Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim has verbally attacked the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), stating that they were making implications that the decentralization policy was brought by one party as they wanted to win the elections.
At an official ceremony held Monday night for potential members to sign with JP, Qasim said that the truth of who introduced the notion of a decentralization policy in parliament cannot be misconstrued to the public. He said that 84 of the 122 present in Parliament at the time were politically aligned with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, and that they are the ones who voted to pass the motion.
Qasim stated that Maumoon deserve the due credit, and that no one had the right to cite themselves as the ones who brought the policy to light.
"If President Maumoon did not want the decentralization policy in place, would it have been included in the constitution? No. People should speak with dignity and honestly", Qasim said.
The JP leader said that the Maldivian, and international community had been pressuring the government to bring about positive changes to the country. As such, the change was hugely due to the efforts of the public. Furthermore, he stated that the policy was not brought by a specific set of people and that no one had the right to claim so, especially as they had not done anything substantial under the policy.
Moreover, Qasim said that former Vice President Mohamed Waheed had also made some praiseworthy efforts to introduce the decentralization policy to the people. He then appealed to MDP, stating that they should stop undermining these efforts and fabricating the truth to win the elections.
