Nasheed: This is the time for parliamentarians to be true friends to the Maldivian people

Parliament Speaker, President Mohamed Nasheed, on Monday, said that the measures imposed by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Maldives had had a huge impact on the people, and that now was the time for parliamentarians to perform their duty as representatives of the people and work as closely with the people as possible.

Opening the first online sitting of the Parliament this morning, Nasheed said the entire world, including Maldives, was under a dark cloud of panic over the COVID-19 pandemic.

He hailed the measures imposed by the government to curb the spread of the virus, but also noted that the measures also meant certain hardships for the people.

It makes all the more necessary for the Parliament, which is made up of representatives of the people, to continue unimpeded, he said.

Nasheed said that parliamentarians were the first to be contacted whenever people faced hardships, and said that it was important that parliamentarians be accessible to contact by their constituents during the current crisis.

“The friends who are there for you when you need them the most are your true friends. I find that it is vital that honorable members of the Parliament be true friends to the Maldivian people,” he said.

Nasheed said that he was fully aware that parliamentarians may not be equipped with solutions to each and every concern of their constituents, and that parliamentarians themselves may have their own concerns.

But even in the most difficult of situations, parliamentarians must be ready to listen to the concerns of the people, he said.

Nasheed said that the success of the efforts initiated by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to curb the spread of the virus lay in combined efforts.

“Have faith in us, we are with the Maldivian people. In Sha Allah, we shall overcome this. Like I always say, after every hardship comes ease,” he said.