Maumoon: Maintaining the coalition - a patriotic duty

Former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, one of the four government coalition leaders, has urged all the leaders to strengthen and maintain the coalition.

In a tweet this Saturday morning, Maumoon wrote “reinforcing and maintaining the coalition is our patriotic duty.”

“This responsibility weighs especially heavily on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the four coalition leaders,” added Maumoon.

“Our four parties joined to form a coalition to establish a fair and just administration in order to fulfil the people’s hopes and aspirations. I, therefore, with all sincerity, appeal that we prioritize national interest over our party interests,” wrote Maumoon in another tweet he sent out this Saturday morning.

Maumoon’s appeal comes as the rivalry between the two largest parties in the government coalition – Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhoory Party (JP) reaches its peak.

The main coalition party, MDP, on December 1, announced the intention of contesting for all 87 parliamentary seats, leading to JP accusing the party of violating the original coalition agreement.

The Leader of JP and Speaker of Parliament, Qasim Ibrahim, in a tweet last Friday night, accused MDP of kicking JP to the curb as soon as it gained power.

“MDP has once again kicked JP to the curb once they gained power. JP has to play beggar again. JP is ready to negotiate with any party which wishes to work together with JP to contest for parliamentary seats. In Sha Allah,” wrote Qasim in his tweet, announcing JP is ready for alliances outside the coalition.