Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim has appealed to the people to support the “Jumhooree ideology” in the September 9 presidential polls.
Qasim, the JP candidate in 2008 and 2013, was awarded the party’s presidential ticket for a third time during Friday night’s rally in Male’.
“The ideology that remains untested is the Jumhooree ideology which has helped governments come to power in every election since 2008,” the influential business tycoon claimed.
He appealed to people to learn from the past and support his party to win the presidential election in order to avoid forming a coalition government.
Qasim Ibrahim at Friday night's rally. -- Photo: Abdulla Iyan/ Adhadhu
In 2008, former president Mohamed Nasheed won the run-off round with the backing from JP and in 2013 former president Abdulla Yameen had JP backing in the run-off round.
Qasim did not get enough votes to move into the run-off rounds, but the candidate he supported won the election both times.
In 2018, Qasim was barred from contesting and he supported incumbent president Ibrahim Mohahmed Solih. JP is still a coalition partner of the current government.
Qasim claimed the JP coalition had won each time and all his decisions were made for the people.
“I did not make those decisions to benefit myself and the Jumhooree Party. It was for the good of the country.”
In direct criticism of the current government, he accused partners of disrespecting the coalition agreements once they came to power.
“As a result, the system of governance is muddied, the standard of living is going down, stability and justice are gone,” he stated.
“But JP remains with the government in order to allow the country to move forward with development and to not disturb the people’s peace.”
He said the people have experienced the rule under Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
If given the opportunity, JP would prove leadership, patience and determination in bringing reforms to the country, he promised.
Qasim’s campaign slogan is “worry not, things will be fine”. Some key points in the manifesto were revealed during Friday night’s rally.
It includes pledges to build 30,000 housing units in five years, reduce state debt to 90 percent in the first three years and enable digital currency and begin offshore and investment banking services.
The manifesto also includes pledges to create 100 millionaires, increase elderly people’s allowance to MVR 7000 and allocate MVR 3 billion to develop SMEs.
