Maldives President mum on political crisis in parliamentary address

Male  :  Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen on Wednesday addressed the Parliament but made no mention of the recent political turmoil affecting the country.

In his long speech, Yameen, who had on Tuesday obtained Parliament's approval for extending the state of emergency for another month, only spoke about economic initiatives undertaken by his regime.

"Over the past year, the government has made great strides meeting the previously unmet needs of the Maldivian people, including through the completion of numerous development projects.

"The focus has been on improving economic and social sectors, while ensuring that its citizens are able to live happy, independent lives, where they face no impediments to the fulfilment of their daily wants and needs," he said.

Stressing that the economy was booming, the President said: "Our economic growth rate has increased from 6.2 per cent in 2016 to 6.9 per cent in 2017... More than 76,000 new jobs have been created for the youth."

Schools will be made eco-friendly and will be digitised, he said.

"A lot of work has been carried out in the past four years in order to create business opportunities, to bring in investments and to develop small and medium business enterprises."

He praised the Free Trade Agreement with China while also announcing that his country will continue being an advocate for small island nations.

In the beginning of this month, the Maldives plunged into a crisis with Yameen declaring a 15-day emergency and arresting the Chief Justice and a former head of state after the Supreme Court termed as unjust the imprisonment of nine MPs and former President Mohammed Nasheed.

The Parliament on Tuesday extended the state of emergency by 30 days after its Standing Committee on National Security approved the extension on Monday in view of Yameen's request while easing constitutional restrictions.