Translation of President Yameen’s January 21 speech

It gives me great pleasure tonight that so many Maldivian citizens have expressed interest in our rally and are here with us today. Without doubt, a new year begins with hopes. Our hopes are to bring progress, prosperity and happiness for all Maldivians.

Those who have a stake in this hope and those who will benefit from his hope are those of our members who are part of this rally, and those Maldivian citizens who are interested in us and will at some time in the future become members of our party. I’m appealing to you tonight – Maldivians are aware of the state of the Maldives today – hurry up and join us. Being in the opposition does not mean obstructing development. Being in the opposition means going forward with those who are doing constructive work. I would like to note our party is working to bring happiness and prosperity to the people, to ensure that the Maldives is a pleasant place. We will bring to you this Maldives. We do not know another Maldives. Maldivians have always lived in the Maldives. This is our nation. This is a very small, proud and honorable nation.

For hundreds of years, we have survived the shocks of this rough Indian Ocean. The kings and queens of this nation have shown us resilience. We have a long and proud history. We ended last year happy and free, fifty years of taking breath in a free atmosphere. As we ended that happy year, I want to say – since this is the first time I am meeting you after a happy year – we attained this happiness through the struggles of many. As I stand here to speak at this podium, to speak about the past two years, we must remind ourselves of Allah’s blessings. All that we have achieved, we achieved by Allah’s blessings.