News Desk
Male’ — Umar Naseer, a former home minister, has declared the nation’s political parties a barrier to progress, accusing them of plunging the Maldives into debt and corruption over the past two decades.
In an interview with local media, Mr. Naseer lambasted the multi-party system, arguing it has failed to deliver benefits to citizens since its inception. “Political parties have given nothing but deep debt to the people,” he said, alleging they have “emptied the people’s coffers” through corruption and mismanagement.
Mr. Naseer, a polarizing figure who has run in nearly every presidential election since the Maldives embraced multi-party democracy in 2008, except in 2018, accused parties of siphoning state resources. “They distribute and steal from the safe,” he said, claiming political leaders plunder jobs, land, and public funds to enrich themselves and their allies. “The result is that we are running out of country.”
The former minister, known for his controversial advocacy of implementing death penalty in the Maldives, argued that the multi-party system has failed and called for a strong leader to reverse the damage caused by political negligence.
Mr. Naseer’s remarks come amid growing public frustration with the Maldives’ economic challenges, including a looming debt crisis tied to Chinese loans and internal political gridlock. Critics of Mr. Naseer, however, point to his own divisive record, noting that his calls for death penalty and centralized leadership have alienated many in a nation reliant on tourism and international partnerships.
As the Maldives grapples with its future, Mr. Naseer’s critique underscores a broader debate over whether its democratic experiment has served its people — or merely entrenched a cycle of corruption and division.
