Nasheed suggests expanding Addu’s population instead of division
Posting on X on Monday, Nasheed said dividing the city would not bring additional benefits to individual islands.
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Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said it would be more beneficial to retain Addu as a single city and increase its resident population to 50,000 rather than divide it into separate island councils.
His comments come ahead of Saturday’s referendum in three Addu islands — Feydhoo, Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo — where residents will vote on whether to form individual island councils instead of remaining under the Addu City Council.
Posting on X on Monday, Nasheed said dividing the city would not bring additional benefits to individual islands.
“There is no further benefit to the individual islands from dividing the city. The most important thing for the development of Addu is to increase the population living in the city,” he wrote.
Nasheed proposed that one way to achieve this goal would be to grant Maldivian citizenship to eligible foreign professionals who agree to live and work in Addu for a certain period.
He said such a policy could attract qualified individuals such as engineers, doctors, and teachers from other Muslim-majority countries, contributing to the city’s development. “Addu can become a city of 50,000 people,” he added.
Addu City was designated as a city during Nasheed’s presidency, when the criteria required an island or group of islands to have a population of at least 25,000. The law was later amended during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration to grant city status to Fuvahmulah.
Since its establishment in 2011, Addu City Council has governed all six islands in the atoll, including the four connected islands and the two separate ones — Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo.
The upcoming referendum will take place in Hulhudhoo, Meedhoo and Feydhoo, the southernmost of the connected islands. The government has said the vote will be held in islands that have submitted official requests to form separate councils to President Mohamed Muizzu.
The 26 October referendum will be the first in the Maldives conducted under the new law allowing referendums in specific localities.
