News

President Solih: Addu will seal the single round election win

Published

4 weeks ago

08/09/2023

Main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s presidential candidate President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, stressing he can win Saturday’s election in a single round, has remarked it is Addu City’s residents that will play the most integral role in sealing the win.

President Solih arrived at Addu City after campaigning across whole nation on Wednesday evening. At a mass rally held in the city tonight, President Solih said his campaign tour which started from the northernmost corner of the Maldives, ending at Addu City, had shown him he could win the election through a single round.

He described Addu City as the region that will play the most integral role in the outcome of the presidential election slated for Saturday.

“This major Addu City will seal and stamp the outcome on that day. There is no doubt regarding it,” he added.

President Solih cited hard work as Addu City residents’ biggest undertaking in democratic history. In this trajectory, he noted that many individuals who made various sacrifices in the formation of MDP and politics continue to live in Addu City today.

“There are people here that talked to us, in secrecy, by altering their voices. Many people who crossed seas to travel to Male’ on boats after being asked to partake in protests. Many people who have also experienced pepper spray, tear gas and prison cells are also here today,” he said.

He said what is being witnessed today, is the result of the hard work of yesterday.

Speaking further, President Solih said it was his administration that commenced development efforts, equally, across all parts of the nation, while previous administrations had centralized development projects. He referenced the COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest obstruction his administration faced, shortly after these efforts were commenced.

He also said Maldives faced various difficulties due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

He pointed out that developmental projects, despite these difficulties, had been well underway.

“As we face the election today, we are confident,” he emphasized.

Following this, the president announced his pledges for Addu City, if elected for a second term in office. They include;

Laying asphalt on all roads
Developing housing units, with 1,000 flats under the first phase
Facilitating water, sewerage and electricity in reclaimed land in addition to the development of roads
Developing an industrial zone, which will be specialized for vehicle importers
Harmonizing the price of STO’s coarse sand and Maldives Gas products to that of Male’ City
Developing a business incubation centre and a co-working space
Boosting eco-tourism
Developing a racing track
Developing an indoor sports complex
Upgrading the services provided at Addu Equatorial Hospital and ensuring the availability of the hospital’s services at nearby islands
Developing a climate research and a marine research center
Developing outdoor gyms and children’s parks in all constituencies
Increasing efforts directed toward fishermen
Improving the services of the university and building a dormitory
President Solih stressed that he has a vision.

He described Saturday’s vote as an opportunity to choose whether to move forward with development or revert to the cruelty of the previous administration.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Fayyaz: We have no agreement with the Democrats

Published

4 hours ago

04/10/2023

MDP’s Chairperson, Fayyaz Ismail has said today that even if the Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, has said that MDP has agreed to the referendum for changing the governing system, there has been no such agreement between MDP and the Democrats.

Heading today’s Parliamentary sitting, Nasheed said that MDP has informed the Democrats that they will give their full cooperation to the referendum.

“As far as I know, MDP asked the Democrats to not support any party and if they do so MDP will cooperate with the referendum,” Nasheed said.

Speaking to Sun, Fayyaz said, in response to Nasheed, that there is no agreement between MDP and the Democrats and that Nasheed was adding to the truth. He also said that he does not know any reason for Nasheed to do so.

“That is not correct information. I don’t know why Nasheed said that,” Fayyaz said.

Nasheed, who left MDP, after remaining the leader of the party for many years, due to issues between President Solih and himself, said today that he can no longer trust MDP.

After MDP’s primary elections, Nasheed refused to support President Solih. When the relationship between them both soured further and the people who supported Nasheed left MDP and established a new political party called the Democrats.

After the Election Commission registered the party, Nasheed also left MDP and signed up for the Democrats.

The interim council of the Democrats, who received seven percent in the first round of the presidential elections, presented both of the two main political parties with heavy conditions. However, the interim Chairperson of Democrats, Hassan Latheed, even said that they decided not to support either party in the second round as both parties refused to agree to the conditions.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Chinese leader congratulates Muizzu, seeks to reinforce ties

Published

23 hours ago

03/10/2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on winning the Maldives presidential election on Tuesday, expressing keenness in deepening the age-old ties between Maldives and China.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Chinese ambassador Wang Lixin shared a message sent by Xi, congratulating the Maldivian president-elect.

In the message, Xi noted that the friendly relations between Maldives and China date back to ancient times.

“China and Maldives are not only good friends of sincerity, mutual trust and mutual assistance, but also good partners for common development and prosperity,” he said.

Xi said that he attached great importance to the enhancement of Maldives-China relations, and expressed keenness in working with Muizzu on that front.

“I’m ready to work with you to carry forward the traditional friendship and deepen practical cooperation so as to promote China-Maldives future-oriented all-round friendly and cooperative partnership with more progress,” he said.

Maldives and China established official diplomatic relations on April 15, 1972. The relations between the two countries had seen significant enhancement during the first PPM administration from 2013-2018.

Muizzu, from the PPM-PNC, won the presidential election runoff on Saturday with 54 percent of votes, beating MDP’s Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the incumbent president, who won 46 percent.

Source(s): sun.mv

World

Saudi Arabia hosts China-Arab publishing cooperation forum

Published

1 day ago

03/10/2023

RIYADH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — The China-Arab States Publishing Cooperation and Exchange Forum was held on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Under the theme of “Deepening China-Arab Publishing Cooperation and Exchanges, Promoting Mutual Learning between Chinese and Arab Civilizations,” publishers from China and Arab countries reviewed their cooperation in translation, publishing, copyright trade, book fair platforms and online publishing.

The summit also paved the way for a translation project of 100 Chinese and Arab classics, exploring the establishment of a China-Saudi Arabia online publishing exchange mechanism, jointly expanding the platform for international cooperation, and promoting mutual learning between Chinese and Arab civilizations.

The event was attended by a senior official with the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), representatives from the Arab Publishers Association and the Saudi Scientific Research and Knowledge Exchange Center, as well as more than 100 Chinese and Arab publishers, scholars, experts and writers.

Source(s): Xinhua