Wednesday
15th May 2024
Dhivehi Edition
President Solih. Photo: President's Office
Employees of the government and state corporations are being told to avoid appearing on television programmes that show the interiors of their homes, the Commoner’s Friendship Union has alleged.
The Commoner’s Friendship Union have been visiting the homes of people who had originally been awarded flats through the Hiyaa programme but had been disqualified through a re-evaluation by the Flat Committee which had been formed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The Union had been making and publishing video stories of their visits.
The Union claimed that some people who had previously agreed to appear on the programme had later refused to do so, telling them that they had been instructed by the government.
The Union primarily focus on people who worked in the lowest-paid jobs in government offices and state corporations. Many of them have declined to appear in further videos out of fear of losing their jobs.
“We want to tell their stories because they had their homes taken from them. We don’t want to get political”, said a Union representative.
The Union has been calling on the government to cease threatening government employees with their jobs. They also stressed that every citizen had the right to express the state of their poverty and how their home had been taken away from them.
It is noteworthy that the government has recently made a rule that prohibits government employees from expressing opinions that are critical of the government, either on social media or in private conversation.