President Mohamed Muizzu has said that habits cannot be changed through banning.

At a rally held by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) at the Artificial Beach in Male' on Sunday (March 8), Muizzu said shisha smoking was a common habit among Maldivians.

He said such habits cannot be changed by banning, but that awareness must be raised to get rid of these habits.

"We want to encourage people to stop the habit," Muizzu said during the campaign event for the April 4 local council elections.

Muizzu assured that the government was not planning to ban shisha and cut subsidies for sugar despite an announcement by Health Minister Abdulla Nazim.

This government banned vaping in 2024 without doing the necessary research. The vape ban was rushed at a time when many young people had switched to vapes to replace cigarettes.

Most of them have taken back cigarette smoking again after the vape ban, and the government has not done awareness campaigns against tobacco.

After banning vaping, the government increased taxes on tobacco and introduced a generational ban on tobacco.