A person must face punishment for his crimes: Sarangu

President Dr. Mohamed Waheed’s special advisor and Male’ City Council Member Sarangu Adam Manik has said that if a person commits a crime, the man must face his crime at his day in court.

Speaking at DhiTV’s Khabaruthereyn program last night, Adam Manik said that even if a single person does not face the courts, that allows a precedent for all others to be entitled to the same right.

“If a person commits a crime, the person must face it in his day at court. John F. Kennedy once said if one man is allowed to defy a sentence, it entitles all men to defy the courts. If any man could long defy the commands of our courts, it entitles all other men to hold back from obeying the law. If one man gets the right to defy a sentence, all other people will have the right to do the same,” Adma Manik said, reflecting on the on-going trial of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Speaking on how the change of power took place from former president Nasheed to the present government, Adam Manik said that all leaders around the world will view themselves as failures if they fail to achieve their objectives, and said that leaders should know to step back when they face failure.

“Everywhere around the world, even if the leaders face failure, they don’t necessarily view themselves as failures. But if they fail to win an election, or fail to pass a bill in parliament, or a person designated to run an institution does something bad to the employees, then the head of the institution will resign. Reason is that the institution is more important than the man. The party becomes more important. So if the person in-charge fails, the person has to step aside,” Adam Manik said.

He said that a leader must be able to solve problems through dialogue and that leaders are those who are able to find common cause during times of dispute.

He said that President Nasheed too should choose to hold dialogue and conversation instead of going to the streets to achieve his goals. He called upon former President Nasheed and President Waheed to hold talks in order to find a way forward.

Adam Manik said that root of Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) failure lies in their opting to choose to file onto the streets and go for confrontations. He said that no party or leader will be able to change the government by going out on the streets and moreover, no party will be able to rule from the streets.

Highlighting on the upcoming presidential election, Adam Manik said that he will support President Waheed during the elections, but said that he will not leave MDP as long as he not forced out.