Ex-pres Solih alleges political appointees has crossed 1,500
"Again, your money is being spent here. For these reasons, winning the majority in Parliament is important to the MDP".
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
There are 1,500 political positions in the current government and some of these appointees do not even have the desk space to work at, former President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih alleged Wednesday.
Solih made these remarks while speaking at a rally held on Wednesday evening to inaugurate the campaign office of Ifham Hussain, who is contesting from Maafannu North constituency in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
At the rally, Solih reiterated his concerns over the increase in appointments to political positions, which he has been critical of in the past. Solih said:
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The government has spent an additional MVR 300 million on recurrent expenditure in the last three months
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While more has been spent, rural projects have come to a standstill
"There is no money, projects can’t be run, they were handed a bankrupt government. Four months have passed, and in these past four months, it is clear how things are being done," he said.
"He was lying, is still lying [and] if given more opportunities will make more lies, he will cheat”.
Solih said 1,700 projects started during his government have now come to a halt. He also questioned what the additional MVR 300 million on recurrent expenditure was spent for.
"What we know is that people are being appointed for political positions in heaps. I heard these folk are queued up outside in the corridors. They are given desks on shifts," he said.
"We will only know for sure when they provide the information [but] it is estimated that more than 1,500 positions have already been created”.
It is a huge waste, he said, adding that if the suspended projects are resumed, they will have to spend twice as much. The result will be another huge waste on top of waste, he said.
"Again, your money is being spent here. For these reasons, winning the majority in Parliament is important to the MDP," he said.
He also responded to allegations that the dollar is depreciating due to the measures taken by his government, during and after the Covid pandemic. He said:
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The government claims that the measures we took are causing the dollar to depreciate, but that is to mislead
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Every year in the past, the dollar depreciates in January-March
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The dollar rate stood at MVR 16.50 during this period last year and MVR 16.20 in 2022
"Today, they are talking about it being MVR 17.50. This is the highest income period in Maldives and the highest number of tourists come in during this time," he said.
