Tag: Z-DRP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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Gayoom faction marches with coffins demanding justice for 1988 coup deaths

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s faction of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) this afternoon protested outside the Prosecutor General’s Office, marched through the streets of Male’ demanding justice for the martyrs who died in the November 3 coup attempt in 1988.

The Z-DRP protesters set out from Artificial Beach carrying 19 wooden coffins wrapped in the Maldivian national flag, calling to arrest Former Defence Minister Ameen Faisal and other senior officials in the government whom they alleged were involved in the incident.

The protesters marched down Majeedhee Magu and stopped as they reached the Prosecutor General’s Office, setting down the coffins on the ground and calling for the arrest of those involved in the November 3.

They remained until the police arrived and told the protesters to leave the area, whereupon  they walked back to the Artificial Beach.

On November 3, 1988, the Maldives was attacked by 80 armed mercenaries linked to the Sri Lankan terrorist group, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom requested Indian intervention and 1600 paratroopers were deployed to the Maldives.

19 people were killed in the fighting, including several hostages taken by the mercenaries.

Zaidhul Ameen, a Z-DRP official, told Minivan News that today’s protest was to “hand over a letter to the PG, requesting him to conduct a fair trial of those involved in the November 3 attack.”

‘’There are people in the government who were definitely involved in it,’’ he said. ‘’But in the letter we did not mention anyone’s name.’’

He said depending on the reaction of the PG, more protests would be held.

The current government has set up an office and is seeking information from the public in an ongoing investigation into allegations of torture by the former administration.

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MDP recruiting spree includes DRP officials and supporters

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed former council member of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Hassan Shujau, as state transport minister, amid a recruitment spree that has netted the ruling party a number of senior opposition members.

Reports that Shujau and DRP MP Ali Waheed were planning to join the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) began circulating last weekend. The party confirmed Shujau had joined, although Waheed has remained silent on his decision, telling media that any political decisions would “be made publicly”.

This week Minivan News was told by a senior official of Z-DRP faction that both Ali Waheed and Shujau were to join MDP for an amount of money which is “so high that they won’t need to work ever again if they accepted.’’

Yesterday a special ceremony was held at the President’s Office to appoint Shujau to his new post, during which President Nasheed said that he was confident that Shujau had the capability to fulfill his responsibility as the state transport minister.

Nasheed also said he was pleased that Shuaju has made his decision to join the government and implement its manifesto after being affiliated with another political party.

Nasheed has also appointed Sheikh Gubaadh Abubakur, a former senior member of the DRP member and one time close ally of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as undersecretary in the President’s Office.

After the government confirmed Shujau’s decision to join MDP, speculation has risen that Waheed would join as well.

Local media reports that a special ceremony is pending to mark the signing of MP Waheed, a move DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef has acknowledged would be “a great blow” to the party.

“Ali Waheed is a rising star with widespread support, and it would be a great blow to the party if he were to leave,” Shareef said recently.

Meanwhile several opposition figures have begun criticising Ali Waheed for his supposed decision.

Local media reported that Z-DRP faction MP Ahmed Nihan had condemned Waheed and said that if he signed with MDP, “he is betraying those people who elected him as their MP.”

Leader of DRP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told Minivan News that he did not believe Waheed would join the ruling party after running for parliament on a DRP ticket.

Furthermore, MDP confirmed that former Human Rights Commissioner of the Maldives (HRCM) Ahmed Saleem has joined the party.

“When I ran for the membership of HRCM, they issued a three-line whip to vote for me. They backed me when I ran for the membership of MBC’s board as well,” said Saleem, who was voted out of the position by the opposition majority parliament.

“I served the government for 42 years yet they rendered me unneeded. But MDP supported me even then.”

The DRP is currently riven by an internal political split as a faction loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have sought to oust party leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, who has fallen out of favour with the party’s founder and ‘honorary leader’.

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DRP files case against Z-faction for using its logo and name

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) led by Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has lodged a complaint with the Elections Commission (EC) alleging that the party’s Z-DRP faction, led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had misappropriated DRP’s name and logo to conduct unauthorised political activities, and requested the EC take action against the faction.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef told Minivan News that the party’s real concern was not that the faction was using its logo and name, which DRP MP Nihan has claimed he designed and retained rights to.

‘’It is a much greater concern when people claiming to represent [the party’s] administration and claiming to work to protect the rule of law come out and start violating those laws,’’ said Shareef. ‘’If that is the case, the public might develop a habit of disrespecting the law, and the whole nation may be affected because of this.’’

Shareef explained that the public was “new to democracy” and the principles of it, and said that leaders needed to set an example.

‘’We might think this is very funny and that this is a joke,’’ he said. ‘’But it’s much more dangerous than we thought, and it has more concerns behind it.’’

Shareef said that all political parties should respect their charters and follow it, “for it is not Gayoom’s, Thasmeen’s or my idea.”

‘’Humans do not last forever, and neither does the person in the leadership position, but when people fade away there will be the charter left behind,’’ Shareef said. ‘’That is why people need to follow it, otherwise when the leader dies, the party will die with him.’’

Furthermore, Shareef said that if the country goes on moving in the same direction, “tomorrow one might take an oath and say ‘I am the president now, see I have more supporters than the current president, see all those people who come out for protests whenever I ask.’’’

MP with the Z-DRP faction Ahmed Mahlouf and Umar Naseer did not respond to Minivan News at time of press, while MP Ahmed Nihan was unavailable.

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DRP MP Ali Waheed to join ruling MDP, claims senior party member

A senior member of  the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)’s Z-DRP faction has confirmed to Minivan News that the party’s Deputy Leader and Council Member Ali Waheed is shortly to join the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Head of the DRP’s sports wing, Hassan Shujau, will also join the ruling party along with Waheed, the source said.

The opposition figure confirmed that the pair were shifting sides “after receiving offers that, if they accept, will allow them to live the rest of their lives without doing any work.”

Rumours of Waheed’s possible jump to the MDP began circulating in the media over the weekend.

MDP Parliamentary Group’s former spokesperson, MP Ahmed Shifaz, told Minivan News that Ali Waheed was “99 percent likely to join MDP.”

”Ali Waheed is very, very close to joining MDP,” said Shifaz. ”But I do not have any information that he has joined as of yet.”

Recently MDP Deputy Leader and MP Alhan Fahmy was quoted in local newspaper Haveeru as saying ”the next time I step foot on this land it will be with Ali Waheed.”

Alhan, himself a former opposition MP and now the deputy leader of the ruling party, was speaking at an MDP rally held in Waheed’s North Ari Atoll constituency of Thoddu.

Waheed kept media silence amidst the spread of the rumours that he was intending to shift parties.

Leader of the DRP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali said that he could not believe Waheed would join MDP “unless I see him join.”

”I don’t believe that he will join MDP after getting elected to the parliament on DRP ticket,” Thasmeen said, refusing to speculate on what Waheed’s departure would mean for the party.

DRP Deputy Leader and Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef said that Waheed had not signed, “and still remains a deputy leader of the DRP. This is propaganda to try to discredit some of us in the party.”

However, “Ali Waheed is a rising star with widespread support, and it would be a great blow to the party if he were to leave,” Shareef acknowledged.

Waheed’s decision comes at a time when the opposition is torn by factional strife, between leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and the ‘Z-DRP’ faction organised around former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who remains the ‘Honorary Leader’ of the party he founded since announcing his political retirement in February 2010.

The DRP’s internal troubles were “not a matter of factions – this is something much deeper,” said Shareef.
The DRP deputy leader suggested that the split was linked to the ideological difference of overthrowing the government through violence rather than electoral victory.
“When we have criticised the government for bad policy, many times they have listened to us. Street action and protests should be the last resort, and even then it should be peaceful protest and not violent disruption of ordinary peoples’ lives. We do not want to polarise this country further,” Shaeef said.

“It is very sad that our Honorary Leader believes that the opposition can under no circumstances support the policies of the government, even if they are good. This is a government elected by the people, and we must honour their decision, and accept it.”

Shareef also expressed concern at criticism leveled at Thasmeen by former President Gayoom, on his arrival to Male’ on the weekend.
“It is very sad, especially given that our honorary leader, who has served for the past 30 years, should now put his own interests before those of the country,” Shareef said.
“They are of the opinion that it is the duty of the opposition to violently overthrow the government. For us, it is not- our objective is to regain power, not by overthrowing the democratically-elected government but by putting forward policy, showing what the government is doing wrong, and reflecting the aspirations of the people. We want this country to prosper. If a policy is good we should support it.”
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