If incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom fails to secure re-election in next year's presidential elections, it would mean that the Maldivian people had failed, health minister Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim said Saturday.
Speaking during a ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) rally in Gaafu Dhaal Atoll Thinadhoo island on Saturday evening, the minister expressed confidence that the people would not allow the country to fail.
"... there's no other choice. History tells us that the Maldivian people has never allowed the country to fail. So even in 2018 the people won't allow that to happen," Nazim stressed.
President Yameen's re-election hopes have been pinned on the mega development projects his government has orchestrated across the archipelago in the last four years and recent ruling party rallies and speeches have largely underlined that fact.
The health minister also presented a series of statistics, highlighting the development the government had brought to the Thinadhoo regional hospital in the recent past.
In that regard, Nazim pointed out that the government had established a dialysis centre, Thalassemia testing and a back-up generator to provide uninterrupted power to the hospital.
Nazim further aimed a fresh dig at the now united opposition, saying that there was no longer an opposition voice in the country adding that it was a "blessing."
"... in a multi-party democracy, an opposition voice is very important. However, there is no longer a single and united opposition voice in this country," the minister added.
