Your Excellency the High Commissioner, our star and friend Salman Khan, Ministers and everyone present here: Of course it is a happy evening. We invited Mr Khan or rather we wanted Salman Khn in the Maldives so badly not just simply because of his artistic excellence but also because of his humanitarian work. We thank Salman Khan for coming to the Maldives, meeting the people, and also at the same time doing all the very good voluntary and humanitarian work that Mr Khan is so renowned to be doing in India. We also thank him for spreading that good work here in the Maldives. I’m sure this is not an evening for politicians like us to be going on and on about. We have better acts and events later o in the evening. I would like to take this opportunity also to thank GMR Infrastructure for facilitating and hosting the occasion here in Male’. We would also like to thank the India Club of the Maldives. The High Commissioner has been complaining that he would like to see more NGO efforts in the India Club of the Maldives. I’m sure Mr Khan, after your visit people of the Maldives, the people would actually now realise how important it is that the friendship has to go on. Again thank you very much for coming here and thank you very much for being with us. I would like everyone to enjoy a very beautiful evening. Thank you.

Your Excellencies, Prime Minister Spencer, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Maldives. I would especially like to thank and welcome H.E. Dr. Baldwin Spencer, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a fellow member of the Alliance of Small Island States, for being with us today. May I also thank the distinguished ministers from Colombia, New Zealand, Samoa, and Timor Leste; state ministers and deputy ministers from Costa Rica, Malawi and Tanzania, and special envoys from Indonesia and the Netherlands. And allow me to express my gratitude to H.E. Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, and through him to President Calderon, for ensuring that Mexico, the incoming President of COP16, is represented here with us. As I look around the room, it is clear that we have a gathering rich in talent and experience, which bodes well for the days ahead. A little over seven months ago, we gathered in Copenhagen to try and thrash out a deal to save the world. The Copenhagen Accord is a positive step forward. It contains serious financial commitments from Western countries, for adaptation and green growth. And, for the first time, developing countries pledged to reduce their emissions. The Copenhagen Accord is not, however, the legally-binding, planet saving deal that we hoped for. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, it is striking how divided we were in Copenhagen. We entered those negotiations in a hostile mood, and under a cloud of mistrust. Given the atmosphere, it is not surprising that we failed to deliver the best possible outcome. Seven months on, it is troubling that countries have still not overcome their differences. Many people seem to accept it is normal, or even natural, to fight, bicker and squabble while the climate crisis worsens. And yet, it is surely not normal to quarrel over the most important issue of our time. Many people around the world have criticised their leaders for behaving like children. But perhaps our critics give us too much credit. If we took 191 children from each corner of the globe… ... if we explained the climate crisis to these children, I suspect they would act more sensibly than we do. If we explained that unless we stop poisoning the Earth, countries will go extinct and millions will suffer, they would question why we argue, rather than co-operate. If we told them we already possess the technological know-how to fix the problem, they might wonder why we don’t use it. If we told those children that doing nothing costs us billions, while greening the economy creates new wealth; their bafflement would probably be complete. Unfortunately, the world’s children did not call the shots at Copenhagen. And I am told that COP16 falls during school term-time, so they won’t be able to help us in Mexico either. So it falls once again to us, the representatives of governments, to do better. I am sure that the disappointments of Copenhagen were a reflection of global realpolitik. Different countries were behaving in ways that they felt served their national interests. But I want to be clear about what realpolitik means in the context of climate change. It means that vulnerable countries like the Maldives, are expendable. I cannot accept this. I cannot accept that we must disappear, so others can carry on polluting. And I know that you are here because you cannot accept this logic either. I know you believe we can reconcile development, with survival. I know you want to bridge past divides, and move forward in a spirit of trust and cooperation. I believe it is the ability to come together as friends, that is the great value of this Dialogue for Progressive Action. Incredible as it might seem, this is the only forum founded with the express intent of understanding and bridging existing positions, rather than creating new ones. It is the only forum that includes countries from each region of the world, big and small, rich and poor. And it is the only forum premised on the belief that a mutually-beneficial solution to climate change exists - if we only look hard enough. Over the past few weeks, I have often been asked what it means to be “progressive”. To be progressive, you obviously have to be in favour of progress – of moving things forward. In our context, however, I believe being progressive means something more. To be progressive, we must be willing to listen to others. We must be able to understand other people’s views, concerns and positions. And we must be prepared to show flexibility on long-standing positions, and be innovative and imaginative. That is the task facing this group over the next two days. We must openly discuss each other’s positions and the rationales that underpin them. We must explore areas of convergence. And we must look at innovative ways to bridge our differences. If we act in this way, I am sure that our leadership – your leadership – will be recognised by generations to come. I wish I could stay here for the whole of the next two days. Unfortunately, climate change is not the only challenge facing this country. As many of you will know, we have serious political difficulties in the Maldives. Elements within the parliament are at loggerheads with the executive, and this is stopping the country moving forward. To my mind, the same principles that underpin our dialogue – honesty, understanding and cooperation – also hold the key to unlocking the domestic situation. That is the task I will be engaged with over the coming days and weeks. Our assignment this weekend is serious and challenging. And I have a couple of concerns I wish to share with you. I think we have a serious problem over the way we present climate change to the outside world. I believe we need to view climate change not just as a challenge but also as an opportunity. Cutting carbon should not be considered a burden that will destroy jobs and hamper economic growth. Instead, going green should be seen as the greatest economic opportunity since the Industrial Revolution. This is an opportunity to improve things… ... to grow our economies in more sustainable ways… ... and to create wealth and employment. A deal at Cancun should be viewed, not as an impediment to growth, but as a boost. A deal must not be seen as a drag on development, but as a way of doing things better. I am also concerned that people’s expectations are being lowered too much ahead of Cancun. Even UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has been playing down our prospects of success. After the disappointments of Copenhagen, managing expectations might be understandable. But I am concerned that we are not managing, so much as minimising, expectations. If we aim for a bare minimum, that is what we will get. It may be tempting to see COP16 as just a stepping-stone - an opportunity to prepare the groundwork for agreement in South Africa. But countries like the Maldives, at the climate change frontline, cannot accept this. We cannot wait 2, 5 or 10 more years. We cannot allow the Bali Process to become an environmental version of the WTO’s Doha Round. So let me be clear: we must succeed in Cancun in fashioning an effective, fair and ambitious deal. Politicians must show the leadership and commitment that was lacking in Copenhagen. As always, we must be guided by the science, and the science is very clear. To stop temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees, the world must cut emissions within the next couple of years. Even the window for staying below 2 degrees is closing fast. If we wait another decade, the 2 degrees window will shut forever. We can do better than this. And we must do better than this. Ladies and gentlemen, Before you begin your discussions, I would also like to offer three broad thoughts: Firstly, we must deal with the issue of trust. As I mentioned earlier, deep divisions hampered progress at Copenhagen. Today, confidence between the different parties remains a major concern. I understand that re-establishing confidence in the system, and in each other, will not happen overnight. But we must start in Cancun by reaching agreement across all core issues, especially the inter-related issues of mitigation, finance, and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification. And I also believe the Cancun deal must include a periodic review mechanism to allow states to ratchet up their mitigation targets as trust improves. Secondly, we must build on the Copenhagen Accord, not ignore it. After Copenhagen many countries queued up to criticise the Accord. I was personally involved in the negotiations that led to its drafting. The Accord is imperfect, but it nevertheless represents a genuine attempt by countries to map out the broad contours of a deal. We should not be satisfied with the Copenhagen Accord. But nor should we sideline it, or pretend that COP15 never happened. It is not the fault of the Accord, that the pledges entered into its annex are grossly inadequate. All countries, led by the developed world and closely followed by the major emerging economies, share a responsibility for scaling-up their ambition. And I believe that progressive countries should lead the way. The Maldives has already stepped forward. Under the Copenhagen Accord, we have announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2020. Others in this room, such as Costa Rica, have taken similarly bold steps. I encourage all of you to join us. My third and final suggestion relates to finance. It is always difficult to talk about money. But to tackle the climate crisis, finance is crucial. For developing countries to follow low-carbon growth, we need significant, predictable and accessible financial support. This support must come from developed country partners and the carbon markets. Without it, we simply cannot make the capital investments needed to transform our economies, however strong our political will. Developed countries must demonstrate their good faith and lock in the financing commitments made in Copenhagen. We must ensure that the fast-track finance starts to flow quickly. And we must improve the functioning of the carbon markets – so that they work in the interests of the many, not the few. Ladies and gentlemen, I have great hope for this meeting. On the question of climate change, the world is too ready to fall back on old arguments, old positions and old concepts. Today, we need a new approach based on new ideas and forward-thinking. And that is the approach I am confident this Progressive Dialogue can provide. I wish you every success. So much depends on it. Thank you.

President Rajapakesa, the Speaker of the Majlis, the Vice President, everyone present, a very good afternoon: We are indeed very glad today to receive the President of Sri Lanka on a state visit to the Maldives. As we all understand, the relations between both our countries go a very, very long way back. Ethnically, we are of course cousins. So to find where it starts is an archaeological exercise rather than within the rim of diplomacy. People were first populated in the Maldives, myth has it, by people who arrived form Sarandib while we ourselves are the Mahaldeeb. Since then, we’ve gone on our slightly different and separate paths but we have always maintained our good relations and our connectivity and our sameness. Our languages are very similar. We are also a Sanskrit based language. Our customs are so very similar. Our behaviour, our emotions and our whole way of life are entwined. During the course of the very difficult period in Sri Lankan history, the Maldives has always tried its best to render whatever assistance, whatever support that we can. Of course, our means are very modest but we have always tried our best to assist our neighbouring Sri Lanka. I would like to assure the people of Sri Lanka and its President His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa that this will continue. We want to build better relations and we want to get closer. We are of course bound by agreements and understandings in the SAARC and it is our intention to strengthen that association as well so that we can have a better multilateral framework. During the recent SAARC Summit, all SAARC leaders were able to come to a number of understandings. Mainly, we were able to say that economic matters and issues should proceed even in the face of other political difficulties among some SAARC nations. We also agreed that SAARC connectivity in terms of developing a better transport network was vital. I hope that during the course of this visit we will again also be able to follow up on that exercise and come to a better picture on how we may be able to link Colombo, Male’, Gan, Galle, Hambantota, Kulhudhuffushi – the whole of the Maldives with how we may link it to the whole of Sri Lanka through a better transport network. That was the idea that we entertained during the last SAARC Summit. I’m also happy to announce in front of the President, though we have had some political difficulties during the past week and with very good consultation and discussions and conversations with the President, and also we have had discussions with the former cabinet and all the political parties, as well as with the Leader of the DRP Mr Thasmeen and other alliance parties of his party. I’ve also had discussions with our Maldivian Democratic Party and we have therefore decided that it is possible for us now to come up with a cabinet during the course of today. So we will hopefully swear-in a cabinet soon after lunch and I hope to have this function around 3 o’clock at the President’s Office. Again, I would like to stress and I would like to maintain that we will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sri Lanka. It doesn’t matter who is in government in the Maldives or it doesn’t matter who is in government in Sri Lanka. We are same people and we will stand and stay together. Again, just before I finish, I would like to raise a toast to continued better relations between Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

I should refrain from saying, rather I should refrain from appointing a kitchen cabinet and I should also refrain from saying that today. But today I just had to amongst all the chefs and food here. We also are presently, I understand, I am sure, all of you’ll have this in mind that the country is going through some challenging times. But that is not to say that we are down hearted. That is not to say that we have not believed that our goals and our ambitions may not be fulfilled. I have all the confidence that we can move forward and I am certain that the difficulty, political drama that we face today is just a hitch along, of course, a very challenging road that we are progressing through. Thank you very much Ambassador; thank you very much Dharmadasa, the Exhibition Services; Amir Mansoor and Ismail Hilmy who have been so very generous to sponsor the event; Ajmal, who has always been promoting the event; and of course, Mr Palmer who is here as the chief chef judging the event. Fortunately, Ajmal, we will be able to open up for a public private partnership exhibition centre in Gulhi Falhu. Hopefully that would start around July. We have always had in mind that Dharubaaruge is no longer suitable for many events that are now happening in the country. We, of course, need to move forward and move up. This government came into administration with a very firm belief and a policy of business friendly economic issues and policies. Our manifesto was written along those lines. We are a centre-right party – we represent a centre-right philosophy and therefore we are for business, good business. We believe it is in the interest of the people when the people flourish. For the hotel industry to flourish in this country, the government has to be very mindful and very patient in how it deals with this industry. This is one of the best industries of this country. In my mind one of the many reasons why this industry has flourished and has given so handsome returns to its investors is mainly because the government has stayed away from participating in this industry. During the past 30 years, or past many years, the government of the Maldives has participated in every single industry physically and directly other than in the tourism industry. For this reason, because the government has stayed away from it, this industry has in fact grown and it is growing much faster than any other industry that we have ever seen, or any other industry in this region. Tourism arrivals have this year peaked higher than any time in the history if this country. We are seeing more tourists coming to the Maldives not only from traditional destinations but from many new destinations. The industry has in mind to develop a mid market. The government has mind to develop policies that will encourage a mid market. Very often I have been told, our ministers have been told, and former ministers have been told that the country is only accessible to very high end tourists. Therefore, for us to reach our targets and our objectives and our heights, it is important that we now start building a mid income or rather a mid market tourism. For that end, the government has revised its taxation policies, tendering policies and all the other related issues that hinges upon the development of this industry. I am also glad and I am also happy that we have, during the past few weeks, been able to successfully tender two of our airports and found appropriate international partners to partner with us in the development of these two airports. We all understand that development of tourism hinges upon a good airport facility. And we all understand how badly our present airport needs renovations and improvement. And we also do understand how much money is required to do that. The present partner that the government has identified is willing to invest to the amount of US$ 273 million within a period of three years. That would bring our airport back to the best standards that is available internationally or any where else near our region. I am also glad that we are also able to find a successful partner to develop and manage our international airport in Gan and therefore, opening up seven islands for tourism development. The new company would hopefully start operation early next month and they would also be providing international facilities for international flights by the end of this year. So hopefully, we will by early next year, have a whole another area or another region of this country open for tourism and therefore, all the trade associated with this industry. I would like to reiterate that the government’s economic policies will continue. The government’s programme with the IMF is strong and we are moving forward with the programme. The privatization policy will continue. The government will find assets that are used by government or government owned assets or government owned companies and we will tender these companies and we will seek out appropriate partners and we will manage along these lines. I am also encouraged by the improvement, recent improvements, in our economic figures, mainly our budget deficit, our foreign exchange, international reserves. Therefore, I have all the hopes and I have all the expectations that we are moving along the path that we have initially plotted. I do not see any reason why we should be on the back foot and I see every reason why this exhibition is again going to be a bigger success than it has ever been before. Again thank you very much for organizing an excellent exhibition. I will not be able to have a good look at the exhibition. But I have told the third generation exhibitors that I will make a point of visiting their stalls. Recently I went to Singapore and one of the two girls I met in Singapore were third generation traders with the Maldives. Their great grand father also had excellent trading relationships with the Maldives. Again in this exhibition I see similar faces, I see third generation traders trading with the Maldives and having strong relationship with our traders. I would like to make it a point and extend to you that we take businessmen or yourself as development partners and we believe that together we can achieve our objectives. Thank you very much. ____________________________________

Good afternoon Ambassador, Speaker of the Majlis, the Vice President, MPs and everyone present here today. Sad to say I cannot mention Ministers. Of course, 4th of July or the US Independence Day for many of us is the day that we will always commemorate as the day when people have always understood that democracy is, broadly the best form of governance, and no people have been able to experiment and make that system a reality than the American people. I would, therefore, like to congratulate and wish the American people from the bottom of my heart. It is a very difficult day for us today. While we learn from many, many experiences such as yours and many other countries, while we understand that everyone is quite willing to assist us, help us, advice us and be with us, it is still a very difficult day. Today, we face one of the biggest challenges that this nation has ever, in my mind, faced. We have a constitutional crisis and we are trying to come out of it. I hope that the worst of it is over and I am very confident that we will be able to come out of this crisis intact. In my mind there is no best formula, there is no best course of action than dialogue, than talking to each other. We will adhere to rule of law. We will follow the book and this government will not do anything that is illegal or that is not prescribed by law. That is one certainty that I like to give to every single person here and this country. The Ministers resigned saying that in their mind the parliament is obstructing their work and this they say is not the real issue. They believe that MPs debating or obstructing or formulating legislations and directing the government is not the issue and that it is exactly how we would like to work. But their issue is, that Parliament’s deliberations are not based on merit or ideology or party politics but rather based on corruption and bribery. When the whole Cabinet accuses a whole institution of that, I have to look into it and I am looking into it. Two things have come as I stand here today: one is allegations by MPs themselves that they have been approached and they have been asked to accept bribes; and secondly and more sadly, telephone conversations between MPs that very clearly indicates that they have been in the act of either buying or selling votes. This is not the system that we sought. This is not the type of government that we had in mind to lead and therefore this is not the type of government that we are going to lead. We have to rid this country of corruption, human rights abuse and all the other illnesses of society. I understand that it is going to be difficult. Even initially, we always understood that this is going to be very, very difficult. But we always believed that the best course of action would be to let democracy take its course and to let democracy solve these issues. I believe that it is getting difficult everyday for just the process of democracy to solve all our issues or rather the Majlis to have deliberations and vote upon a right course of action. Because it is no longer possible for many of us to believe that the Parliament’s course of action is based on their principles or their beliefs. So we have to now investigate this. But I still hope that we will be able to come out of this affair intact and I still hope that all political parties will be available for consultation and that we will be able to have an amicable understanding on how we may be able to move forward. I would like to thank the Speaker of the Majlis. I have always found him a strong and honest person. He might have difference of opinion with me. There will never be an issue because of that. But I for one would like to work with him, and I would like to work with other political parties and other leaders to see how we may be able to go forward. I would like to tell the international community, the good people of the United States that this first democratic government of the Maldives was not elected simply just to be in government. We have been entrusted to do a certain set of things. We are forced to, I would say, the people have very categorically asked us that we implement and we establish democracy in this country. Now how do we do that? Of course not by arresting Parliament members, but also of course, not by bribery and buying votes. This is not the way to go forward. I think this is the moment for all of us, to ask questions and hopefully seek answers. I still believe and I still hope that this impasse, that this deadlock will not continue long and that we will be able to find an amicable solution. I also would like to thank the Ambassador and the United States government for assisting us in our road to democracy and also now being such a strong partner in our development. The United States have always assisted this country. We stand with the United States, we share similar ideologies, we share the same beliefs and the same outlook to life and we want to succeed as much as everyone else in this planet would want to succeed. Again thank you very much for having this celebration today. It could have been another day, it could have been a day when we have the whole Cabinet intact and when we didn’t think there was any problem with us. But I think this is better. I think we are now able to come head-on and solve our problems and solve our issues. In this country, bribery and human rights abuse have always stood at the core of many illnesses and now the ugly face have resumed again and we have to be able to deal with it. I would like to assure everyone that I will never step back, neither will I force myself forward. I will adhere to the rule of law, we will deal with this by the book and I am confident and I am sure that we will prosper and we will be able to reach the goals that we have so joyously, even few days back had drawn. Again thank you very much everyone. Thank you very much for the Ambassador for having this function here in the Maldives today. Thank you.