Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem, a prominent businessman, has called to cease medical funding under Aasandha and allowances such as pension allowance for individuals aged 65 or older, if they are wealthy.
Saleem, while debating on the record-high state budget proposed by the government for 2026, expressed concern over “wasteful expenses” by the government. He spoke regarding spending only on most crucial needs and increasing revenue in order to reduce expenditure.
In this regard, Saleem, citing that current administration is undertaking efforts to reduce expenditure, said every measure taken towards reducing expenditure ultimately affects the citizens.
“In terms of medical care, [spending on] Aasandha cannot be reduced. If it is, then there will be backlash. In terms of employment, there will be backlash for not giving jobs. Everyone is entitled to employment. Next is strengthening the private sector. The government is doing. When considering other avenues, there is no way to reduce expenditure on the health sector. Hospitals need to be developed on all islands. Services need to be provided at these facilities,” Saleem said, stressing the government is provided all these services for free and there will be huge public backlash if these services are ceased.
He blamed former administrations for shaping policies this way, while questioning how free services and allowances can be suddenly cut off.
“If we decided to do this suddenly, the citizens would face huge losses,” he added.
However, Saleem called on to cease medical funding under Aasandha and allowances such as pension allowance for individuals aged 65 or older, if they are wealthy. He emphasized that only unprivileged citizens are entitled to these benefits.
He highlighted the need to strengthen measures to collect Zakat from wealthy citizens, citing that these funds would aid in fulfilling the needs of unprivileged citizens.
The lawmaker highlighted the prevention of corruption as the next step toward reducing expenditure and criticized administrations over the past 15 years for failing to accomplish this. On the contrary, he noted that the current administration has commenced efforts in this trajectory.
Speaking further, Saleem stated that taking loans as a developing country is not inherently a bad thing, emphasizing that it is, in fact, a necessary practice. However, he stressed the importance of enforcing stricter borrowing policies, noting that taking on large loans without such measures in place can become a significant burden.
He remarked that Maldivians would be basking in wealth today if the government had been functioning properly.
While the government has proposed a record MVR 64.2 billion budget  for 2026, MVR 10 billion has been allocated in the budget for subsidies and other free aid. Reforming Aasandha to reduce expenditure had been a point on contention when formulating the budget for this year – something which the government later backed out on.