indicated that the PPM would seek legal action for defamation.
“When the time comes, don’t say, ‘that’s something I said during the campaign fervour,'” he warned. The opposition has nothing else to offer other than the corruption allegations, the PPM parliamentary group leader said.
- Faisal to police: become trustworthy (Mihaaru)
- Police should protect the public (Avas)
- We’re concerned with President Yameen’s unpresidential remarks: Mariya (Raajje)
- We can win with a proper campaign, no need to tie president’s feet: Mariya (Mihaaru)
- Opposition concerned over lies about GMR dispute (VFP)
- We will raise salary of doctors and nurses: Faisal (Raajje)
- We will solve housing problem after land reclamation in Huraa: Faisal (Vnews)
- We will expand guesthouse business in Dhiffushi: Faisal (Raajje)
- Madam Aisha campaigning in some Kaafu atoll island (Vnews)
- What we did on May Day wasn’t a coup, it was the people’s voice: Ali Waheed (Avas)
- The day when President Yameen flees is very close: Gasim (Vnews)
- Ibu meets Umar Zahir (Avas)
- Umar Zahir in campaign with Ibu (Raajje)
- The most dangerous is attempt to maintain autocratic rule: Anara (Vnews)
- Whole Kolamaafushi coloured yellow for Ibu’s arrival, government employees to the front row! (Raajje)
Kicking off a tour of islands in Malé atoll, the opposition vice presidential candidate Faisal Naseem called on the police to establish public order without serving the government’s political purposes. He praised traffic police officers who caught an assailant who tried to flee after a stabbing in the capital on Tuesday night. Faisal called the police officer a national hero.
The police would be able to serve and protect the public with honour and dignity under a coalition government, he said. He made several pledges during the island visits, promising housing solutions and an end to alleged discrimination in the government health insurance scheme.
Back in Malé, opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ‘Ibu’ went door-to-door in the Maafanu ward and visited the home of Umar Zahir, a long-serving minister during former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s reign. He went to a nearby café for afternoon tea with the state dignitary.
Ibu is due to resume campaigning in the atolls during the weekend with a visit to Kolamaafushi island in Gaaf Alif atoll.
