North-Henveiru MP Abdulla Shahid says current government is trying to eliminate Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim.

Addressing the Joint Opposition rally in ADh. Maamigili on Thursday, Shahid said that President Abdulla Yameen is trying to eliminate Qasim, by destroying his work and businesses, because government his falling apart.

Shahid said that the negative impact of attacking Qasim will be felt by the people, adding that it would close doors for youth and thus disrupt societal peace.

“This isn’t just eliminating Qasim. This is eliminating the hopes of young Maldivians. The next level (future) they are hoping for.”

However, he said that Qasim emerged as a courageous and hardworking man, in spite of losing his mother at the age of nine, and that he would not back down despite the Yameen administration’s cruelty. He added that Qasim’s courage and hope will be seen in Maamigili alone.

Addressing the rally, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Chairperson Hassan Latheef said the government has destroyed the decentralization system and wreaked havoc on the entire state.

He said that government can no longer deceive the masses in the name of development, and that President Yameen’s idea of development is moving people to Male’. He added that true development can be achieved by developing the atolls as well.

Stongly criticizing the idea of crowding people in the capital, Latheef said that a unity government formed by the opposition will reinstate the authority of councils.

He also expressed confidence that the opposition would win this year’s presidential election.