State funds for military and police, but not for Aasandha: Nasheed
05 Apr 2012, 6:59 PM
Zaheena Rasheed
Deposed President Mohamed Nasheed last night criticised the government’s attempts to introduce fees for free health insurance scheme Aasandha, saying the government had squandered funds marked for development on the police and military.
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s administration has claimed the Aasandha scheme is no longer financially tenable due to unsustainable demand. Dr Waheed succeeded Nasheed on February 7 after Nasheed resigned following a police and military mutiny. Nasheed claims he was forced to resign at “gun-point.”
Shortly after taking office, Waheed’s administration halted Public Private Partnership schemes and allowed extended resort leases to be paid in installments rather than upfront at the end of the lease. Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said the move will immediately take US$135 million of the country’s coffers.
Speaking to hundreds of MDP supporters at the party’s new protest camp following his return from his US tour promoting the Island President, Nasheed said the government’s claim of lack of funds for Aasandha was “unacceptable.”
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