President Mohamed Nasheed has criticised the opposition for “being a little eager” to topple the government.
“They want a quick transfer of powers back to them,” Nasheed said, in an interview with the Asian Tribune.
“In that process they have become a little over enthusiastic. But I think they will come to their senses. We are here to stay here till the end of our term. There is absolutely no way that they could dislodge us.”
In the interview, Nasheed claimed that while leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party Ahmed Thasmeen Ali understood democracy, others in his party did not.
“I think it will take some more time for Thasmeen to get a good grip on his own party – in a sense to wash the DRP off and make it a clean party,” the AT reported Nasheed as saying.
DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf said Nasheed was “trying to create problems” in his comments regarding Thasmeen’s grip on the party.
“It’s a stunt – he does a lot of stunts. It’s supposed to make supporters of the opposition uncomfortable by implying he is making deals with Thasmeen,” Mahlouf observed.
As for Nasheed’s suggestion that the opposition needed development, “I think we’re [already] a very responsible opposition. So far we haven’t done anything MDP didn’t do while they were in opposition. I don’t think we need support from the government: we have the capability and the educated people.”
Responding to the allegations of attempted overthrow, DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf observed that “the only way we could change the government before the election would be a no confidence motion in parliament, and we would need 52 votes for that. I’m surprised to hear him accusing the opposition of trying to topple the government.”
The government has previously accused several opposition MPs of corruption and bribery, notably attempting to buy the votes of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party supporters.
Nasheed, in response to question from AT regarding the government’s recent controversial detention of minority opposition party leader Abdulla Yameen, leader of the People’s Alliance (PA), acknowledged that “the charges were not clear. It was cloudy at that moment.”
“When we see the whole thing is being derailed through corruption or bribery I will have to flex my muscles, and I will do it again,” he said. “But I will make sure we have our focus, that democracy is the goal.”
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