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Opposition voters branded ‘enemies of the state’

The presidential election campaign is in full swing with both sides going door to door across the country.

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6 years ago

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A ruling party lawmaker on Friday branded Maldivians who refuse to vote for President Abdulla Yameen in September as “enemies” of the people and the Maldivian state.

MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla, deputy leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives, made the remark at a ceremony held on Fonadhoo island to launch a road construction project, Mihaaru reported.

The current administration has spent more than MVR700 million (US$45 million) to develop his Laamu atoll constituency, Abdul Raheem said.

“There is no other island more deserving than Fonadhoo to give first place to President Yameen in the Maldives. There’s no other island that has made such progress in proportion to the population,” he was quoted as saying.

The central message of Yameen’s re-election bid is his track record on delivering overdue infrastructure and “mega-projects” such as the Malé-Hulhulé bridge and airport expansion. He has dismissed concern both over the mounting debt owed to China and the jailing of opposition leaders.

Abdul Raheem went on to criticise the opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, saying the veteran lawmaker failed to perform his duties as minority leader of parliament.

Maldivians should consider the progress made in the past five years, reject changing course and stick with the experienced leader, he urged.

Yameen will be re-elected in a landslide with 60 percent of the vote, Defence Minister Adam Shareef Umar declared at the ceremony, a more optimistic estimate than the 52 percent predicted by PPM parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan.

The presidential election is scheduled for September 23 and the campaign is in full swing with both sides going door to door in the capital and across the atolls.

Photo: Dr Mohamed Muizz

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