The government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has confirmed talks have been held with “senior members” of the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) over potentially standing in a coalition for this year’s presidential election.
PPM MP and Spokesperson Ahmed Nihan has told Minivan News that “several meetings” had been held between the party’s vice presidential candidate Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, AP President Sheikh Imran Abdullah and Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed.
Nihan could not provide further details of what conclusion had been reached between the two parties, but claimed that the AP’s potential support would be a “huge boost” for the PPM’s election campaign.
Confirmation of the talks follows the AP’s announcement on Thursday (July 11) that it had quit President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s ‘Forward with the Nation’ coalition due to “mysterious events”.
The decision was taken just 24 hours after the AP publicly criticised President Waheed, accusing him of telling international media that the party had “extremist” elements.
However, AP President Sheikh Imran today rejected local media reports that his party had held any discussions with any other political groups following the termination of its coalition agreement with President Waheed.
Sheik Imran was not responding to calls at time of press.
Coalition uncertainty
PPM MP Nihan said today that with recent reports of “uneasiness” between the AP and President Waheed, talks had been held with senior leadership over a possible collaboration. However, he said it was uncertain if any coalition could be reached between the PPM and AP at present.
Nihan added that any potential agreement would still need to be approved by the PPM’s council before being finalised, though he said that the party’s charter did allow for presidential candidate MP Yameen and his running mate to hold talks with other candidates over key issues.
A meeting of the PPM Council has been scheduled for tonight, according to party officials.
Nihan said that he remained of the view that a coalition government was not a solution to run the Maldives effectively at the current time – an argument he claimed had been proven conclusively by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) coming to power backed by a number of parties in 2008.
Parties including the now government-aligned Jumhoree Party, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and later the AP all eventually left former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government after backing him as their presidential candidate.
Nasheed later controversially resigned from office following a mutiny by sections of the police and military on February 7, 2012, with the MDP alleging a “coup d’eat” had toppled the country’s first democratically elected government.
“We believe it is difficult to have a coalition here,” Nihan claimed, adding that multi-party democracy in the country was still a very new concept.
He said that despite any potential boost the AP would provide to the PPM’s support base during the presidential election, concerns remained about how successful a coalition could be in the country.
In May, Nihan claimed that although the PPM would continue to lend its support to the present coalition backing President Waheed, the party was not looking to enter into a collaboration ahead of the election scheduled for September.
“Originally in the first round of the 2008 elections, former President Gayoom failed to obtain enough votes to get re-elected. As we know, [former President] Nasheed then formed a coalition to win the election in the second round,” he said. “What we saw then was after 20 days, JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim resigned without much reason from the government. This has put a big question mark over the strength of coalitions.”
Speaking at the conclusion of a campaign visit in Raa Atoll yesterday (July 13), MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, President Waheed’s running mate for the upcoming election, was reported in local media as saying that no other candidate had as strong of a team in the upcoming election as the incumbent.
Thasmeen, Leader of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), claimed President Waheed continued to be backed with the “most capable” people that would be able to run a government responsibly, according to Sun Online.
“Considering the ongoing campaigns, it wouldn’t be an untruth if I said that no other candidate has a team as strong as the ‘forward with the nation’ team. You would see who are included in the teams, if you look at the front row during major ceremonies, and if you watch party rallies on TV and the people who speak on stage during these functions,” he was reported as saying.
“I think that the team behind President Waheed consists of capable people who can responsibly run the government, even if they assume this responsibility tomorrow.”
Thasmeen also reportedly praised the president’s patience for being able to run a government with parties who did not always support him on key issues.
Thasmeen and President Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaadh Party (GIP) Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza were not responding to calls at time of press.
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....from the same party .after all the advocating that COALITIINS ARE NOT A FEATURE OF PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS.
This party will U turn on everything
How can a political party call themselves progressive, yet be in a coalition with a religious party that basis it's agenda on 14th Century desert dwellers ideology?
1. Favouring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, especially in political matters.
2. Making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods.
3. Characterized by such progress, or by continuous improvement.
Clearly not anything that the Adhaalath Party aspires too or wishes to promote, so how would this coalition be successful for either party or the public?
LOL. The whore is on the streets again offering itself to the highest bidder. Going back to the Old Dictator with its tail between its legs. He won't let you play your little games and run around as you wish. He'll chew you up and spit you out when he's done. Look what happened to Umar. Remember the old saying? Fen kakka boleege izzaiy.
For sake of a progressive nation, please please do NOT take on board these dead weights.
PPM, you claim you can take Mordis to new heights, Do you mean a new Low?
I hope Yamin knows when to discard vermin, when their use, if any, is milked dry. Cobras and rats can be very dangerous.
Now the self acclaimed Dheenah takaa Qaumah takaa, who are crownies of Baqee Burumaa Qasim is going to make sure that the so called Maumoon and his merry men will not stand a minute chance too once Faheri Sheh Imran is refused another Virgin 🙂
This game is getting dirtier by the day.. Lets hope that Nazim and Riyaz dose not get away with bloodshed on the streets of Male' and the rest of the nation. I fear what is coming
Indeed, as others have pointed out, PPM might just use (abuse) the Mullahs to get a few extra votes. Just like Umar, once they are used, they'll be thrown out like a used condom!
Yamin is a shrewd character, no doubt about it and he may just use (abuse) the Mullahs. One thing's fore sure; the Mullahs will be in for a rough ride!
Revenge is a dish best served cold. These adhaalath paateys will be driven from these lands, to the cesspits in Tora Bora where they were born from.
Any party which is as uncompromising as the Adhalaath Party cannot succeed as Ministers in a liberal democracy because, the democratic process is about striving to achieve what is POSSIBLE through the shrewd art of negotiation and compromise. The art of double speak, compromise, promising without promising is the shrewd art of politics. Allthough you need to be driven by ideals, you have to be able to be manipulative and deceitpful if you are to suceed in achieving even a portion of those ideals. Basically, democracy is dirty, yet it is possibly the cleanest political system there is, ironically.
I personally am way too emotional and idealistic to be good at politics. But maybe thats a good thing. Good Politicians are not good moral role models. It looks bad for a religious leader seeking to be a moral role model to be involved in this dirty process. Humanity NEEDS moral role models, as we need to strive to be a better people. We need to struggle through the many ethical dilemmas which confront us with sincerity to be a better people.
As a politician, you start with ideals which are probably impossible to achieve in their entirety, and, you strive to achieve as much of the detail of those ideals as possible. You do so through compromising the details of the ideals with the ideals of those opposed to those ideals. The best you can hope for is to get the better or bigger half of that compromise.
You see, this is what went wrong with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt for example, their views were so absolutist that they shot themselves in the foot. If you don’t compromise and sacrifice some of what you want to achieve politically, you don’t achieve ANYTHING you want to achieve politically.
Of course, the world needs groups to be uncompromising in their political demands to pull policy in a certain direction as much as possible, but those groups are most successful as lobby groups rather than as actual parliamentarians or Ministers. Adhalaath party would seem a lot more sincere in their religious committment if they played politics as a lobby group rather than as a group seeking seats in parliament or as Cabinet Ministers.
To impose such absolutist views entirely, you have to impose them through aggressive dictatorial force rather than through a democratic process. That won’t happen in Maldives anytime soon because the army has ultimate power and the army are driven by liberal Islamic ideals.
Religion and Politics is a huge issue.
Many people are confused about my Religious views, how can a Muslim be so opposed to traditional Shariah LAW they ask? I have been accused of being a Kaffir by my own loved ones for my views.
I would have to write a massive book to outline my views in full, and I just might do that soon. But, I just want to give an EXTREMELY brief, simplistic summary of my position.
On one hand, Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu-allahiwaSallaam)taught us that there is an ALL POWERFUL God who is the MOST Merciful. Based on that, in times of great pain we can find strength through FAITH in that. We can have the confidence that no matter what stress or pain we go though in life – OUR BEAUTIFUL ALLAH will replace every tear that we have shed with pearls of bliss in JANNAH! On the other hand, Mohammed (SAW) was also a human being. The conventional point of view that he was sinless does not further the cause of Justice, Truth and, ultimately, Islam itself. Such a position forces us to attempt to justify actions which are obviously WRONG with arguments which are simply horrendous.
There are Modern Muslims which are accepting the human and imperfect nature of our Rasul. The argument is that the idea of a sinless Prophet Mohammed was a later Political Creation, used to solidify and justify power in the Prophet’s name.
Earlier sources do not present the image of a sinless Mohammed. For example, he said himself that he was merely a Servant of Allah, and forbade anyone from exalting him above that. He even said that he Pray’s for Allah’s Forgiveness over seventy times per day.
So, as a human being, Prophet Mohammed, with his positive qualities AND his negative qualities (as all human beings have) set out to build a polis based on his Revelation of the nature of God.
Given that he came from an extremely violent and barbaric society, and sought to impose a Religious Political VISION on that society, the real politic which he was dealt and the fact that he was human caused him to do things which were absolutely horrendous by todays human rights standards. Any human being seeking to create an eventual utopia in such a society would would have done so. He was a politician, and a human, and as all humans are he was driven at times by the dark side of human nature, and at times by the higher side of human nature.
In this way, we must contextualise both the Qur'an and the Hadith to find what is truest to the realization of social Justice, Peace and Freedom from fear for ALL in drawing meaning from it.
Having said that, for me, it does not change the fact that Islamic Prayer and Spirituality is beautiful. Its essence is best summarized in the 99 names or attributes of ALLAH. These attributes are Allah. They are the supreme source and measure of all that is beautiful and good. As the epitome of goodness, our task is to strive to replicate these characters in our own characters as much as possible!
So, for our Beloved – yet human Prophet’s beautiful message, I am deeply greatful to our Beloved NABI, Peace be Upon Him, and I Love Him Dearly.
Why can’t the mainstream politics get rid of this Mullah party from the political arena? If you include them you are obliged to listening them. The question is, are they worth in mainstream politics, can they contribute anything positive to socio economic development?
No one seems considering what their agenda is in politics. It is obvious their agenda is to establish a Sharia base Thaliban style backward system of governing. But which political party holds same political view as these Mullas have or can any party put up Sharia based government in Maldives who comes to power
If anyone can implement Sharia Law this would have been done by the chief Mulla Qayoom during his 30 years of autocratic rule. He did not do it because his hand were tied based on the ground reality, the fragility nature of Maldives. Can anyone with five senses intact would even imagine starting cutting hand off, stoning the women, banning alcohol, cutting diplomatic ties with Europe and America and pass the laws that violate human rights. This would be a suicide mission.
Since this is the reality, why these moron want to be allied with these conservatives when you can’t implement their manifesto. Qayoom was the most closet person to their ideology who tried his best to keep Islamic ideology alive without disturbing the normalcy in Maldives but they branded him also irreligious. The question is can any party satisfy these brain dead 21st century Bedouin.
Team for 2013 - 2018 2018-2023 in novemeber 11th all will witness Yameen and jameel waling into the oval office. Sitting in the presidential desk making all the important decisions the country needs .