Tag: DRP

Thasmeen pledges to overcome opposition “challenges” through DQP coalition

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) serving leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has fired a warning at both the government and rival factions within his own party claiming he will remain in his post and face down challenges of internal and external opposition.

Speaking yesterday at the first rally of a recently formed coalition between the DRP and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), Thasmeen claimed that he would work to try and hold the government to account over perceived public dissatisfaction with its work, Miadhu has reported. He added that he would work to oppose the government despite internal strife within his party, which serves as the main opposition party in the country.

Speaking at Kalaafanu School in Male’ yesterday, the DRP leader was reported to have said that he believed soaring prices, limited health services as a well as a “flagging economy” and widespread corruption had led citizens to turn to the opposition in a “desperate cry for help”.

However, Thasmeen is under pressure from certain MPs within the DRP following disputes between supporters loyal to himself and those backing his predecessor and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Just last week Ahmed Mahlouf, a DRP MP who is seen as being a major player within the so-called Gayoom faction of the party, called on supporters to boycott Thasmeen’s rally claiming he did not truly represent the DRP.

According to Miadhu, despite these criticisms, Thasmeen claimed yesterday that through its coalition with the DQP, his party would not be disrupted in working to hold the government accountable for having “lost credibility”.

The DRP-DQP coalition was formed back in February this year as a means to outline an “action plan” for opposition parties including providing training for councilors that came to power in local council elections held earlier in the month.

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MDP councillor elected chair of tied Gaaf Alif Atoll Council after ten votes

Ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Councillor Haroun Rasheed has been elected as chair of the Gaaf Alif Atoll Council today on the tenth attempt after all previous votes ended in ties.

The six-member atoll council has three MDP councillors and three opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) councillors.

According to SunFM, the ruling party won the chair after one DRP councillor, Massood Ahmed, voted against the party line.

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Opposition split to MDP’s benefit: Eurasia Review

Knowing very well that the skeletons in the ‘cupboard’ would be dug out, [former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom] did the right thing in seeking a deal so that he was left out of harm’s way, writes Dr S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

“President Nasheed despite pressure from his colleagues in the MDP did leave Gayoom alone. Yet Gayoom, overtaken by greed for power or perhaps pressure from his relatives, returned to Maldives hurriedly to campaign for the DRP candidates in the local elections conducted recently.

“There is no doubt that Gayoom could claim credit for the smooth transition to democracy and no ‘Jasmine Revolution’ was needed. He had let the tourism industry to flourish despite objections from some of the religious extremists and more importantly kept the Islamists under control. Having provided a good constitution, he should have remained as a great “Patriarch,” keep away from politics and at the same time ensure smooth and peaceful transition.

“He could have as well attended to more critical social and environmental problems confronting the country in his retirement and remembered in history as the maker of modern Maldives. But he chose to stand for presidential elections. He did not do badly either though he lost in the “run off.”

“Now old skeletons are being dug up. The “Week” of 20th February from India, has extensively written about the family of Gayoom of having indulged in an illegal oil deal with Myanmar worth over $800 million and a report is now said to be submitted to the current President Nasheed by a Singapore Consultancy firm Grant Thornton.

“It was just eleven months ago that Gayoom personally handpicked his successor Thasmeen Ali to lead his party DRP and the latter was unanimously elected. Differences have been brewing between the ‘Supreme leader’ Gayoom and the President of the party Thasmeen Ali for some time now, ever since the deputy leader of the party Umar Naseer was sacked from the party. Gayoom’s family members openly alleged that Thasmeen was ‘ill-treating Gayoom’.

“The net result is that the DRP, which is a formidable opposition is in the brink of splitting up into two or more parties. The coalition partner PA led by Gayoom’s half brother Abdulla Yameen is alleged to be behind the split and yet he declared a few days ago that his party for the present will stick with DRP.

“The advantage as of now thanks to the re-entry of Gayoom is with MDP which has been making steady gains ever since it failed to get a majority in the parliamentary elections and has been facing stiff opposition on every issue including the appointment of cabinet ministers till now.”

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MDP dismisses rumours of DRP MP Mahlouf defecting to MDP

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi has denied that leader of the opposition’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Youth Wing, MP Ahmed Mahlouf, has signed to join MDP, after rumours to that effect began circulating yesterday.

Mahlouf yesterday broke the three line whip of his party and voted with MDP, sparking rumors that Mahlouf had signed with the ruling party. Former DRP MP Alhan Fahmy controversially switched to the MDP last year prior to facing his party’s disciplinary committee over voting against the party line on the dismissal of then Foreign Minister, Dr Ahmed Shaheed.

The Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) yesterday reported that Mahlouf had signed to MDP, after the incident.

MDP’s official website quoted Mariya as saying that the rumor was spread by DRP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s faction after Mahlouf broke the party’s three line whip in a vote taken by the parliamentarians to appoint members for the Broadcasting Commission.

”Mahlouf has always had a close relationship with some of the senior members of the MDP. But the news that he had signed to join MDP is just a rumor,” Mariya said according to MDP website.

Mariya said that Mahlouf broke the three-line whip during the vote to appoint his aunt for the Broadcasting Commission, whose name was proposed to the parliament and supported by MDP.

Mahlouf has told Haveeru that he will join MDP only if former President Maummon Abdul Gayoom joined MDP.

After yesterday’s parliament session speaking to the press outside the parliament DRP Deputy Leader MP Ali Waheed has called on DRP Council to terminate the coalition agreement with Peoples Alliance Party (PA).

Waheed claimed that during all the recent votes PA had discussed with the government and voted according to how it will benefit both the government and the PA, ignoring DRP’s side.

He also heavily criticized Mahlouf for voting on MDP’s side.

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DRP statement condemns opposition conduct on cabinet vote

A press statement reportedly sent from from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has criticised fellow opposition politicians for voting in favour of the government at the Majlis yesterday over cabinet appointees.

Miadhu reported that the party, currently gripped by internal struggles between supporters of current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, released a statement saying it was unhappy that four ministerial nominees were endorsed by the Majlis yesterday.

According to the statement, the endorsements came despite Thasmeen having decided to reject three of the ministerial appointments.

“We are disheartened that some of those who voted in favour of the government were those individuals who spoke from the first rows of the different podiums, different TV Channels, taking the government to account,” the DRP were reported as saying.

The statement also raised concerns that DRP politicians Ilham Ahmed and Ali Mohamed did not participate in the votes that, in certain cases, narrowly approved the new cabinet ministers.

Home Minister Hassan Afeef and Transport Minister Adhil Saleem were narrowly approved in spite of the DRP declaring that it would impose a three-line whip to reject the two nominees.

Afeef and Saleem were approved after a few independent MPs along with Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed and Republican Party MP Gasim Ibrahim sided with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – Saleem was approved with 39 votes in favour while Afeef received 37 votes from the 73 MPs present and voting.

However, MPs rejected the reappointment of Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad for a second time. Dr Sawad received 36 votes in favour and 37 against from the 73 MPs in attendance.

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President appoints ministers after parliament approves four out of five ministerial appointees

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed State Minister Ahmed Naseem as Foreign Minister and Solicitor General Abdulla Muizz as Attorney General hours after parliament approved four out of five ministerial appointees.

Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam had been acting Foreign Minister after parliament rejected the reappointment of former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed in November.

The new Ministers were sworn in by High Court Judge Yousuf Hussein. After presenting letters of appointment, Nasheed expressed confidence that the newest additions to the cabinet would receive parliamentary consent.

Earlier in the day, parliament approved four out of five ministerial appointees, rejecting the reappointment of Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad for a second time.

Dr Sawad received 36 votes in favour and 37 against from the 73 MPs in attendance.

Home Minister Hassan Afeef and Transport Minister Adhil Saleem were narrowly approved in spite of the fractured main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) declaring that it would impose a three-line whip to reject the two nominees.

Afeef and Saleem were approved after a few independent MPs along with Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed and Republican Party MP Gasim Ibrahim sided with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – Saleem was approved with 39 votes in favour while Afeef received 37 votes from the 73 MPs present and voting.

Briefing press after yesterday’s DRP parliamentary group meeting, Majority Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali noted that Sawad had already been rejected once while Afeef “acted outside the law” during the transfer of powers to the newly elected local councils.

Thasmeen however announced that the party would give consent to Education Minister Shifa Mohamed and Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa.

Shifa was approved with 66 votes in favour and six against while Dr Zulfa received 71 votes in favour and none against.

“Secret meeting”

Addressing accusations from the opposing DRP faction that Thasmeen secretly met President Nasheed over the weekend at Raa Atoll, the DRP Leader asserted that he was ready to meet the President at any time.

“Even if [the President] calls and asks for a meeting at [Raa Atoll] Alimatha tonight, I will go because he is the President of the Maldives,” Thasmeen told reporters outside parliament yesterday, attributing the allegations of collusion with the ruling party to an internal campaign to discredit his leadership.

“In truth, they are talking about this because they don’t have any other way to responsibly carry out political activities,” he claimed.

However, asked if the alleged meeting took place, Thasmeen replied “thank you very much” and walked away.

In November 2010, parliament rejected seven ministers reappointed by President Nasheed after the entire cabinet resigned in protest of alleged obstruction and vote-buying in the legislature.

President Nasheed appointed then-Political Advisor Hassan Afeef as Home Minister in December, replacing Mohamed Shihab, who was appointed Advisor on Political Affairs.

Shifa Mohamed was meanwhile promoted from Deputy Minister of Education to Minister in place of Dr Musthafa Luthfy, recently appointed Chancellor of the Maldives National University.

Both Afeef and Shifa were appointed on December 11 while AG Sawad was reappointed two days later.

Transport Minister Adil Saleem and Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa took their oaths of office on November 7, 2010.

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President alleged to have met with Thasmeen as Gayoom withdraws support for opposition leader

A “secret” meeting between President Mohamed Nasheed and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader Ahmed Ali Thasmeen, is alleged to have taken place yesterday as the opposition party leader faces intensified criticism from his predecessor and former President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In a series of media alerts issues to the press, Umar Naseer, a former DRP deputy leader dismissed from the party in December, has claimed that President Nasheed was “secretly” meeting with Thasmeen and other party members thought to include MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom at Aarah island.

Gayoom publically announced on Thursday that in his position of the DRP’s ‘honorary leader’ he would no longer be backing Thasmeen as his preferred candidate to stand for the party during the country’s next Presidential Election – slated for 2013 – over concerns he has about his successor.

Both the President’s Office, Thasmeen and a number of DRP representatives were unavailable for comment on the alleged meeting at the time of going to press.  Yet the developments have highlighted apparent divides within the main opposition party that continue to grow between its current leader and Gayoom.

Gayoom had previously appointed Thasmeen to succeed him as party leader back in February 2010.

With the formation of factions within the DRP between supporters of Thasmeen and backers of Umar Naseer, who had campaigned with Gayoom during the DRP’s national campaigning for last month’s local elections, the nation’s one time leader issued a statement on Thursday that derided his successor for acting solely to serve his personal interests in the Majlis.

In his statement, Gayoom accused his successor of voting on matters involving personal interest, noting that business tycoon and Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim had not participated in such votes, while he also withdrew support for Thasmeen as a future presidential candidate.

The DRP ‘Honorary Leader’ noted that his former running mate has not addressed any of the main points he included in a 12-page letter issued on 9 March.

The issues addressed in the letter were said to include a failure by Thasmeen to propose the bill on privileges and protection for former presidents, despite claiming that he would personally present it to the floor during a DRP council with Gayoom in attendance.

The latest statement notes 14 points in response to the claims in made by Thasmeen in a letter that he had drafted.

These points focused on a number of issues such as:

• Gayoom disputed Thasmeen’s claim that the DRP council decided on 17 November, 2008 to hand over day-to-day management of the party to Thasmeen.

“It was my decision alone. The party’s charter does not the council authority to make such a decision. I made the decision and informed the council at the meeting that day,” he wrote.

• Gayoom denied Thasmeen’s claim that it was the former president’s decision not to seek a coalition with the Republican Party despite “signals” to the contrary.

“The council felt that since DRP got 40.6 percent and MDP only 25.1 percent in the first round, it would be easier for us to get 10 percent more votes than for MDP to get an additional 25 percent,” added the former president.

• Gayoom denied recommending former Attorney General Hassan Saeed and former Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed face the party’s disciplinary committee for dismissal. “The council decided that day only to send the case of those two to the disciplinary committee, not to recommend them for ‘dismissal.’”

• Gayoom denied not providing details of the coalition agreement with his half-brother Abdullah Yameen’s People’s Alliance (PA) party. He went on to claim that the fact that nobody asked him demonstrates the confidence they had in his leadership.

• Gayoom wrote that Thasmeen could not claim credit for the party’s parliamentary election successes as Gayoom himself had toured the islands.

“Most DRP members believe that DRP’s success in the parliamentary elections was mainly because of my efforts. I know that Deputy Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, too, believed this very well at the time. The proof is that he requested that I travel to the constituencies where five of his family members were contesting to win support,” he added.

• Gayoom claimed that he believes it was his call for a membership drive that has seen an additional 10,000 people register with the DRP in the past two years and not Thasmeen’s as he claimed. He further accused Thasmeen of holding onto a lot of membership forms until after he became leader to submit it to the Elections Commission.

• Gayoom denied casting aspersion on either the DRP parliamentary group or council. “What I said was that most affairs of the parliamentary group and the council were being managed by the leader in violation of the party’s charter as well as democratic principles. That is a fact.”

• Gayoom accused Thasmeen of securing a majority of the council through arm-twisting and pleading before the vote on Umar Naseer’s dismissal case, adding that the disciplinary committee was not independent or fair.

• Gayoom alleged that the leaders of other opposition parties leaders had complained that the DRP did not consult with them contrary to Thasmeen’s claim.

• Gayoom claimed the DRP’s Youth Wing (headed by MP Ahmed Mahlouf) was excluded from the party’s ongoing “Coffee with DRP” campaign aimed at young people.

• Gayoom disputed claims from Thasmeen that he had been informed of the hiring of British consultant Jonathan Upton to aid his political career.

“I was told about him by another council member.” The consultant was hired to formulate strategies to improve the party’s appeal among the public and offer advice for the DRP’s 2013 presidential campaign.

Gayoom wrote that he met Upton in October 2010 after being asked by the council member to do so. Thasmeen noted in his own letter that Upton was hired to advise Thasmeen’s political career and not the DRP per se, while Gayoom responded that he had heard Upton had advised Thasmeen to get rid of the former president from the party.

• Gayoom also looked at recent issues such as a leaked audio clip reported to have been made by DRP spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef about his party campaigning that led to a number of complaints and protests outside the party’s offices.  He added that the least Thasmeen could have done with regard to the leaked audio was to send the matter before a party committee.

“However, [Thasmeen] did not want to do anything of the sort within the party.”  Shareef later claimed that his voice had been doctored in the audio clips and was being used by some party members in attempts to seize leadership of the DRP.

• Gayoom also criticised how Thasmeen had used an official statement to detail an amount of money supplied to the former presidents’ family.

“While in his letter, the leader stated that he gave a large amount of money to my daughter Yumna Maumoon and her husband Mohamed Nadheem during the 2008 presidential campaign, I wonder why he did not mention either the amount or the date it was given,” he writes, adding that he “deeply regrets” the way the matter was revealed in Thasmeen’s letter.

Yumna told DhiTV the amount came to Rf300,000 – this is disputed by Thasmeen’s faction.

• Thasmeen had also “placed serious obstacles” to DRP becoming a strong political party by not holding the government accountable and taking measures against those within the party who try to stop the government’s harmful policies, the former president claimed.

“In this as in many other things, [Thasmeen] continues to act dictatorially in violation of the party’s charter and democratic principles,” he writes.

“Therefore, since Ahmed Thasmeen Ali became DRP’s leader because I directly paved the way for him, I sincerely ask the forgiveness of DRP’s beloved members.”

• Gayoom added that he would no longer support Thasmeen’s potential presidential campaign after his successor was alleged to have declared to the media last Thursday during “Coffee with DRP” that he no longer needed the support of his predecessor. “I would like to regretfully inform DRP’s beloved members and the general public that I do not support Ahmed Thasmeen Ali being DRP’s presidential candidate for 2013,” Gayoom stated.

“I do not believe that there is any need for further debate on the points I have noted in this statement,” Gayoom concluded in the letter.

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PA to stick with DRP coalition “for time being” despite internal strife

The People’s Alliance (PA) party has today said it will not look to break from its coalition agreement with the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) as internal divides between its current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom continue to escalate.

The comments were made as newspaper Haveeru today reported that Gayoom had confirmed that under the position of “honorary leader” for the DRP, he would be withdrawing his support for Thasmeen to stand as its 2013 Presidential candidate.

PA Secretary General Ahmed Shareef told Minivan News that reports that the party, led by Gayoom’s half-brother Abdullah Yameen, were set to leave a coalition formed with the DRP were not true, at least for “the time being”.

Shareef confirmed that Yameen had been interviewed on television yesterday evening to state his belief that there were concerns among the party’s members about current developments with its coalition partner.

However, after the DRP last month announced it would also be forming a coalition agreement with the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) following local council elections, the PA had said it expected continue to collaborate with the party on opposition issues.

Neither DRP leader Thasmeen or representatives for Gayoom were able to confirm reports that Gayoom would no longer be supporting the serving leader to become Maldivian president in 2013.

However, one serving MP said that Gayoom’s reported snub of the current party leader was not surprising in light of divides within the DRP between supporters of the current and former party leaders.

Gayoom had originally appointed Thasmeen as his successor following his retirement from active politics last year, however both men have since become aparent figureheads for two different factions that have formed in the party.

This split between Thasmeen and a faction consisting of dismissed former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and a number of serving party members has engulfed the party since December.

However, despite being dismissed from the DRP, Umar Naseer and a number of party MPs said to support him campaigned alongside former President Gayoom during a tour of a number of islands ahead of last month’s local council elections.

The last few weeks have seen this in-party feuding extended to a war of words between Thasmeen and Gayoom himself, with the former president last week putting his name to a twelve page document attacking his sucsesor for ruling in a “dictatorial” manner.

A number of DRP members contacted by Minivan News today either refused to comment on the media reports concernings Gayoom’s comments, or said they had not as yet been made officially aware of a statement on Thasmeen’s presidential ambitions, beyond what had been reported in Haveeru.

Speaking to Minivan News today, DRP MP Ahmed Nihan that he had not received any confirmation of whether Gayoom had retracted his support of Thasmeen possibly succeeding President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to lead the country. Nihan added though that he did not believe it was out of the question.

“I have not heard anything about what has been said outside of the meida. Given recent circumstances in the party this is expected though,” he claimed.

According to Nihan, core supporters of the DRP had been taken the issue of leadership to the media over concerns said to relate to Thameen’s questioning of the role Gayoom played in the party under the title of its ‘honorary leader’.

The DRP MP added that the reported end of Gayoom’s support for Thameen’s potential future presidential ambitions was “an outcome” of people trying to downplay and even omit the role Gayoom held as the party’s founding figure and one time leader.

“Some people are suggesting that Maumoon [Gayoom] only holds a symbolic position in the party,” he said. “Anyone who knows the DRP knows it was created on the basis of gayoom’s work and ideas. He is the DRP’s founder.”

Nihan claimed that the burden now lay on general members of the party to air their dissatisfaction against the party’s current leadership where possible to show support for Gayoom’s position within the party.

“I don’t think any DRP member would have expected this [divides in the party] to have happened a few years ago,” he said. “But, I think a large proportion of the party, perhaps some 80 or 90 percent of DRP members would be in support of Maumoon.”

Nihan last week said that he believed the DRP in its current form was “disintegrating” and was almost certain to split into different political bodies.

However, DRP MP Rozaina Adam said at the time that according to the party’s rules, former President Gayoom’s position as ‘Honorary Leader’ did not give him a say in the political running of the party.

“The political leader of the party is Thasmeen. He is the one who is legally responsible for the actions of the party. It is the DRP Council that votes on a course of action, not former President Gayoom,” Rozaina said.

She speculated that much of the tension within the party revolved around the Council’s decision last year to send former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer to the party’s disciplinary committee, which made the decision to remove Naseer from the DRP.

“It was the Council that voted to send Umar Naseer to the disciplinary committee, which made a decision regarding the issue, not Thasmeen himself,” Rozaina said, adding that it was doubtful whether Thasmeen even had the authority to change the decision of the committee.

The DRP had a review committee, Rozaina said, “but Umar did not even apply for that. Instead he went and complained like a little boy to Mr Gayoom, to try and get him to change the decision.”

A split was looking inevitable, she suggested.

“Right now it looks like we are heading towards that. A lot of members in the Gayoom faction have been talking about creating a new party. It probably will split – I don’t see us getting along or working together.”

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Gayoom condemns Thasmeen’s leadership of opposition in 12-page letter

A letter from former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom denouncing the current leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) reflects the concerns of a wide number of members over the party’s opposition of government policies, such as the privatisation of Male’ International Airport, MP Ahmed Nihan has said.

The letter was linked to on Haveeru in Dhivehi. Minivan News is currently working on an English translation.

In the letter, Gayoom accuses Thasmeen of “dictatorial” characteristics and claimed he was writing the letter “in order to protect the Islamic faith of the Maldivian people and the sovereignty of the Maldives.”

Following his retirement from politics in February 2010, Gayoom endorsed Thasmeen as his successor to the leadership of the opposition. Thasmeen was then appointed to the leadership unopposed during the party’s congress.

However, after months of infighting between two factions – one loyal to Thasmeen and the other to dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer – and speculation as to which side the party’s ‘Honorary Leader’ would back, Gayoom’s letter finally puts the former President’s card on the table.

“Disputes and conflicts always arise within the party, as you are leading the party against the democratic manners, and in a dictatorial way,” Haveeru translated Gayoom as saying.

Gayoom’s particular point of contention with Thasmeen was his “taking decisions without the advice of the party’s council and against the council’s decisions” – namely, an apparently unanimous decision made by 21 council members in an urgent meeting in on June 24, 2010, to fight the government’s leasing of Male’ International Airport to Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

“Decisions are being taken on force and on your influence on several organs of the party, outside the system of the party. This should not be the case in a party that is being run on values of democracy and transparency,” Gayoom said.

The former President criticises Thasmeen for the party’s dismissal of Umar Naseer, accusing his of having “a personal grudge” against Naseer. Gayoom said he had requested Thasmeen resolve his difficulties with Naseer outside the Council, and retract his request with the Elections Commission to remove Naseer from the party.

“I was given the short answer of ‘out of the question’. Your answer proved to me that you have a personal grudge towards this particular Deputy Leader, Umar Naseer, as you have not taken an action against the other Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed, who was involved in the matter to the same extent as Umar Naseer,” Gayoom stated.

“I believe that every political leader should be free-minded and patient in order to be able to live with people of different ideas. It is democracy. I believe that the severe action taken by you against the Deputy Leader [Umar Naseer] proves the small scope of your political views,” Gayoom said, in Haveeru’s article.

Gayoom also attacks Thasmeen for contributing only Rf300,000 (US$23,300) to his campaign for the 2008 Presidential election – a campaign Gayoom said cost Rf33 million (US$2.6 million), and criticised him for not accompanying Gayoom’s son Ghassan on his campaign trip to Thaa Atoll during his bid for the Thimarafushi constituency in the 2009 parliamentary election.

Gayoom further accused Thasmeen of trying to damage his reputation by following the recommendations of a British public relations firm, The Campaign Company (TCC). The same firm was used by Hassan Saeed, leader of the minority opposition and now coalition partner Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP), during a PR trip to the UK last year in a bid to gain international support for the opposition. The firm employed an individual named Peter Craske to arrange meetings with politicians and journalists, who falsely presented the DQP as “an alliance between the DRP and MDP parties.” Craske later acknowledged the error in an email letter to Minivan News.

Gayoom claimed that TCC’s cofounder, Jonathan Upton, visited the Maldives and recommended that Thasmeen sideline him.

“[Upton] did not have any idea of the views of the Maldivian people and the political situation of the Maldives. His recommendation to keep me aside, without knowing the support of the majority of the Maldivian people as they have seen the development and changes during my presidency, was not a politically mature recommendation,” Gayoom said. “You are showing characteristics that cannot be prevented after being deceived by the words of people who are unaware of the political scenario of this country.”

The letter puts the writing on the wall for Thasmeen and is likely to split the opposition’s membership. There was heightened speculation this week that the party would actually split into two parties and potential names were reportedly being circulated among MPs through SMS – however the fight for the right to keep the DRP’s name is likely only beginning.  Thasmeen is showing no sign of bowing to the wishes of the former President, and has already told local media that he considers the letter “slanderous” and dared Gayoom to make it public.

Thasmeen’s ability to use his democratic mandate – though unopposed, he was still elected – to survive the  factional struggle within the opposition will serve as a bellweather both for the extent Gayoom’s continuing influence in the Maldives and the potential for Maldivian parties to mature beyond personality politics.  However if Thasmeen remains, the split opposition could mean an easy re-election for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in 2013, given the party preferences in the recent local council elections.

DRP MP Nihan, who said he is yet to fully read the leader sent by Gayoom, believes Gayoom’s correspondence reflects dissatisfaction among a number of “ordinary members” during the last ten to eleven months concerning the leadership of his successor.

Thasmeen was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press concerning the letter.  However in response he has written his own letter stating that he will “stand firm and with full confidence” of winning the presidential election 2013.

“In my trips to more than 100 islands during the local council election campaign, members of the party, heads of the party’s wings and supporters have assured me of giving their full cooperation and have asked me to continue with this work,” Thasmeen said in a letter, translated by Haveeru.

Earlier this week, DRP MPs from both sides of the spat said they believed a split within the party appeared imminent; with some members even considering potential names for new political bodies as internal divisions and infighting between factions has continued to escalate.

These factions relate in part to a war of words between the supporters of Thasmeen and dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer that has continued to escalate, at times, into violent confrontations over the legitimacy of decisions taken by the party’s council, such as the latter’s removal.

In light of these divides, Nihan said he believed the letter, without having read it in detail, was not so much part of a vendetta against Thasmeen from factional rivals in the party, but a reflection of complaints that Gayoom has received from party members dating back almost a year.

“There have been reports received by Mr Gayoom as to what has been seen as mismanagement on the part of Thasmeen,” he said. “Ordinary members of the party are very unsatisfied with party leadership and they have complained to Maumoon [Gayoom] about this.”

One of the key issues Nihan stressed that was behind the complaints levelled against Thasmeen had been in the work of the party to hold the government accountable for its actions, particularly in terms of deals such as the decision to allow Indian infrastructure giant GMR to manage and devlope a new terminal building at Male’ International Airport.

“Like with the GMR issues, there is a sense that Thasmeen hasn’t done enough to oppose this,” he said. “The divided thinking in the party has really been seen in the last six months from around when the airport was handed over [to GMR] in November.”

DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told Minivan News in November that a coalition of political parties formed in opposition to the GMR airport deal remained committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) focusing on legal recourse to try and prevent the privatisation agreement.

“We simply believe the deal is not in our national or security interests,” Thasmeen said. “With the privatisation of other [existing or soon to be] international airports in the north and south of the country, the state will not have an airport under its control.”

Thasmeen soon came under fire amidst allegations that both himself and fellow party member and Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid has taken bribes from GMR to hinder opposition to the deal. Both politicians and GMR have denied the allegations, which they claimed were a complete “fabrication” by political opponents.

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