Former President and leader of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has stated that a democracy is a system in which people are free to work with their personal political ideologies, and that in such a system people with varying ideas must be welcomed.
Speaking at a campaign event of PPM’s parliamentary candidate for Villin’gili constituency Saudh Hussain, Gayoom expressed concerns that residents of some islands harassed contestants campaigning for the party’s coalition.
“Since we are in a democracy, we must welcome people with different ideologies. We have to listen to what they have to say. It is a completely different matter whether you accept what they have to say or not,” Gayoom said.
Gayoom further said that it is very important to acquire a majority in the next parliament, stating that the reason for this is that the current government is led by the coalition.
He opined that failure to garner a majority would cause difficulties in fulfilling party manifesto.
