The Democrats candidate, Ilyas Labeeb, has pledged to ensure a minimum of 30 percent youth involvement in government and cabinet positions.
Speaking at the presidential debate on Saturday, September 2, Labeeb said that unemployment rates have spiked among youth, and his party has a major policy focused on youth employment and empowerment.
"We see they are forced to remain idle, and their families have no options," said Labeeb, who pledged to create more opportunities for local youth.
Ilyas further pledged to facilitate financial and technical support to all individuals presenting sound business proposals.
“We will facilitate funding [for business startups] within 15 days of proposal submission regardless of whether they have equity or assets to mortgage,” Ilyas said.
The Democrats' manifesto includes duty exemptions for light manufacturing, value-added infrastructure processing equipment and machinery, and consumables. Ilyas also addressed the party's policy to facilitate international payment gateways popular among local youth, including PayPal.
The party also pledged financial support and loan schemes for freelancers and fishers, along with entitlement to the pension scheme.
Ilyas also argued that the income of regular citizens have not been improving, and said, "I don't see the earnings of citizens increasing. We need to change that. God willing, we will boost their income five times more than what they make now."
Another policy of The Democrats is to improve the income of the households and individual citizens under their slogan ‘Farudhunge Fudhuntherikan- Aburuveri Hayaatheh’ (Citizens' Stability – Dignified Living).
Ilyas further said that as the Maldives is required to settle a hefty loan in 2026, achieving this can only be possible by improving the financial status of the citizens.
He also said that despite the current government's failure to repay state debts, he understood how to achieve this through proper debt restructuring. Ilyas added that efforts would be made to increase the grace periods of outstanding state debt.