President Abdulla Yameen (R) meets with senior officials of the World Bank. PHOTO/PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
Mihaaru has found out that the company tasked with carrying out a World Bank survey in the Maldives had posed political questions regarding the local population’s approval and disapproval of president Abdulla Yameen’s policies.
The World Bank had stated earlier in a press release that the firm Gallup Inc, was tasked with carrying out a survey in the Maldives for World Bank’s Global Findex database. However, the company, which was working with its local partner Elite Institute, had added political questions beyond the scope of the Findex questionnaire to the survey.
The questions included inquiries into survey takers’ perception of the reliability of the Maldivian army and judiciary, their trust in the nation’s leaders, and whether they approved or disapproved of Abdulla Yameen’s actions as the president of the country.
Elite Institute’s director Ahmed Zahir on Wednesday clarified that the political questions were added to the World Bank’s survey forms by Gallup Inc.
“They sent us a link to log-in to the questionnaire. We asked the questions already on it; we didn’t make any additions,” stated Zahir.
He added that the National Bureau of Statistics had approved the questionnaire before Elite Institute commenced the survey.
The World Bank had stressed that the political questions are part of a separate survey being conducted by Gallup Inc. which is not supported by the former. World Bank added that it has raised the issue with the companies in question and that they have agreed to omit such questions from the Findex questionnaire.
The Global Findex database provides data on how people borrow and save money, settle payments and manage risks. The World Bank conducts the survey in over 140 countries.  This year marks the first time for the Maldives to be included in the database.