Council system does not function well: President

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has said that the local council system does not function well in the Maldives.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2nd conference of Asian Group for Public Administration (AGPA) at Bandos Island Resort, the President said that the local council system does not function well in the Maldives, and that learning from the experiences of the countries who have had this system would encourage resolving the issues associated with this system.

“Over the past three years, the local government system was enforced by creating national offices, which is in conflict with the decentralization act. This was an obstruction to giving more power to the people,” President Waheed said.

The President noted some problems faced by the councils, and said that the existence of different political ideas in councils acts as a hindrance to operate them in a cooperative manner:

“Every island is affiliated with some political party. So it happens that the civil service’s requirements are not met at atoll and island levels.”

He stressed the importance of separating the civil service from political influence, and said that they should be unbiased and productive.

President of Civil Services Commission Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said that governance and government are two different things. Governance is to operate things based on a certain policy, while government is to operate an institution.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the Vice President’s resort Bandos, President of AGPA Professor Yaugoob noted the importance of the meeting, and said that the problem of local governance is faced by several Asian countries. He said that these problems can be resolved by holding discussions between these countries.

AGPA conference is held to provide the opportunity to share cross country experiences by public sector experts of Asian countries. This year’s conference is attended by 131 participants. The first AGPA meeting was held in Beijing, China in May 2011.