Opposition leader and Former President of the Maldives Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has said that the government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has neglected today’s youth. He made the statement while speaking at a special rally held Friday night to hand over PPM/PNC's presidential ticket to President Yameen.
Speaking at the rally, Yameen said the people who will run the country tomorrow are today's youth, who make up over half of the population. However, the government has neglected to fulfill its promises to the youth, he said.
"When you measure the extent to which a government has achieved goals, the most important factor is how the government acts on issues related to the youth. The government has neglected the youth," he said.
Yameen said the government earns its revenue from fines collected from youths. He reminded that President Solih had promised not to fine vehicles that park illegally without providing parking spaces. While the government has increased the revenue from fines from MVR 100 million to MVR 200 million, the government has not provided the promised parking space to this day, said Yameen.
President Yameen described the government as a “sticker government” as it has increased the amount of revenue generated from collecting fines.
President Yameen said the government had also promised to provide 4,000 flats to the youth. Criticizing the government, President Yameen said he could not see the apartments, perhaps because "they were underwater".
Yameen noted that his government gave great priority to the youth. He said he created 104,000 jobs for the youth, while the current government has created only 2,000 thus far.
President Yameen said issues related to youth are increasing day by day. However, the government does not have strong policies to save the youth, he said.
