Muizzu tells Victory Day audience that sovereignty depends on escaping debt
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu used his Victory Day address in Malé on 3 November 2026 to argue that sovereignty rests on economic independence and freedom from debt, the President's Office said.
The Maldives cannot protect its language, its religion and its way of life without an economy that spares it from relying on others, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu argued in a night-time address to the official Victory Day ceremony at Republic Square, Malé, on 3 November 2026.
According to the President's Office, he set the pursuit of economic freedom alongside the nation's armed liberation from subjugation, and called on the country to throw off the burden of debt.
Thirty-eight years on
The President remembered the martyrs of 3 November 1988, who gave their lives defending the country, and praised their sacrifice. Two new generations, he noted, have come of age in the 38 years since the 1988 aggression without having witnessed it. What the nation owes its young people, he said, is to safeguard national independence, secure economic self-sufficiency and guarantee lasting sovereignty.
Debt and the public finances
Economic independence, in the President's view, is the foundation of a self-sufficient, prosperous and happy society. He cited the Government's work to:
- lead the Maldives clear of the danger of bankruptcy
- stop irresponsible monetary expansion
- repay the State's debt
Without transformative reform of public finances, he argued, the country's nationhood, independence and sovereignty could not be protected. He pledged a prosperous, self-sufficient State in which spiritual and material development carry equal weight.
Security and the National Service Programme
On defence, he reported that foreign military personnel had left the country, international work to recover lost maritime territory was under way, and the Maldives National Defence Force was building up its capabilities at speed.
The National Service Programme, established to develop young Maldivians with a strong national outlook, was another example he gave. Over 1,000 participants have completed training through it, and many have since found work, he said.
Every decision he takes, the President said, will be shaped by the goal of reviving Maldivian national values and defending the country's independence. He asked citizens to put national loyalty and the common good ahead of political feeling and personal interest, and to pull together for a Maldives that is prosperous, self-sufficient and free of debt.
