Pres. Yameen reveals why he never gave an address at UN

Pres. Yameen reveals why he never gave an address at UNFormer President Yameen has revealed why he didn’t give an address at the United Nations during his five-year term in office.

Instead of the President, it was former President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, Former Foreign Minister Dhunya Maumoon, Dr. Mohamed Asim and the Permanent Representative of Maldives in USA Dr. Ali Naseer who gave addresses at the UN on behalf of the President.

A question that lingered on the minds of several Maldivians, President Yameen has finally revealed the reason why he passed on the opportunity to speak at arguably the biggest stage in the world.

President Yameen shrugged away the comical suggestions that he didn’t give an address because he didn’t know how to speak in English or Dhivehi. He also stated that the suggestions by some opposition parties at the time that he didn’t give an address because he wasn’t offered the chance to do so, were lies.

He stated that during his first year in office, the General Assembly of UN coincided with the Hajj season, and stated that he set the holy pilgrimage as his priority. The second year of his Presidency, the General Assembly of UN coincided with the May Day protests that rocked the capital city of Male’. President Yameen stated that once again his priorities led him to pass up on the chance to address the United Nations and that he remained in the country to settle the internal affairs of the country.

“I saw that going to the United Nations was secondary. My priority was to settle the country and fulfill the needs and demands of the people.” Said the former President while speaking at a campaign event in K. Himmafushi.

He also stated that he had met with the Secretary-General of UN at a meeting in China and had spoken the Secretary-General extensively on matters that may not be brought up in an address at the UN.

“I met with the Secretary-General of the UN in China. We spoke about a lot of things. We poke one to one about a lot of things that cannot be addressed in a UN General Assembly.” Said President Yameen. All the Presidents of Maldives with the exception of President Yameen had given addresses at the UN. The most recent being President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who spoke at the UN on September 24.