President Muizzu Launches 'National Campaign to Pay Respect' at Ekuveni Running Track

President Mohamed Muizzu inaugurated on Thursday night the national project launched by the government to strengthen the quality of respect in society. The President had announced in a presidential statement submitted in February that such a project would be started this year. In addition to the President, senior government officials participated in the colourful ceremony held at the Ekuveni Running Track. A large number of military personnel and police also took part, along with employees of various government offices and companies in which the government holds shares. The main objective of this national project is to revive and strengthen the social values and discipline that are being lost in Maldivian society, in addition to the quality of respecting one another. Employees of government offices and companies were made to participate mandatorily in the launching of the campaign to pay respect. The Civil Service Commission and heads of offices informed employees to participate in the event, having made it mandatory for civil service employees and company employees to attend the ceremony to launch the "National Campaign to Pay Respect" and to check attendance. However, criticism has been directed at the move, with claims that employees of government offices and companies were forced to attend the event. Some members of the public have also expressed displeasure, saying that members of the public and elderly people who use the Ekuveni Running Track for exercise faced difficulties after the track was closed about a week earlier in preparation for the ceremony.