Tag: DRP

DRP-PA split could see rise of new opposition majority

The decision by the People’s Alliance (PA) to split from the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) could redraw the political boundaries in parliament.

The PA decided on July 13 to break the longstanding coalition agreement, with the backing of DRP MPs loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom collectively known as the party’s Z-faction.

“I believe it is a good move. Since Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s leadership there has been no cooperation with the PA,” said Z-DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf. “Nothing has been done with the PA for the past two years – they were just told how to vote.”

Mahlouf told Minivan News that 11 of the party’s MPs last night met with the opposition-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and an independent MP “to discuss how to move forward.”

Parliamentary procedure prevented the disaffected MPs from forming a new party, Mahlouf claimed, but he speculated that the MPs would potentially leave the main opposition and operate either as independents, or join one or other of the opposition aligned parties, and had discussed the appointment of a parliamentary group leader.

If that scenario were to happen, the DRP would be reduced to 13-15 MPs and Thasmeen would no longer be minority opposition leader, as the the new opposition PA-JP-DQP alliance would number 21-22 MPs.

Asked whether this move would leave Thasmeen open to cooperation with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mahlouf alleged that “Thasmeen and [Speaker] Abdulla Shahid have already been helping President Mohamed Nasheed for two years. The separation won’t change that.”

“I don’t think he will join them though – Thasmeen will want to run in the Presidential elections,” Mahlouf predicted.

The MPs affiliated with the Z-DRP include Ilham Ahmed, Ahmed Mahlouf, Ahmed Nihan, Ali Arif, Abdul Muhsin Hameed, Dr Afrashim Ali, Hamdhoon Hameed, Yousuf Naeem and Mohamed Rafeeq Hassan.

Mahlouf noted that joining another party would also involving discussing potential Presidential candidates once the party lines were redrawn.

Addressing concerns raised yesterday by DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom – that the representation of constituents in strong DRP areas such as Laamu Atoll who elected opposition coalition MPs would effectively become PA electorates – Mahlouf said that such islands “voted for the PA because President Gayoom asked them to do it. Even now Zaeem is with the PA, they are working together. Voters in Laamu didn’t vote for Thasmeen – they voted for Gayoom.”

The redrawing of party lines will likely affect the controversial compromise on the composition of committees, which led to fistfights in parliament last week.

Article 101(b) of the parliamentary rules of procedure states the number of MPs each party has “should be taken as the basis” for determining the composition of committees.

The DRP-PA coalition, with 39 percent of seats in parliament, were therefore entitled to four seats in each of the 11-member standing committees.

The rules also states that Independent MPs should be given equal opportunity to select a committee of their preference.

Meanwhile, a statement released by PA yesterday notes that the proposal to break the coalition agreement was put forward by members of the parliamentary group.
“Following discussion on the issue by the PA council, as the DRP leadership elected during its 2010 congress has not given priority to adhering to the coalition agreement, the council members noted three main points,” it reads.

The PA council accused the DRP leadership of not putting “a substantial effort into maintaining the DRP-PA coalition” and failing to adhere to “the spirit of the [coalition] agreement.”

Moreover, the DRP leadership did not “take initiative for the many efforts needed to hold the government accountable” while also not supporting or backing “the efforts of other opposition parties.”

It adds that DRP Leader Thasmeen did not adequately shoulder responsibility and take initiative as befits the majority leader of parliament when the opposition coalition controlled a narrow majority.

“PA council members also took note of the serious divisions within DRP and the failure to resolve the disputes as well as splits between DRP members in parliament and the failure to appropriately enforce the party’s whip line,” the party said.

The PA observed that “as a result of matters deteriorating to the point where DRP MPs cannot communicate with the leadership,” the party doubted that it could “perform the hard and noble work” of holding the government accountable.

The PA council members further noted that “senior figures of the Z-DRP faction that works closely with the PA” had urged the minority opposition to split with the DRP.

Following a compromise reached over the revised constitution of standing committees, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed, affiliated with the Z-faction, publicly called on the PA to sever ties with the main opposition party.

DRP Leader Thasmeen acknowledged to Haveeru today that the decision would weaken the opposition, and said that “both sides failed to comply with the agreement.”

“I don’t think dissolving the agreement would make much of a difference now. As far as I’ve noticed, both sides failed to keep up with the agreement,” Haveeru reported Thasmeen as saying.

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People’s Alliance splits from DRP

The People’s Alliance (PA) party, headed by the former President’s half-brother MP Abdulla Yameen, has broken its coalition agreement with the main opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).

“PA MPs decide they were unable to continue working within the DRP coalition, as they were not receiving support from the DRP,” said the PA’s acting Secretary General Ahmed Musthafa.

“The PA’s Council and MPs felt that [DRP leader] Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s faction was not cooperating with the PA. The Z-DRP faction also urged us to break the coalition agreement,” Musthafa said.

The Z-DRP is a faction of the DRP affiliated with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, which split from the party following the DRP Disciplinary Committee’s decision to oust then Deputy Leader Umar Naseer.

Musthafa added that the party was not yet sure how the decision to break the coalition would affect the opposition’s narrow operating majority in parliament, “although we will still be working with opposition MPs and the Z-DRP.”

The decision would require that the committee allocation decision in parliament, which resulted in parliamentary deadlocks last week and ultimately the removal of disruptive Z-DRP MPs by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), be revisted, Musthafa said.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News that the PA’s breaking of the coalition agreement would “break the hearts” of the DRP’s support base in constituencies with a PA MP.

“In the Majlis election [the PA] in Meemu and Laamu Atoll asked for DRP support. These [constituencies] have a huge DRP support base and people there will be very uncertain because of today’s decision. They are very loyal to the DRP but voted for the PA tag,” Dr Mausoom said.

He suggested that the PA’s decision “could be a way for those people with discontent about the committee allocation [in parliament] to bring the issue back to the table.”

Dr Mausoom declined to speculate on whether there was now potential for the formation of new coalition between the Z-DRP and the PA, but did make one observation: “I think this is the beginning of the road to 2013.”

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MDP selects candidate, DRP seeks court order to stop Thulhaadhoo by-election

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) selected a candidate yesterday to contest in the upcoming by-election in Baa Atoll Thulhaadhoo while the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) is seeking a court order against the Elections Commission (EC).

Ahmed Afrah, of Thulhaadhoo Aaru, won yesterday’s primary with 101 votes. The primary was held concurrently at the MDP ‘Haruge’ in Male’ and Thulhaadhoo from 2pm to 6pm. Losing candidate Mohamed Thaureef meanwhile received 74 votes.

The DRP contends that its councillor was dismissed unfairly and in violation of the Decentralisation Act.

The EC however insists that the law obliges the commission to call a by-election within 45 days once a council seat became vacant.

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Opposition’s vote to increase city councillors economic sabotage, claims government

The government has hit out at opposition parliamentarians it alleges have actively sought to sabotage its attempts to reduce the state budget by voting for amendments that will double the number of city councillors currently serving in the country.

The criticisms were made after amendments to the country’s Decentralisation Act were passed yesterday in the Majlis, doubling the number of people elected to each city council.  The amendments have served to create eleven additional seats on Male’ City Council, which will increase to 22 representatives, while Addu City Council will have 12 elected councillors as a result.

Opposition politicians claim that the amendments have been made to try and bring more equity to the representation of city council members when compared to their island and atoll counterparts also appointed during the country’s first local council elections in February.

According to Haveeru, the amendments forwarded by South Hithadhoo MP Hassan Latheef were passed by 36 votes in favour, while 33 votes went against the bill – reportedly mainly from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members loyal to the government.

Back in February’s local council elections, where one councillor was appointed to each city constituency, results showed that the MDP had taken the majority of city seats despite losing out on an overall seat majority to the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) who claimed significantly more island and atoll councils.

Considering this vote, Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that aside from capitalising on the availability of the additional city council seats in the country, he believed opposition parties favoured the bill in order to sabotage cost cutting measures.

“From the outset [of the decentralisation process], the government has been of the position that the total number of councillors should be kept down as much as possible,” he said. “We at the beginning suggested that the total number of councillors should be no more than 220, yet opposition parties like the DRP wanted more.”

According to Zuhair, as part of its pledge to limit numbers, the government established seven national offices in an attempt to coordinate national developments within a decentralised Maldives and support the efforts of those elected to oversee projects in their constituencies.

Although Zuhair did not object to the councillors themselves, he claimed continued increases in their numbers represented a significant budgetary issue, particularly after parliament had agreed upon the final number of representatives before February’s elections.

“The government is actively working to reduce civil service wages as it is being constantly asked by groups such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We have offered to pay people to leave their jobs, yet all this is being undone,” Zuhair claimed. “The DRP hopes to capitilise on the formation of eleven more seats from city councils, where it is not really represented [after losing the city seats in the local council election].”

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef rejected Zuhair’s allegations, claiming opposition support for the amendments to the number of city councillors was to make “a fairer and more equitable system” in comparison to the number of elected members on island councils. Shareef added that the vote did not necessarily represent an attempt to set back budgetary reform.

“The addition of these councilors will not be a strain on the [state] budget. The president has himself clearly stated that he has no intention to reduce the civil service bill, rather he will try to generate income through taxes,” he said. “The possible expansion of the state budget is a concern. But we do not believe the government has sufficient plans to reduce it.”

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Under-fire Thasmeen won’t shift 2012 congress amidst DRP reconciliation attempts

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has questioned calls to bring forward the party’s 2012 congress amidst initiatives designed to end infighting between his own supporters and those of his predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Amidst an escalating tensions between Thasmeen and former President Gayoom – the DRP’s honorary leader – a group of party councillors have moved to form committees to try and reconcile divisions that have occurred between the two figures.

Party members critical of Thasmeen’s leadership have said they hope that any potential reconciliation will resolve concerns regarding what they see as the serving DRP head’s failure to adhere to the party’s charter on a number of issues such as dismissing former party member Umar Naseer.

Thasmeen told Minivan News today that from his perspective, he welcomed the possibility of dialogue that served to “strengthen” the party, having nominated three persons to represent him as a committee. The DRP leader added that Gayoom had appointed representatives of his own to take part in the ongoing discussions, which he claimed remained at an early stage and had yet to deal with the key “issues” that had led to divides in the party.

“The talks have not gone far, yet if any good can come of them [for the party], I would welcome that,” he said. “It is too early to say what sort of outcome we are expecting and we would like to see how talks proceed before we make any prejudgments in the media.”

The DRP head added that despite welcoming the talks, he would not concede to calls from some MPs to bring forward the party’s scheduled 2012 congress or hold an extraordinary meeting concerning topics like his leadership. In the last party congress held back in 2010, Thasmeen was anointed by Gayoom as party leader and elected unopposed – the honorary leader’s support has since been revoked on the back of apparent professional animosity between the two men.

“President Gayoom has suggested bringing forward the party congress. Now I have my opinions on this, but I would rather not say them right now,” he said. “The DRP constitution says that a congress should be held in 2012, so why is there a need for this to happen sooner?”

Thasmeen claimed additionally that certain party members had been using the media to attack and cause further divisions within the party and that he wished to avoid making any comments that exacerbated the present situation.

Thasmeen criticism

Ahmed Nihan, a DRP MP allied to a spin-off faction of the party known as the Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP), which supports Gayoom and dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer in their criticism of Thameen’s leadership, said that a “lot of effort” was taken by general members and councillors to try and bridge divisions within the party.

Nihan said that he rejected the label of the Z-DRP and its description as a political faction as a media invention, adding that initiatives were being taken to resolve differences within the party between Thasmeen and Gayoom, including ending a boycott of DRP council meetings.

“We are still members of the DRP and I have the same rights as anyone else to speak my mind. We are a democratic party,” he said. “As of last night, we have agreed to attend the party’s council for the first time in months and sit down with [Thasmeen].”

According to Nihan, the key objectives for supporters of the so-called Z-DRP movement were to call on Thasmeen to run the party under the rules outlined under the DRP’s charter, something he alleged has not been the case at a time. He claimed this was unfortunate at a time when opposition parties needed to be working closer together to oppose the government.

In outlining areas about Thasmeen’s leadership that concerned him, Nihan claimed that not all had been bought to the attention of the public as yet.

“There are a lot of things Thasmeen has done that we haven’t revealed to the media. These relate not only to Umar [Naseer’s] dismissal, but actions taken afterwards,” he said. “He has tried to expel members of the party who do not agree with his rule. Being the leader he should think of the wellbeing of the party.@

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Umar Naseer’s dismissal case to continue despite failure to approach appeals committee, rules court

Former Deputy Leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Parrty (DRP) must first appeal his dismissal with the party’s appeals committee before seeking to resolve the matter in court, DRP lawyer and former Attorney General Husnu Suood has argued in the Civil Court.

However Judge Ali Rashee Hussein ruled that although Suood’s argument was the procedure followed in many democratic countries, according to Maldivian law it is not required to exhaust all other avenues before seeking redress in the court system.

Suood claimed that Naseer had not tried to resolve the dispute outside the court despite having the right to do so.

However, Judge Rasheed ordered the DRP to respond to Naseer’s accusations and decided that the suit would continue, claiming precedent in another case in which the High Court invalidated the Civil Court’s ruling and ordered the case to continue.

Naseer was dismissed by the DRP’s disciplinary committee following allegations that he conducted protests without authorisation from the party’s leadership.

Naseer’s lawyer claimed that the party’s charter did not give the Disciplinary Committee the authority to take action against a Deputy Leader and that the Deputy Leader could only be dismissed if one third of the party’s national congress voted in favor of dismissing him.

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MDP files no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker of the Parliament

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs have filed a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker of Parliament and People’s Alliance (PA) MP, Ahmed Nazim.

MDP Parliamentary Group’s Spokesperson MP Mohamed Shifaz confirmed that MDP had filed the motion today.

‘’We have finished all the documentation work and today we handed it to the parliament,’’ said Shifaz.

Shifaz said the party there were many issues with Deputy Speaker Nazim.

‘’First of all, he has many legal cases filed against him in the courts, and there are many issues regarding his integrity,’’ Shifaz said. ‘’Most of the MPs believe that he has to be dismissed. If that happens, it will benefit the work the government is doing to ensure the independence of the judiciary.’’

Shifaz accused Nazim of deliberately delaying work sent to the parliamentary committees in which he has influence.

In retaliation, the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) filed no-confidence motions against Home Minister Hassan Afeed and Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz.

Shifaz claimed that although the opposition filed no-confidence motions against the cabinet ministers, they would not be able to get the numbers required to dismiss them.

”They are dreaming if they think they can dismiss any of the ministers,” he claims..

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf meanwhile said that if parliamentarians continued working like this, the parliament would prove dysfunctional.

‘’We can’t work like this. One day MDP will file a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, the next day the opposition will file a no-confidence motion against a cabinet minister and if it continues like this, parliament’s responsibilities will be left undone,’’ said Mahlouf. ‘’I have decided to speak with the political parties myself to let them know that it is not right.’’

Mahlouf acknowledged that during the recent protests over the economy, some MPs including Mahlouf himself had signed a no-confidence motion against Finance Minister Inaz.

Nazim did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Z-DRP plotting potential cross-party leadership coup, alleges opposition MP

A serving Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP has alleged that a spin-off faction formed by some of her colleagues is working to remove current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to forward their own presidential candidate – from another party.

Expressing these concerns, DRP MP Rozaina Adam today hit out at supporters of the Z-DRP faction, formed by a number of her fellow party members in the wake of infighting between serving leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and party founder Maumoon Abdul Gayoom over claims they were endangering the party’s election prospects.

She claims that the Z-DRP, who support Gayoom over his self-appointed successor Thasmeen, are endangering their own party’s election prospects in a coup to forward their own candidate and interests.

While Gayoom continues to hold the title of “honorary leader” of the DRP, Adam said she believed the former president’s involvement with the Z-DRP group was at the centre of the present disputes and infighting.

“There is no legal basis for what [Gayoom] is doing,” she said, referring to the former president’s attacks on the party leadership and its aims of removing Thasmeen from the leadership. Adam said that the divides within the DRP was weakening the party as the country’s main political opposition, as well as negatively impacting its support base.

Just yesterday, the DRP branch office of Adam’s Thulusdhoo constituency announced via a statement that its local supporters would consider “shifting sides” in regards to their political allegiance if the party failed to resolve the reported split.

“We call on former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and DRP Zaeem (honorary leader) to solve the internal dispute within the party,’’ read the statement, signed by the Deputy Head of the Thulusdhoo Branch.

Adam said that she was sceptical whether the party’s supporters would opt to join another party, especially in the case of the governing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), though she accepted that the DRP’s reputation may have suffered among supporters.

“I do think [the party’s infighting] creates confusion for supporters, but I don’t think they will change party; that is not likely,” she said. “However, I don’t think that this movement [Z-DRP] is working for what’s best for the DRP. We see people in the party supporting People’s Alliance (PA) leader party leader Abdullah Yameen as a possible leader.”

Adam alleged that some MPs linked to the Z-DRP faction were actively trying to unseat Thasmeen solely to install another candidate such as Yameen, Gayoom’s half brother, or another politician wanting to claim the DRP’s presidential ticket for their own “agenda”.

“[Their motives] are based on pulling Thasmeen down and installing their own candidate,” she claimed. “[Ahmed] Mahlouf – a fellow DRP MP linked to the Z-DRP – has already stated that he would rather support President Mohamed Nasheed [of the MDP] than our own leader in Thasmeen. I suspect [the Z-DRP] have a candidate in mind for the presidency. I don’t know who this will be, but I believe it is not for the benefit of the party.”

Adam’s comments were made as fellow DRP MP Ahmed Nihan, himself aligned to the Z-DRP movement, said he believed there was widespread support within the wider party to appoint a new leader to replace Thasmeen by next year ahead of a general election scheduled for 2013.

Speaking to Minivan News, Nihan said that despite infighting within the party, there remained widespread support among his fellow DRP members for a new candidate to contest for the party as the 2013 presidential candidate. Amongst this apparent interest in changing leadership of the DRP, the MP claimed that he expected neither Thasmeen nor former President Gayoom to stand against President Mohamed Nasheed in the 2013 election.

The Z-DRP, which has been described by politicians and media outlets as both a political movement and an individual faction of the DRP standing to oppose Thasmeen, was formed amidst disputes in the party initially between supporters of Thasmeen and the party’s dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer.

After these initial disputes led to Naseer’s dismissal  from the party in December, the infighting has evolved into outright criticisms between the only two men to have stood as leaders of the DRP.

After announcing this week that Gayoom had been requested to stand as a temporary leader of the Z-DRP and chair its member meetings until a new DRP leader was instated, Nihan said that this did not mean the former president would return from retirement to stand as a presidential candidate in 2013.

“Maumoon [Gayoom] is not coming out of his retirement to enter politics, but there is something much bigger for him to do. There is a moral obligation that if anything goes wrong [with the DRP], as party founder he must help find a solution,” he claimed. “Gayoom is not changing his mind to run in the next election, we will have a new leader by then.”

In addressing the capacity of the Z-DRP’s support to enact a potential change in leadership, Nihan rejected the descriptive term of a faction used by media to describe the group. The MP added that the Z-DRP was just the name of a movement that reflected wider concerns amongst party members that he claimed strongly believed Thasmeen had “failed” to oppose the government in policies such as allowing India-based infrastructure giant GMR to manage and overhaul Male’ international Airport.

“Gayoom does not want the DRP to be split up. Whatever our name is we are members, serving members of the DRP,” he claimed. “I don’t believe we are in a faction [Z-DRP], we are founding members of the party including myself, Ahmed Mahlouf and Duniya Maumoon. The majority of the DRP are behind us.”

Nihan said he was certain that a large number of the party’s general members “strongly believed” that Thasmeen was not doing enough to hold the government accountable. “Thasmeen has failed and our supporters have requested reforms,” he said. “We are calling for an agreement on holding a conference within a given time frame.”

According to Nihan, this conference could come in the form of an extraordinary party meeting or in the form of the congress scheduled for 2012. In the last party congress held back in 2010, Thasmeen was appointed by Gayoom himself as party leader.

Nihan said that any potential change in leadership ahead of the 2013 elections should be made would by a vote reflecting the choices of party members. “At present, we are hoping we may be able to schedule a congress or party meeting with members concerning leadership possibly by August,” he said.

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