President: I want to see the day people wholeheartedly accept public services

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said on Monday that that he wants to see the day services provided by public offices are wholeheartedly accepted by the people. 

He made the remark in his address at the launch of the Executive Enhancement and Enrichment Program (EEEP) on Monday morning. 

The EEEP is a two-year program initiated jointly by the Public Service Training Unit of the President’s Office and the Civil Service Training Institute (CSTI) intended to improve the skills and capabilities of political and executive staff in management positions in the civil service. 

President Solih said the program marked the beginning of his dream of seeing the day public services are wholeheartedly accepted by the people. 

The realization of that dream lies in the hands of staff of public offices, he said. 

President Solih said his administration was working on formulating and releasing service charters for all public offices before the end of this year. 

He said that his administration had prioritized improving public services since day one, and stressed that coordinated efforts were required to ensure delivery of the administration’s pledges. 

He urged all political and civil staff to come together and work towards this common goal. 

President Solih urged the active engagement of all political staff in the implementation of the government’s policies. He also stressed the importance of maintaining a strong relationship between political and civil staff, which he said would greatly improve the efficiency of public services. 

“We, politicians, aren’t here just to have our say and make decisions. Active engagement is our highest duty. It’s the civil service staff who implement government’s policies. Their energy increases the more you increase your active engagement,” he said. 

President Solih said that it's not the role of the civil service to see who the ruling party is or who is running the government, but to implement the policies of the government that’s in power. 

“In short, the government is run by one engine composed of civil servants and political staff. The engine will run at its full speed if the bond between these two parties is strong,” he said. 

President Solih said that EEEP launched on Monday would greatly assist his administration in its efforts to improve, reform, and deliver public services. 

Highlighting some of his administration’s efforts to improve public services, President Solih noted the ease that came with the launch of the "gov.mv message" service, the official digital service for citizen-to-government communications.  

He stressed the need to create public awareness and train public servants on the use of technological advancements to ease the delivery of services.  

President Solih said that instead of rendering staff voiceless, seeking their technical expertise will improve the efficiency of offices. 

He urged participants to stop treating staff as their subordinates, and treat all staff as partners for success.