Political parties should not be cause for injuring the nation: President

Political parties in the country should not be allowed to become a cause for the “nation to become seriously injured all over, for families to forget the ties of blood”, said the President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

Speaking to Maldivians living in Sri Lanka, at the hotel where he is residing during his ongoing visit to Sri Lanka, the President said that having political parties does not mean that the nation has to become divided as if there is a tribal system.

The President also said that there could be persons belonging to different ideologies even within one family, and that such differences in the Maldivian society have caused brothers to cut off their relations with each other. “This is a very saddening story”, said the President.

“All want to do things right to reform the country. However, things may not always progress at a speed that we want. When that is the case, we must prefer patience and friendship over all else. We have to think about our love for each other, and our tradition of taking care of each other. We all have the responsibility to enable our families to live happily. This is, in my view, the time to keep ideological differences aside and strengthen the ties of brotherhood and love”, said the President.

The President said that he experienced the respect, love and consideration reserved for the Maldivians in the hearts of the Sri Lankan people, and the Lankan President and his government during his ongoing visit to the country and thanked Sri Lankan People, President and Government. He also said that his purpose in visiting Lanka was to strengthen ties between the two nations.