Tag: DRP

MDP to “surprise” public again on Saturday

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said that a “very special rally” will be held on Saturday night at the Artificial Beach, where the party will give everyone ‘’a big surprise again.’’

The party did not give much detail about the ‘’surprise’’, but suggested that it would be similar to events such as the recent signing of opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader and MP Ali Waheed and DRP MP Abdu-Raheem.

Former MDP Spokesperson Ahmed Haleem said Saturday night would be “historic”.

‘’The whole Maldives will change this night,’’ Haleem said. ‘’I can’t tell you the details of this event.’’

Queried whether a high profile politician might join the party that night he confirmed that some ‘’political figures’’ are to join.

Haleem said on Saturday people “will know which political party has the most support.”

Recently DRP MP Waheed, DRP MP Abdulla Abdu-Raheem and DRP Sports Wing head Haasan Shuaju, and well known football player Ahmed Assad ‘Adubarey’ joined MDP.

President’s Spokesperson Mohamed Zuhair and MDP Parliamentary Group’s Media Coordinator Mohamed Shifaz did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid today announced that parliament’s majority leader was now ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, leader of the MDP Parliamentary group.

Currently MDP has a total oof 35 MPs, however, DRP’s former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer has predicted that “very soon MDP will lose two MPs.”

Umar claimed that MDP MP Mohamed Muthafa and MDP MP Hassan Adil would lose their seats. Both MPs have cases pending in court, the former regarding corruption, the later charges of child molestation.

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Z-DRP a campaign launched by Gayoom to win 2013 Presidential Elections, says party

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has condemned former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for causing the DRP to split in two.

In a statement, the party said that it was “very clear to the citizens” that Gayoom’s objective was to win the 2013 Presidential election despite his previous resignation from politics.

Gayoom’s actions had revealed that he would not hesitate to disunite the DRP to serve his political ambition.

‘’The picture we are seeing today is that individuals in the party are declining to follow the democratic decisions of the party and giving priority to their own personal interests,’’ the DRP said.

DRP Z-Faction MP Ahmed Nihan said he could not believe that DRP Leader Thasmeen Ali had issued such a statement against the party’s founder and ‘honorary leader’.

‘’Maumoon is the founder of the party and the party’s charter itself has given him an honorable position of the party,’’ Nihan said. ‘’He is not trying to win or run in the next presidential elections.’’

He said Gayoom himself gifted the leadership and the presidential ticket of DRP, as well as MPs and  supporters, to Thasmeen, but that Thasmeen had failed to handle them.

‘’As the honorary leader of the party it is the responsibility of Maumoon to solve internal disputes in the party,’’ he said. ‘’Imagine how it would feel to keep watching while someone else destroys something you created.’’

Nihan said Gayoom had recently tried many ways to solve the disputes inside the party.

‘’But [Thasmeen] has been very careless, not responding to any calls or replying to letters,’’ he said. ‘’Thasmeen has even violated the party’s charter,’’ he alleged.

He claimed that rather than being concerned about the internal dispute in the party, Thasmeen was more  concerned about the Z-faction using the party’s logo and color.

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DRP’s Thulusdhoo branch threatens to “shift sides” if internal dispute continues

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)’s Thulusdhoo branch has released a statement to the media claiming that supporters of the DRP in Thulusdhoo will “shift sides” if the internal split in the party continues.

‘’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 Thulusdhoo Branch.

The statement acknowledged that DRP supporters were “in turmoil and deeply confused due to the split” and warned that those supporters in Thulusdhoo might have to change sides if the dispute remained unresolved.

‘’The citizens can no longer tolerate watching members leave the party,’’ the DRP branch stated, in reference to the recent defections of several DRP MPs to the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), including Ali Waheed Abdulla Abdu-Raheem. ‘’Consequently it will the ordinary citizens living in the islands that will suffer, due to the unrest and loss of members.’’

The branch added ‘’that as Maumoon was the person who introduced democracy to the Maldives, who led the Maldives for 30 prosperous years and is a person who lives in a democracy, we call on Maumoon to solve the dispute between the leadership democratically.’’

Thulusdhoo is an island with a majority of DRP supporters who voted for the party in the recent local council elections.

Since then, the party has been split after ‘honorary’ leader Gayoom clashed with the party’s leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali over the dismissal of former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer. Gayoom’s supporters have since created a splinter faction they call the Z-DRP, in a move that prompted the defection of several MPs previously loyal to Thasmeen.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom said the statement issued by Thulusdhoo’s DRP branch showed that the remaining supporters in the party wished it to be unified.

‘’To do that firstly, everyone in the party must fully respect the party’s charter,’’ Dr Mausoom said. ‘’There are different ways people express concern – some put more effort to solve the dispute, while others leave the party in frustration.’’

He said to uphold democracy in this country a strong, responsible opposition party was needed.

‘’The entire nation believes that the DRP is an opposition party which has to be there to uphold democracy,’’ he said. ‘’Although there are some internal disputes, we will solve them hopefully and by God’s will we will win the 2013 Presidential Elections under Thasmeen’s leadership.’’

Z-DRP spokesperson Ahmed Nihan was unavailable at time of press.

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“I said it only because I was hopeful”: Umar Naseer responds to Supreme Court allegations of sub judice

Former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer has issued a statement following a complaint from the Supreme Court that he was prejudicing a case under judgement by publicly claiming he was certain he would win.

In his press release, Umar said that his comments were “only made because I was hopeful of winning” a suit filed against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa.

Umar made his remarks about the suit against Musthafa last weekend during an oppistion rally led by main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)’s Z-faction, led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Speaking at the rally, Umar said that he was confident that the MDP would lose two seats in parliament very soon – one was to be MP Musthafa’s seat following the ruling, and the second was to be MP Hassan Adil’s seat. Adil is currently on trial in the Criminal Court for allegedly molesting a minor.

‘’One will be Musthafa. You will remember there is a suit filed against him in Supreme Court, a suit I filed. The suit has almost reached a verdict, and all statements have been signed. I’m sure Musthafa will lose his seat. The next one is [alleged] child molester Ahil [MDP MP Hassan Adil],’’ Umar said during the rally.

The day after Umar Naseer’s announcement, the Supreme Court said that ‘’predicting how the court may rule on a certain case obstructs the administration of justice, and added that the court had “authority to stop anything that might influence the judiciary.”

The court also warned that commenting on cases on sub judice was an offence under the Contempt of Court Act, the constitution and other relevant laws.

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MDP misleading citizens over the extent of support for the party, claims DRP MP Mahlouf

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf, of the faction led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, today accused the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of “misleading the public over the extent of their support” and “attempting to lure more citizens to the party.”

”In all the elections held so far, be they Local Councils Elections or Parliamentary Elections, the citizens have said they oppose the current government and its party MDP,” Mahlouf claimed. ”So today what MDP do is gather all the supporters they have all around the Maldives and buy MPs, trying to show the rest of the country that they have more support than the opposition.”

Mahlouf alleged that MDP was attempting to “psychologically play with the minds of the citizens.”

”They do have some supporters in Male’, and what they do is gather all their supporters to one place, take pictures and show them to the other citizens, trying to make them feel that MDP has more support than it does,” he said. ”In the Local Council Elections MDP won only 379,494 votes while the opposition won 565,919 votes.”

Mahlouf claimed the MDP would not have won the Presidential elections “without the help of Jumhoory Party (JP) leader MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim, Adhaalath Party leader Sheikh Hussein Rasheed and Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) leader Dr Hassan Saeed.”

”But they all have turned their backs against this government now – they all want to change this administration,” said Mahlouf. ”It is really a foregone conclusion that MDP will not win the next presidential election in 2013.”

Mahlouf’s comments followed the defection of two DRP MPs, Ali Waheed and Abdu-Raheem, to the ruling MDP, granting the party the largest voting bloc in the Majlis.

MDP MP Mohamed Shifaz said that both Mahlouf and the DRP had “failed”.

”It is regrettable that someone as young as Mahlouf declined to accept democracy and rather decided to follow a single person,” said Shifaz. ”The entire party failed because some among them wanted to follow this one person.”

Shifaz said that regardless of Mahlouf’s figures, 75 percent of the Maldivian population supported the MDP.

”There are unregistered persons who support the idea of MDP,” he said. ”All the MPs who joined MDP, only joined because they wanted to do so.”

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Mahlouf alleges MDP offered him $US2 million to defect

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf has hit out at opposition politicians switching their allegiances for financial gain, claiming he too was offered a bribe to defect.

Mahlouf claimed that he had been “personally told” that Ali Waheed would be switching his political allegiance for money, and further alleged that he had himself been offered US$2 million to join and vote in favour of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

“I don’t believe selling myself is a choice, but ever since I have known some of these MPs they have always wanted money,” he said.

Mahlouf alleged that it was only Ali Waheed who had taken money to join the MDP – a move he claimed was a coup for the country’s governing party.

“[Waheed] was loved by the DRP, but now that he’s gone he is nobody,” Mahlouf said. “President Nasheed will have the same feeling, so this is a good deal.”

Mahouf said that although the defections, which come as a number of DRP parliamentarians have switched sides in parliament, was a sad development for opposition supporters. However he said he believed it was on the other hand a positive development in regards to the loyalty of the remaining politicians.

The DRP MP’s allegations of bribes being used to entice opposition politicians to switch parties were refuted by MDP spokesperson Ahmed Haleem, who claimed that Ali Waheed’s defection reflected political ambition and not financial concern.

Haleem added that although it remains essential for the MDP to obtain a political majority in parliament to pass a reform agenda blocked by partisan opposition majority, recent defections by MPs including the former DRP Deputy Leader were made on political principal and not bribes.

“Ali Waheed and Abdu Raheem – these are young ambitious people that are not part of the Gayoom regime. The MDP is the country’s only true democratic party, unlike the DRP which is more like a family organisation,” he claimed. “Waheed has a future in politics in this country and I believe he is a clean guy. So while we need a parliamentary majority for the MDP, we do not want to be spending money we don’t have to get it. This is politics, not a football transfer market.”

Questioned over whether some MDP supporters would be sceptical of the intentions of a former opposition MP like Ali Waheed, who in his first speech as an MDP member last week accepted he had been “critical” of President Nasheed and his government in the past, Haleem said he believed members were overall happy at the defection.

“I think all MDP supporters will be very happy, our members are determined in that they want change in this country,” he said.

The DRP has attracted significant local media attention in recent months with factional infighting between supporters of serving leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. One reason for the strife, according to Mahlouf, was division over how to respond to the government’s financial reform program and decision to devalue the rufiyaa against the US dollar.

Speaking at rallies and gatherings held this week against government economic reforms, following a week of protests earlier this month in Male’, Mahlouf, who is linked to the Z-DRP faction of the party, said that the so-called “youth movement” behind the protests had decided to give the government time to try and address financial concerns before resuming demonstrations.

Haleem meanwhile claimed that while the protests had lost momentum due to a growing public acceptance and understanding of the need for economic changes bought forward by President Mohamed Nasheed, as well as the “weakening” of the DRP.

“I think you will find that 99 percent of people are fed up with the DRP, even three of the party’s members have [defected],” Haleem said. “People are accepting that financial changes are needed and the president has been stating these aims more clearly. We are a civilised country and we need direct taxation – such as the tourism general service tax (TGST) – the President is not just changing the political but also the economic situation in the Maldives.”

Speaking last night during a rally held at the artificial beach area of Male’, Mahlouf claimed that demonstrations held over the last few days had been organised by Thasmeen’s supporters and a number of local NGOs rather than the “youth movement” that had instigated protests earlier in the month.

“We need to be responsible politicians right now and protesting every night is not the only solution to the economic issues,” he said.  “We did a good job supporting the protesters, but it’s time to give some time to the government to try and make changes before we consider more protests.”

Addressing crowds of DRP supporters during last night’s gathering, which he said had drawn “huge crowds”, Mahlouf used his speech to attack the recent defection of a number of DRP politicians such as Ali Waheed to the MDP cause, as the party of President Nasheed seeks to entrench its long-sought parliamentary majority.

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Elections Commission validates Thasmeen’s DRP leadership

The Elections Commission (EC) has reportedly ruled against claims by dismissed Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) leader Umar Naseer that the appointment of the party’s leadership last year was invalid after it failed to submit official paperwork within a 15 day deadline.

Haveeru reported that the party’s leadership had been deemed valid by the EC after discussions with local legal experts, despite the DRP’s failure to comply with the Regulation of Political Parties and officially notify the commission of changes to its leadership.  The party was required to submit official documentation  and minutes of a congress held in February 2010 where Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was appointed as successor to Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as head of the DRP.

Earlier this month, EC Vice President Ahmed Hassan Fayaz told Minivan News that although he was aware of a clause in the party’s existing regulations relating to supplying official minutes to the commission, the EC did not have authority to strip a party leader of his position.

Fayaz claimed additionally that Thasmeen’s appointment at the congress, which was supported by Gayoom before he became openly critical of his successor earlier this year, had been witnessed by hundreds of party delegates as well as being covered by local media – ensuring that it was a well-documented decision.

According to Haveeru, Elections Commissioner Fuad Thaufeeq said this week that Thasmeen’s leadership of the DRP had been deemed valid following consultations with the Premier Chambers law firm.

The EC head was quoted in the report as deciding to accept official documents and minutes relating to the appointment of Thasmeen at last year’s DRP congress, despite the official 15 day deadline having long passed.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan, supporter of the Z-DRP faction of the party that is critical of Thasmeen’s leadership, said earlier this month that he believed the deadline for submitting the leadership paperwork was not just an administrative error and had serious implications for the party.

Nihan, citing a SunFM report, claimed that under the EC’s own mandate, details and a recording of the national congress held by the party to approve its new leadership needed to be sent to the regulatory body within 15 days of the event being held.

The DRP MP claimed this still had not happened as of last month, representing a “clear breach” of party regulation by its leader.

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Thasmeen claims silver lining as DRP MP Ali Waheed “jumps ship”

Opposition leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has claimed that the prospect of an Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) voting majority in parliament – a potential scenario following  recent defections of DRP members to the ruling party – could have a silver lining for his supporters come election time.

Thasmeen said he believed if the MDP’s claims of having overall control of the Majlis proved true, the government at the 2013 general election would be unable to escape blame for recent economic reforms he believes have failed the public.

Thasmeen, who is himself currently embroiled in factional party infighting with a group aligned with former DRP leader and Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was speaking as Ali Waheed, a former Deputy Leader of his party, joined the MDP over the weekend.

Waheed, who joined former DRP members Ahmed Assad ‘Adubarey’ and DRP Sports Wing Head Hassan Shujau in signing up to the MDP, gave a speech citing concerns about the democratic nature of his former party. Waheed has strongly criticised President Mohamed Nasheed in the past.

“We did not bring change to the country for a person to advance because he belongs to a certain family or clan, but for a person to move up through merit,” Waheed said. “Today we can see that those who could not digest this have created different factions and we can see the state of the party [DRP] we formed with our hard work. Therefore, because [the party] has become an inheritance, I have let go and walked out empty-handed.”

Thasmeen said a majority would mean the governing party would be no longer able to blame opposition for its own failings – something he feels they had succeeded in doing previously.

“Firstly, I am not sure that the MDP have gained a parliamentary majority; as far as I am aware only two [MPs] have shifted to the party. Certainly if [a majority] happens, it would pave the way for the government to get things passed through parliament the way they want them, and this would be a new era for politics,” he said.

Thasmeen claimed that as the DRP had never itself held a political majority, it had effectively been subjected to checks and balances in parliament resulting from needing to agree unanimously with opposition coalition partners. As a result of this need for unanimous compromise, the DRP head claimed that the opposition’s ability to block government legislation had been used only in rare instances.

He added that in the event that the MDP might potentially claim a majority within the Majlis, the country’s changing political dynamic would not significantly change his own party’s policies of trying to hold the government to account.

“One thing is clear – the government has been successful in blaming parliament for what have been failures of its policies.  Come the next election, they will pay the price for the programmes that have failed, and this will be something of a silver lining for the DRP,” he said.

“Ali Waheed’s shift [to the MDP] does not make any difference to our work as the opposition or possible collaboration with the government. It is a joint parliamentary group that sets our policy and if we agree strongly about an issue with the government then we will work with them on it. We take stands on principle, no matter the strength of the MDP.”

Thasmeen highlighted his party’s stand on government policy areas such as the economy which this month led to protests – said to be instigated as a youth movement – held in Male’ over concerns about the cost of living.

However, the DRP leader added that recent divides within the party linked to the formation of the Z-DRP faction had negatively impacted its opposition role.

“There is no question that these divisions have weakened the DRP. Unease had been created in the party, but I do not believe this is a challenge that cannot be overcome,” he said.

Referring particularly to Waheed’s defection, Thasmeen said he believed that MPs elected on a DRP ticket should not then choose to use divides within the party as an “excuses to jump ship” to the MDP.

DRP post-Waheed

Following Waheed’s departure from the party, Thasmeen said that the country’s economic reforms – such as devaluing the rufiya – would remain a key concern for the DRP when parliament next reconvened.

“The government has indicated that it will release proposals to address economic concerns and bring down the dollar rate,” he said. “We do accept the fact that revenue has to be increased, but we would like to see serious attempts to reduce state expenditure and ensure revenue is not being wasted.”

The DRP leader claimed that the party was not specifically calling on the government to slash spending in a single area such as political appointees, but instead asked for a concensus on areas such as in the funding of new offices for local councils formed during local elections held in February.

“We are willing to support spending cuts across the board; but it is important that this is done with a consensus-based approach.”

On the back of attempts by dismissed deputy DRP leader Umar Naseer – currently aligned with the DRP faction – to try and file a case with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over allegations the MDP had bribed DRP members to join its ranks, Thasmeen said he was not certain of the truth about such claims.

“Without knowing the facts it is not an easy situation to comment on. However, as a party, the MDP has a number of policies that have failed,” he said. “The forced exchange rate is one [policy] that has impacted the lives of many Maldivians, there is no logic in jumping ship to suddenly support it.”

Confident of a majority

MDP MP Ahmed Hamza said the party was confident it would achieve a voting majority as opposition MPs “realise that the party’s approach is not constructive.”

“I think they are frustrated,” Hamza claimed. “Ali Waheed said he had waited two years without seeing a responsible opposition.”

He acknowledged that the loss of MPs risked destabilising the already split opposition: “Ali Waheed was a major voice in the opposition,” he observed.

A voting majority favouring the MDP would “speed the efficiency at passing legislation to support government policy,” Hamza said, claiming that this would allow the government to swifting bring in changes to stablise the economy.

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President claims MDP parliamentary majority as DRP MP Ali Waheed signs with MDP

Just a day after resigning from the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), MP Ali Waheed was last night welcomed to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) by President Mohamed Nasheed, who claimed Waheed’s decision had handed the party a parliamentary majority and the capability to push ahead with proposed reforms.

Waheed, a former DRP deputy leader, yesterday signed up the party alongside Ahmed Assad ‘Adubarey’ and DRP Sports Wing Head, Hassan Shujau.

A senior MDP source told Minivan News that additional members of the party were talking with the MDP about signing, but were reluctant to abandon the troubled party in such a large group.

The opposition figures followed in the wake of former opposition MP Alhan Fahmy in an exodus to the other side of the country’s political divide.

DRP MPs including Ahmed Nihan, currently working closely alongside the Z-DRP faction of the opposition critical of party leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, claimed that the MPs were switching sides solely for financial payoffs, though an MDP official insisted no such transactions had taken place.

However, dismissed DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer has submitted a case to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accusing the MDP of bribing opposition MPs to join the party.

Speaking during the rally held at Male’s artificial beach last night, Waheed reportedly accepted that he had criticised the president and the MDP in the past, but said that he now stood with them nonetheless.

“I was one of the strongest critics of President Nasheed,” he was reported as saying in newspaper Haveeru. “But I am right here at this podium; being able to criticise everyone is one of the fundamental aspects of democracy.”

Addressing the crowds afterwards, President Nasheed reportedly said that Ali Waheed would be welcomed to the party and could potentially take a senior position within the party following his switch.

Nasheed talked of the significance of having a political majority for the MDP and claimed that the party’s influence on parliament would need to be used responsibly and with respect to others in the Majlis.

Waheed along with DRP spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef and opposition leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali were unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News this morning.

Shareef has previously acknowledged that Waheed had served as a rising star in the DRP, and his loss would be a “great blow”.

Changing political landscape

The recent election of another former opposition MP – Alhan Fahmy – to the deputy leadership of the ruling party may be a key factor in luring ambitious MPs from the troubled opposition. However if rumours of money changing hands proved true, several MDP members have privately expressed concern that this risked unsettling grassroots members loyal to the ruling party from the beginning.

Further discontent is likely on the islands among those constituents who voted for a party, rather than the MP.

The MDP also risks importing potential skeletons into the party along with the MP, such as the case with former Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Hassan Adhil who is currently under house arrest and facing charges of child molestation.

Furthermore, the departure of MPs loyal to Thasmeen’s faction will place further pressure on the more prosaic side of the opposition, limiting its ability to resist the leadership ambitions of Gayoom’s far less compromising ‘Z-Faction’ and risks greater destabilisation of the opposition.

The MDP has however struggled to pass legislation in the opposition-majority parliament, and is fervently seeking to tip the balance in its favour and gain control of the legislature to push through difficult bills such as the revised penal code, evidence bill, and income tax for people earning over Rf30,000.

Taking control of parliament is a major victory for both the MDP and the government, and potentially marks the end of the ‘scorched earth’ politics in the Majlis that led to the en-masse resignation of cabinet ministers in July last year.

While the Maldives has a presidential system of government on paper, the constitution hands significant powers to parliament – particularly oversight of independent institutions. Control of the voting floor gives the MDP levers with which to address the challenges facing the judiciary and independent institutions in the country.

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