History of a nation is never a single event or a single person – President

President Dr. Mohamed Waheed has said that the history of a nation is never a single event or a single person.

The President said this while addressing the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He said that the life of our nation comprises of the lives of all of us who live there.

“We are the building blocks in the evolution of our countries.The knowledge, education, experience and the commitment we bring to our nation is what shapes our history. That is what makes our history unique. Respect for us and our small nation requires that our external partners do not under estimate our capacity to contribute to the shaping of our own destiny,” he said.

President Dr. Waheed said that the nations must be allowed to resolve their problems on their own. He said that international community should not take punitive actions against any sovereign State, unless there is verified and blatant abuse of human rights.

The President also noted that international cooperation should not be used as an excuse for larger countries to interfere in the domestic politics of small States.

“Past eight months have been particularly challenging in consolidating democracy in my country. The elected President of the country resigned in February, and later claimed that he was forced to do so. The Government opened a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations. Some of our friends rushed into conclusions, and that did not make it any easier for us. Some big States, and some not so big States took sides in a domestic political crisis and contributed to making a bad situation worse. While the Government was striving to strengthen the country’s institutional capacity to manage the new democracy, some international actors continued to publicly criticise the country’s young institutions,” he said.

“We look for new ideas, and we are receptive to good ideas irrespective of where they come from. That is why we engage in international cooperation. We expect the result of international cooperation to help, not hinder, a country’s march towards a better, more democratic society. It is supposed to build a country’s institutions and to gain public confidence,”

President Dr. Waheed noted that small states are vulnerable in many ways. He said that small states alone are not able to stop larger and stronger countries from dictating terms.

“Our vulnerability is particularly acute when there are discord and system breakdowns in our own countries. This is the time when the larger states should help the smaller states in the international system,” he said.

During his address at the UN general assembly, the President also strongly condemned the recent anti-Islamic video demeaning our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). He said that freedom of expression should not be used as an excuse to insult religion, incite hatred and provoke communal violence. Noting that the video has provoked demonstrations around the world, he said that the Maldives does not believe that violence is the way to respond to such low-level blasphemous acts.

“The Maldives has also condemned the attacks on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, which took the life of the United States Ambassador to Libya. On behalf of the Maldivian people I express my deepest condolences to the United States Government and the families of the bereaved,” he said.

The President also expressed the wishes of the Maldivian people to see the day that the Palestinian people will join the United Nations as a full member. He said that the Maldives strongly calls on all Member States to support the true aspirations of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination in a Palestinian State.