The government of President Mohamed Muizzu is trying to kill journalism and some politicians are explaining the methods to do it, former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said.
Speaking at the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) National Council meeting on Monday night, Solih said journalism is the most independent pillar of democracy and that journalists work for the people without any influence.
“Today [the government] is trying to kill journalism, to kill journalism, some people are explaining how to do it," he said.
The former President said the most critical issue now is the government-backed bill in parliament to dismantle free media. He said the objective of the bill is to keep the media under government control.
“Its purpose is to bring the entire press under the control of the government, to punish individual journalists whenever they want, to take dangerous action. To gather power directly to the President to take action against the media," he warned.
He repeated calls on Muizzu to withdraw the bill and said the MDP must take the initiative to put the government on track.
