Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid announced at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis that five MPs have officially informed the secretariat of their recent change of political parties.
The movement of MPs included Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim from the People’s Alliance (PA) to the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), MPs Ahmed Shareef Adam and Ahmed Moosa from PPM to President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP), and MP Ali Azim from the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
DRP MP Ali Saleem meanwhile left the party to become an Independent MP.
Following the changes, the majority party MDP currently has 33 seats, minority party PPM has 20 seats, the DRP has 11 seats, the Jumhooree Party (JP) has three seats, and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has one seat.
There are currently nine independent MPs of the 77 elected to parliament in May 2009. The two MPs who recently joined President Waheed’s GIP along with MP Ibrahim Muttalib of the Adhaalath Party as well as two MPs of the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) are considered independents under the parliamentary rules as no candidate has been elected to parliament on either an Adhaalath, MDA or GIP ticket.
The Civil Court has issued a court order today freezing the bank accounts and holding the passport of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali over a case filed by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim to recover an unpaid debt of MVR 1.92 million (US$124,513).
A Civil Court media official explained to Minivan News that freezing accounts and holding passports were the normal procedure to follow in cases of decreed debt.
The media official confirmed that the Civil Court has issued the court order to both freeze Thasmeen’s bank accounts and hold his passport following today’s hearing.
Thasmeen’s lawyer reportedly said that his client was preparing to appeal the High Court ruling at the Supreme Court. The judge however replied that the civil case would proceed until such a time when the Supreme Court decides to hear the appeal.
MP Nazim sued Thasmeen in March 2011 to recover MVR 1.92 million (US$124,513) unpaid from a loan worth MVR 2.55 million (US$200,000). After the Civil Court ruled in favour of Nazim, Thasmeen appealed the judgment at the High Court in June 2011.
At the time the case was filed at the Civil Court, Thasmeen’s DRP was in a formal coalition with the minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) led by Nazim and current PPM presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen.
Following an acrimonious war of words between then-DRP ‘Honorary Leader’ Gayoom and his successor Thasmeen, the former president withdrew his endorsement of the DRP presidential candidate in March 2011.
Meanwhile, at the final hearing of the Civil Court case in April 2011, Thasmeen’s lawyer reportedly claimed that Nazim agreed to sell Shaviyani Kabalifaru, which was leased for development as a resort in 2005, to raise funds to cover the MVR 2.55 million loan.
Thasmeen’s lawyer denied that an agreement was made between the pair to pay back the loan in a month, claiming that Nazim failed to find a buyer for Kabalifaru as agreed upon in November 2008.
The lawyer also denied Nazim’s claim that the loan was taken to pay back Thasmeen’s debts at the Bank of Maldives.
However, Nazim’s lawyer, Mohamed ‘Reynis’ Saleem – currently President Waheed’s member on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) – disputed both claims, demanding documentation to prove that Thasmeen gave power of attorney to Nazim to sell the resort.
At a previous hearing, Nazim’s lawyer had produced a document with Thasmeen’s signature, prompting Judge Hathif Hilmy to observe that the purported loan agreement had a reference number and that it was therefore reasonable to expect Thasmeen to be aware of the details of the amount in question.
Article 73(c) of the constitution states, “A person shall be disqualified from election as, a member of the People’s Majlis, or a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified, if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgment.”
MP Yousuf Naseem has today announced his decision to leave the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyitunge Party (DRP), according to local media.
Yousuf told Sun Online that despite leaving the DRP, he had yet to decide which party he would now look to join. The MP said he would give his reasons for leaving the party at a later date.
“I did not leave the party because anything big happened. I have left the party, but have not decided on an ideology to accept next,” he was quoted as saying in local media.
Yousuf is the second MP to leave the DRP within the last 48 hours, following the announcement yesterday (June 10) by MP Ali Azim that he was defecting to the MDP.
Azim’s decision to leave the DRP was announced the same day the party’s leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was unveiled as President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s running mate for September’s election.
This week’s departures from the DRP have left the party with nine MPs within parliament, local media has reported.
A coalition of political parties backing President Dr Mohamed Waheed in September’s election has expressed confidence it will be joined by the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) – despite no official talks having taken place as yet.
Abdulla Yazeed, a spokesperson on the media team of President Waheed’s ‘forward with the nation’ coalition, said the group would continue to welcome other political parties to join its existing members, but denied any such talks were presently being held.
“Our plan is to have a very large coalition backing President Waheed,” he said.
However, JP MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla today said that while no decision would be taken on whether to join President Waheed’s coalition before its national congress scheduled for later this month, the party anticipated fielding its own candidate during the election.
“What I will say is that our articles and regulations state that our leader has to run as a presidential candidate. We have to run for the seat on our own,” he said.
Raheem added that the party did nonetheless have criteria under which it would look to join a coalition.
“We have done this before. In 2008, we stood alongside the Adhaalath Party,” he said.
However, Raheem said that while the JP was presently a member of President Waheed’s coalition government, it would not advocate for him during September’s election, citing concerns that he had agreed upon assuming office in February 2012 that he would not seek to stay in power.
He also questioned the legitimacy of the president’s Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) and whether it had officially obtained 10,000 members that is required to be registered as an official party under contested legislation passed this year.
“Right now, our party has more than 10,000 members and is a legitimate party,” Raheem added.
Party lines
At present, the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) are the only two parties to have announced their intention to field individual candidates against President Waheed’s coalition during Septembers election.
Both parties have recently dismissed the viability of forming coalitions in the Maldives based on past experiences in the country, claiming that the vast majority of the country’s electorate where divided between their two competing ideologies.
Coalition Media Team Spokesperson Yazeed said today that group of parties backing President Waheed, which had not yet declared their values and full campaign manifesto, would still seek to expand support before voting begins.
With the election scheduled for September 7, Yazeed said that while the MDP and PPM were already campaigning around various islands, the coalition remained confident there was sufficient time to inform the public of its message going forward.
“This will be a very tight campaign, but we are already planning on having teams simultaneously planning to visit islands,” he said.
Earlier this week, President Waheed pledged to establish a housing policy for the people of Male’ as part of his bid to secure election in the upcoming presidential elections.
Yazeed’s comments were made after President Dr Waheed’s Special Advisor Dr Hassan Saeed was quoted in local media yesterday (June 10) as claiming that a single candidate or party such as the government-aligned JP would not alone be able to manage to run the country ahead of this year’s election.
He reportedly told a crowd gathered on the island of Naifaru in Lhaviyani Atoll that the JP and its leader Gasim Ibrahim did not presently have a team of other parties backing him during September’s voting, limiting his ability within the country’s political arena.
Saeed is the leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), one of three parties within the present government coalition along with Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and the the religious conservative Adhaalath Party to have so far backed President Waheed and his Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) in the election.
He also yesterday criticised President Waheed’s direct election rivals, claiming the country – despite its current financial challenges – faced being set back by three years in the past under an MDP government or 30 years should the public elect the PPM.
However, following yesterday’s announcement that DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali would be standing as President Waheed’s running mate in the election, political rivals claimed the decision would have little impact on their own campaigns.
PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that Thasmeen’s appointment as Dr Waheed’s running mate was not seen as a concern by the party and would actually serve as a positive development for its own election campaign.
“He is the weakest link among all the wannabe leaders at present,” Nihan said after the announcement.
Nihan said that the party would therefore carry on with it plans to begin campaigning in the north of the country ahead of September’s election. “This is the very least of our concerns as a party,” he said.
Nihan nonetheless said that the party continued to remain concerned at what it alleged was President Waheed’s continued use of state funds and resources to support campaigning for the coalition.
“This is our one crucial concern. President Waheed needs to facilitate a free and fair election, but he has today used government speedboats to transport coalition members. This should not be seen n a democratic society,” he said.
Meanwhile, MDP presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed contended during an interview with state broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM) on May 16 that President Waheed and the DRP has been forced to form a coalition out of necessity.
Nasheed therefore questioned the president’s coalition’s claims that it presented a “third way” for voters as opposed to the policies of the MDP and PPM. Nasheed reiterated his belief that power-sharing coalitions were not compatible with the Maldives’ presidential system of government.
Leader of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, has been unveiled as President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s running mate for September’s election.
Thasmeen’s appointment was confirmed by DRP Parliamentary Group Leader Dr Abdulla Mausoom, who claimed the move would allow the president to provide a viable alternative to the country’s two largest political parties.
The announcement was welcomed by one electoral rival in the form of the DRP’s government coalition partner, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which labelled Thasmeen as “the weakest link” among all the current candidates standing in September.
The DRP last month announced that it would be joining the religious conservative Adhaalath Party and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) in a coalition backing President Waheed and his Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) in the upcoming election. The Adhaalath Party was reported in local media today as giving its full support to the partnership of President Waheed and MP Thasmeen.
Dr Mausoom said that this coalition, under the banner, ‘forward with the nation’, still remained open for other parties to join ahead of September’s vote despite today’s decision.
At present, Dr Waheed and Thasmeen will be standing against PPM presidential candidate MP Abdullah Yameen and his running mate, former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed – who was dismissed from the current government last month after announcing his decision to stand with the party.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed will also be standing for election as candidate for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), but has yet to unveil his running mate. Nasheed resigned from office in February 2012 under controversial circumstances following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.
Meanwhile, the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) has previously said it was undecided over whether to join President Waheed’s coalition, while expecting to nominate a presidential candidate at its national conference later this month.
The JP is headed by MP and local business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.
“Natural reaction”
Considering the rival candidates expected to stand during September’s presidential election, DRP MP Dr Mausoom said the ‘forward with the nation’ coalition has been formed as a “natural reaction” to the previous governments of former Presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed.
“I think for people who do not see the merit in backing former Maldives Presidents Gayoom and Nasheed there is now an alternative,” he claimed, adding that both candidates would be a return to “square one” for democracy in the Maldives.
Mausoom claimed that President Waheed woukd now unite support behind a third option in Maldivian politics, that was opposed to the MDP and PPM – presently the country’s two largest political parties in terms of MP number.
He said that the coalition’s appeal as an alternative to both the Nasheed and Gayoom administrations would be its main strength.
“This is just the beginning,” Dr Mausoom added. “Thasmeen spoke today of the achievement’s of President Waheed’s government over the last year, in spite of difficult circumstances he faced.”
While both the MDP and PPM has dismissed the viability and effectiveness of coalition government in Maldives politics, Mausoom argued that the DRP had continued to back President Waheed along with several other parties in order to put national development first.
“We are at a point where we all have to climb down from party ideology and put the national interest first,” he said.
Mausoom claimed that the country’s previous coalition governments had been formed on a “circumstantial” basis, both in bringing former President Nasheed to power and then backed President Waheed. However, he claimed that parties within the ‘forward with the nation’ coalition backing President Waheed during the election were “pro-actively” united in their goal for national development.
Positive development
Speaking to Minivan News today, PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that Thasmeen’s appointment as Dr Waheed’s running mate was not seen as a concern by the party and would actually serve as a positive development for its own election campaign.
Thasmeen took over as head of the DRP following former President Gayoom’s temporary retirement from political life in 2010.
Nihan argued that the PPM, which was founded in 2011 by a faction of MPs who broke away from the DRP alongside former President Gayoom, were “well aware of the political strength of Mr Thasmeen”.
“We are the only people who can make an informed judgement on [Thasmeen]. He is the weakest link among all the wannabe leaders at present,” he said.
Nihan said that the party would therefore carry on with it plans to begin campaigning in the north of the country ahead of September’s election.
“This is the very least of our concerns as a party,” he said.
Nihan nonetheless said that the party continued to remain concerned at what it alleged was President Waheed’s continued use of state funds and resources to support campaigning for the coalition.
“This is our one crucial concern. President Waheed needs to facilitate a free and fair election, but he has today used government speedboats to transport coalition members. This should not be seen n a democratic society,” he said. “Back in 2008, President Gayoom would have used his own party’s speedboat for campaign purposes.”
Meanwhile, MDP presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed contended during an interview with state broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM) on May 16 that President Waheed and the DRP has been forced to form a coalition out of necessity.
Nasheed therefore questioned the president’s coalition’s claims that it presented a “third way” for voters as opposed to the policies of the MDP and PPM. Nasheed reiterated his belief that power-sharing coalitions were not compatible with the Maldives’ presidential system of government.
“I do not see a citizen who wants ‘another way.’ What is the path to deliver this way [to development]? We do not hear [political parties] talking about that,” he said. “We are presenting one path to that [development]. We believe MDP’s policies will bring prosperity to the people. I do not see this third way you referred to as ‘a way.’ I see it as two men with no other way. That is not a political philosophy,” he said.
The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has accused President Dr Mohamed Waheed of ignoring the advice of his coalition government by abruptly terminating the US$511 million airport development contract with Indian infrastructure group GMR last year.
PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that while the PPM believed terminating the GMR contract had been the right decision, President Waheed had nonetheless personally taken an executive decision to cancel the agreement without listening to the party’s advice in seeking a compromise with the company and the Indian government.
However, the PPM’s coalition partners today accused the party of making “contradictory statements” regarding the decision to terminate GMR’s concession agreement, accusing its senior leadership of trying to terminate the deal at the time without discussion or following due process.
The allegations against President Waheed surfaced following the visit to India last week by former President and PPM founder, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who pledged his party would seek to restore relations with India damaged by the government’s summary eviction of the GMR.
While Gayoom ultimately blamed former President Mohamed Nasheed for not obtaining parliamentary approval and “consulting all political parties” before signing the deal with the GMR-Malaysian Airports consortium in 2010, he was also critical of the present administration’s handling of the termination.
“Had Nasheed consulted all political parties, the public would not have formed the impression that corruption had taken place. Then we told the next President Mr Waheed that he should hold discussions with the GMR Group and the Indian government to arrive at an acceptable solution, after which the government was free to act on its own,” he said. “Unfortunately, this was not done and suddenly there was this unhappy ending,” Gayoom was reported as saying in the Hindu.
“Better” handling
MP Nihan said following a press conference held by the PPM in Male’ today that the party continued to believe the decision to terminate GMR’s concession agreement was in the best interest of the country.
However, amidst concerns about the subsequent negative impacts on bilateral relations from cancelling the deal, he stressed that the president could have handled the matter “better” in order to protect the relationship between the Maldives and India.
“We believe that the room was there to correct any negative relations with India,” Nihan claimed.
“This could have been much easier and perhaps a new approach could have been found to cancel the GMR contract,” he added.
Nihan said that as well as the GMR contract, President Waheed had on a number of occasions sought to take advantage of his position by making executive decisions against the wishes of his government coalition, all while trying to shift blame away from himself.
“We have seen [President Waheed] try to spin all good developments as being the result of his work, while anything that has gone wrong [in the government] is the PPM’s fault,” he said.
Following a PPM press conference today, Nihan added that the media has been shown two different letters sent from the party’s council to the government prior to the termination of the agreement last November that called to find a solution through dialogue.
Nihan also reiterated Gayoom’s comments that the manner in which the contract was not a “happy ending” in terms of its impact on bilateral relations with India.
“We are of the view that the agreement was only to be cancelled through due process of the law,” he said.
Nihan claimed that the contract dispute had also further exacerbated concerns held by the Indian government about treatment of Indian nationals in the country. He said this had in turn created difficulties for Maldivians in obtaining visas to travel to India for medical treatment.
Considering former President Gayoom’s 30 years spent in office, Nihan praised his efforts to try and strengthen bilateral relations with India.
The government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor did not appear on a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission in January. The list instead included concerns such as discrimination against Indian expatriates and the confiscation of passports by Maldivian employers.
Tension
The argument over responsibility for the GMR contract termination has comes amidst reports of increased tension within the present coalition government, with PPM presidential candidate Abdullah Yameen last month criticising President Waheed over his alleged use of state funds for campaigning.
The PPM has nonetheless pledged to continue supporting President Waheed’s government up until September’s election, despite concerns about the decision to dismiss former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed after he decided to stand as MP Yameen’s running mate.
DRP response
The PPM’s recent criticism of President Waheed’s handling of the GMR dispute was today slammed as being “contradictory” by government coalition partner the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).
The party added that its members had previously come under heavy criticism from the PPM for advocating at the time that any termination of the GMR airport deal should be made via the due process of the law.
DRP Parliamentary Group Leader Dr Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News that it was in fact senior figures in the PPM that were among the most vocal supporters for terminating the GMR agreement.
“It is ironic that we are hearing these statements from the PPM, whose leader has been witnessed supporting rallies demanding the cancellation of the [GMR] agreement,” he said.
Dr Mausoom alleged that he had also been informed from “a reliable political source” present during government consultations last year over whether to terminate the GMR agreement that it had been PPM presidential candidate Yameen who personally advocated cancelling the deal without a need for discussion.
“Either there is no harmony within the [PPM], or this is all political talk to try and gain an advantage. Either was it is very irresponsible,” he said of the PPM’s recent comments about terminating the GMR concession agreement.
Mausoom alleged that contrary to the PPM’s claims, it had been the DRP which had advocated finding a legal means of terminating the GMR agreement at at time when fellow government-aligned parties had taken to the streets holding rallies demanding the airport be “reclaimed”.
Despite appeals by GMR that it was acting as a caretaker for running and improving Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), which would remain Maldivian-owned, efforts to cancel the concession agreement – which was vetted by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) – intensified up to November.
On November 13, just ahead of the contract termination, a seaborne armada of about 15 dhonis carrying flags and banners circled the airport seeking to increase pressure on the government to “reclaim” the site from GMR.
Fours councillors based in Raa Atoll have joined the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) during a signing ceremony held on the island of Alifushi yesterday (May 27), according to local media.
Among those reported to have signed for the party during the ceremony were Vice President of Alifushi Council Ibrahim Shuaib – formerly of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP). Atoll Councillor Ibrahim Mahees, who previously represented the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), also joined the MDP yesterday, Sun Online has reported.
Vaadhoo councillor Ali Riyaz, formerly of President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) and one time Adhaalath Party member Hussain Rashad of Rasgetheem Council also reportedly signed to the opposition party.
The four councillors signed to the MDP during a ceremony that coincided with a visit by the party’s presidential candidate, Mohamed Nasheed, Sun Online reported.
The government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) has said no decision has been made on whether to join a coalition backing President Dr Mohamed Waheed in September’s election, as it prepares to officially choose it presidential candidate and leader.
Vice-chair of the JP’s Congress Committee Mohamed Haleem has told Minivan News that the party’s candidate for this year’s presidential election will officially be announced in June during its national conference.
He said that the party’s leader chosen at the conference would then go on to become presidential candidate of the JP. However, Haleem added that he was presently unaware if anyone would be contesting against current party leader and founder MP Gasim Ibrahim.
Despite serving with the DQP, GIP, Adhaalath Party, DRP and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in the present government, Haleem added that the JP was committed to unveiling its own presidential candidate, as well as preparing contests to appoint other senior leadership during its three day national conference.
The JP was founded by MP Gasim, a resort tycoon, business magnate and member of watchdog body the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), who is considered presidential candidate for the party having already stood during the country’s first multi-party democratic election in 2008.
However, Haleem told Minivan News that the party’s presidential candidate would only be known when announced next month during the three day congress scheduled to run from June 27 to June 29.
“The main aims of the conference will be to amend certain party regulations as well as host an election for the position of party leader and other appointees like deputy leader,” he said. “We will also look to appoint members to different wings of the party.”
Haleem claimed that no discussions would be held during the conference over the possibility of joining President Waheed’s coalition, adding that any agreement on power sharing was presently considered a separate matter from its internal elections.
Coalition consideration
MP Gasim was reported in local media last month as claiming he would be prepared to form a coalition with other parties ahead of September’s election, but would not stand as a running mate of another candidate.
Just a day earlier, JP Spokesman Moosa Ramiz said the party had ruled out the idea of forming a coalition with fellow government-aligned parties ahead of this year’s elections, despite its involvement in recent power sharing talks with President Waheed.
“National stability”
As rival candidates begin to position themselves ahead of elections, GIP spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza last week claimed voters would shun the country’s two largest political parties in favour of the “national stability” offered by a coalition representing the current government.
Meanwhile the fellow government-aligned PPM – the country’s second largest party in terms of number of MPs –back in March elected MP Abdulla Yameen to stand as its presidential candidate and has continued to reject calls to join a coalition against the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ahead of elections.
Former Maldives President and founder of the PPM, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, previously told local media that Dr Waheed’s coalition presented no threat to the election bid of its own candidate MP Abdulla Yameen.
Meanwhile, MDP presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed contended during an interview with state broadcaster Television Maldives (TVM) on May 16 that President Waheed and the DRP has been forced to form a coalition out of necessity.
Nasheed questioned the coalition’s claims that it presented a “third way” for voters as opposed to the policies of the MDP and PPM and reiterated his belief that power-sharing coalitions were not compatible with a presidential system of government.
“I do not see a citizen who wants ‘another way.’ What is the path to deliver this way [to development]? We do not hear [political parties] talking about that,” he said. “We are presenting one path to that [development]. We believe MDP’s policies will bring prosperity to the people. I do not see this third way you referred to as ‘a way.’ I see it as two men with no other way. That is not a political philosophy,” he said.
The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihad Party (GIP) were forced to form a coalition to contest the upcoming presidential election out of necessity, former President Mohamed Nasheed has said, contending that the parties lacked grassroots support and comprehensive policies to represent “a third way” for voters.
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate stated that the public wanted political parties to present policies that could deliver job opportunities, public transport, better healthcare and education, a higher standard of living and “a way to overcome anxiety over paying water, electricity and phone bills.”
“I do not see a citizen who wants ‘another way.’ What is the path to deliver this way [to development]? We do not hear [political parties] talking about that,” Nasheed said.
“We are presenting one path to that [development]. We believe MDP’s policies will bring prosperity to the people. I do not see this third way you referred to as ‘a way.’ I see it as two men with no other way. That is not a political philosophy,” he said.
Coalition agreements were made by politicians who wanted “power” in terms of cabinet posts and influence in the government, said Nasheed, observing that the parties in the current ruling coalition have yet to offer any policies.
Third way
Announcing its decision to back Dr Waheed’s presidential bid last week, DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali said that the party believed voters should have a third alternative to what he contended were the “hardline and extreme” ideologies of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the MDP.
“If the parties supporting President Waheed, DRP and other parties contest the 2013 presidential election separately, we believe that the vote will be split, the Maldivian people will not have a real opportunity, and there will be a chance for the past to be revived,” Thasmeen said at a press event on Sunday (May 12), referring to the three-year rule of MDP and the preceding 30-year reign of PPM figurehead, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The DRP believed that “moderate” parties should join an alliance united behind President Waheed as a third option to MDP and PPM, said the MP for Kendhoo in Baa Atoll.
DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef told Minivan News last week that in the absence of a strong coalition, the PPM could face MDP in a second round run-off and “those of us in the middle ground would be forced to support the MDP.”
The PPM was a party that belonged to “one family, or a supreme leader,” Shareef said.
Meanwhile, responding to Nasheed characterising the coalition parties as “empty shells,” DRP Leader Thasmeen and President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad told local media today that the criticism showed the former president’s “concern” with the challenge posed by the coalition.
Masood claimed that the combined strength of numbers in Dr Waheed’s coalition would outstrip both the PPM and MDP before the election scheduled for September 7.
Dr Waheed’s GIP currently has 3,930 registered members while the DRP has 21,411 members, according to the Elections Commission (EC).
The MDP has 45,666 members followed by the PPM with 22,383 members. The two largest parties are also respectively majority and minority party in parliament.
Dr Waheed’s GIP does not have a single MP of the 77 in parliament or a single councillor out of more than 1,000 elected representatives on local councils.
2008 ‘Watan Edhey’ coalition
In his TVM appearance, Nasheed shed light on the rapid disintegration of the MDP-led coalition that took office in November 2008, agreeing that the power-sharing experience was “bitter.”
In the second round run-off in October 2008, MDP candidate Nasheed was backed by third placed candidate Dr Hassan Saeed and fourth placed candidate Gasim Ibrahim from the Jumhooree Party (JP), which was allied with the Adhaalath Party (AP) at the time.
Gasim however resigned as home minister 21 days into the MDP government while Dr Saeed resigned as special advisor after the first 100 days. The Adhaalath Party remained in government in control of the Islamic Ministry, but decided to sever its coalition agreement in late 2011 following a change of leadership.
Asked why the coalition fell apart, Nasheed first noted that Dr Saeed backed the MDP “unconditionally” and without a formal agreement.
“But after winning the election, [Saeed] secured posts for Dr [Ahmed] Shaheed and Dr [Mohamed] Jameel and secured positions in some government-owned companies for their people,” Nasheed alleged.
Gasim’s Jumhooree Party also secured cabinet posts, he added, stressing that all other parties agreed to endorse the MDP manifesto and implement its policies.
“The policies include, for example, public-private partnerships (PPP), opening up fishing,” he said. “Opening up fishing was a big problem for some people. And developing the airport and our other public-private partnerships were unacceptable to some people. And striking at resorts became completely unacceptable to some people. They felt if there was a strike at a resort, riot police should be sent immediately to put a stop to it.”
On November 30, 2008, police clashed with about 200 striking employees at the ‘One and Only’ Reethi Rah resort. Police were sent to the island by Home Minister Gasim at the request of the resort management.
Nasheed said that the “regrettable incident” occurred while he was in Fuvahmulah.
TVM visit
Nasheed’s appearance on the Raajje Miadhu programme marked the first time the former president has featured on the state broadcaster since the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012.
On February 7, the main compound of the now-defunct Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) was taken over by mutinying police and soldiers almost two hours before Nasheed’s resignation.
After briefly broadcasting live feed of Gasim’s Villa TV, the MNBC brand name was changed to TVM, its title under former President Gayoom.
Nasheed’s visit to the state broadcaster on Thursday night meanwhile prompted a flurry of tweets and Facebook posts by TVM staffers.
(0)Dislikes
(0)