Should the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) win a majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, dismissals rooted in political alignment will be made a criminal offence, the party chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has said.
Ismail made the comment while posting a video on social media showing a resident sharing a threat made to an Road Development Corporation (RDC) employee regarding the possible loss of their job, with former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during an MDP Parliamentary campaign event.
“I am saddened that President Muizzu does not know that MDP supporters are not going to be intimidated by fear mongering. These people are not going to back down due to fear mongering,” Ismail wrote in his post to social media.
He further wrote that MDP had brought about freedom of expression in Maldives by moving beyond such fears, adding that the administration’s threats of dismissals were cowardly.
“If MDP wins a majority for the 20th Assembly [of parliament], we will ensure employees of state-owned enterprises the same legal protection afforded to civil service employees which makes dismissal for political reasons a criminal offence,” he added.
The opposition, during their parliamentary campaign, has been very vocal against the administration’s use of job threats and dismissal of those who disagree with the administration.
Such inflammatory statements have been made by members of the President’s People’s National Congress (PNC) at various campaign rallies. However, the party has not taken any disciplinary action against members making such comments.