Speaking at the MDP gathering held at Carnival, Monday night, President Nasheed said that MSR was being established to facilitate business dealings specific to one particular country, and that while Maldives had, since ancient times been accommodating to businesses from all over the world, Maldives did not have to participate in a project that facilitated trade dealings of one country in particular. President Nasheed expressed concern that the government’s decision might help direct bad will of other regional powers at Maldives, and said that Maldives should remain neutral, fair and accommodating to all countries in Indian Ocean. “I saw, within the past two three days, President Yameen directing his attention towards disrupting the peace in Indian Ocean… President Yameen seems to have thought up a better way and discarded age old policies adopted by Maldivian leaders. It is not responsible, I say. Instead of being a target for bad will of regional powers within Indian Ocean, Maldives should remain a protector of peace within the region,” he said. President Nasheed said the country’s position in Indian Ocean, and its natural beauty could only be utilized through Maldivian talent and creativity. He referred to Special Economic Zones the government was trying to establish and said that establishing foreign businesses and loosening legal authority would not provide any particular benefit to locals; calling SEZ models to be outdated, and tried and found lacking in other countries. “I want to appeal to President Yameen that they think hard on finding a way of providing a change in Maldives. That approach will not provide a change. It can’t be done if you don’t realize Maldivians’ wishes. We have to produce a Maldivian’s thinking,” he said. President Nasheed said that pro government party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had failed in fulfilling their vows, and said that job opportunities for Maldivians remained slim, even with the establishment of SEZ. He noted that while PPM had promised to produce 95,000 job opportunities; rate of students provided the opportunity to study for A’ Levels had been low, with opportunity for higher education being lower still. Rest of the youth population remained jobless, he said. President Nasheed referred to Fishermen Insurance Scheme established by government and said that income of fishermen continued to go down as fish prices continued to go down. He also criticized President Yameen’s vow of providing a doctor for each family, saying that what is being seen instead, were patients suffering due to lack of doctors in the Atolls. ‘What we are witnessing is their lack of vision,” he said. President Nasheed voiced concern over the case of Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, 28, the Minivan News journalist who has been missing since August 8; and said that it was time people accepted the hard truth that religious extremism was spreading at an alarming rate within the country. He said such parties were gaining profit from using religion as a political weapon. He voiced suspicions that ‘a young boy’ had actively participated in kidnapping Rilwan, and said that Maldivian Islamic Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and Adhaalath Party Leader Imran Abdulla should take responsibility for not preventing such incidents, but encouraging it. “What I want to say to Sheikh Imran and Shaheem is that; don’t do this to our youths. Don’t handpick these children, sway them, and then have them commit such immoral acts,” said President Nasheed. “I want to appeal to both Sheikh Imran and Shaheem that you don’t hide under your skullcaps and play the role of devil. Take off your skullcaps.”