“Youth” and the government agrees to discuss economic issues

Youth protestors, who held protests to voice out the growing concerns and worries among the population over the escalating price of commodities and services, have agreed to discuss the issues with the government today.

At last night’s protest held over the soaring prices of goods and services it was announced that the government have invited them for discussions to be held today at 11:00 hrs.

In his remarks regarding this announcement, Press Secretary of the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair said that the door to discussions is always open.

“It is difficult for me to make any comments regarding the time schedule. However, tomorrow morning with the opening of the office I can inform you regarding the schedule,” he said.

President of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Dr. Ibrahim Didi said that he is yet not aware of anyone accepting the opportunity opened by MDP and the government to hold discussions regarding the issue of the escalation in the prices of commodities and services.

Dr. Didi said that although the protests held every night are claimed to be organised by youth, those at the front line of these protests are members of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

“Z-DRP is unregistered. The people have various interpretation of what this “Z” represents. Those members who are now working as Z-DRP are still members registered to DRP. For this reason, I invited DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali,” Didi said.

Speaking at the MDP demonstration held at the Tsunami Monument Area on Friday, Dr. Ibrahim Didi invited the opposition to come together and present their solution to the soaring prices of commodities and services.

Meanwhile, speaking to local press after at the American Corner in the National Library, US Assistant Secretary of State Blake said that “this is because I think the most important thing is to gain momentum to reduce budget deficit, so to put the economy on a formal financial fitting while at the same time continuing the process.”

In light of the continuous protests held every night on the escalation of the price of commodities and services, the US Assistant Secretary of State said that he encourages the government and the opposition to work together to try to tackle some of these problems that Maldives is now facing.