Addu City Meedhoo MP Abdul Rahman has sent a letter President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, alleging the Minister of Defence Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon spoke ill about the southern-most city and its constituents.
In a post on X, the MP claimed that after the presidential address at the Parliament concluded on Thursday, he met with Ghassan during which the minister had made denigrating remarks about Addu constituents.
In his letter to the president, the MP said that no minister has the right of speaking in such regard towards an atoll with a population of 35,000.
“The minister grew very angry when I had told I contacted him twice regarding two very pressing issues for Addu City,” the MP said.
“I do not have to respond to your calls, and besides Addu is not my concern,” the minister had allegedly responded.
During the presidential campaigning in 2023, both Ghassan and the Meedhoo MP had worked closely together.
“He [Ghassan] had promised that Addu citizens will never vote anyone else, if they vote for [this government],” the MP added, to which the minister allegedly said that he went to the city upon the request of the MP himself.
The MP in his letter had highlighted the reasons for attempting to contact the minister, which were:
Seeking resolve on rescuing only the passengers onboard capsized ships without recovering the valuable goods in them
To address the allocation of a major land area from Addu City Gan for military use and for the development of the drone base, which has been protested by Addu City Council, locals, and several other stakeholders
In his letter, the independent MP demanded Minister Ghassan publicly apologize to the Addu people, and requested the president to remind his cabinet minister of the oath he took for office.
Although ‘Sun’ Online attempted to get a comment from Ghassan on the matter, he was unavailable.