President: Majority of the parliament members are with me

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the majority of the parliament members support him still.

During a press conference held this evening, President Solih had stated that it is important for any government to secure the majority of the parliament – and that governing without the majority will pose a lot of difficulties.

He also added that every administration that has governed in the Maldives since 2008 proves this statement – detailing that losing the majority of the parliament after assuming power as the ruling party had posed great difficulties to then-incumbent governments.

“In a government where I am the president, I wish to have the majority of the People’s Majilis. By the will of God, today, the majority is with me. To ensure that the government can serve the people smoothly, I will continue to ensure that the majority stands by me,” he had said.

The ruling party MDP has been split into two factions at present; President Solih’s faction and MDP’s Leader, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed’s faction.

Prior to this, Nasheed has stated he can no longer stand in political alignment with President Solih citing differences in political ideology. He has also repeatedly expressed that he wished for an MDP-PPM coalition.

‘AN MDP-PPM COALITION IS NOT IDEAL’

Speaking at the same press conference, President Solih also stated that does not believe that an MDP-PPM is the most ideal choice.

In this regard, President Solih stated that the biggest two parties in the Maldives forming a coalition is not right – and that MDP and PPM should continue to work respectively as opponents for the sake of the country, peace and order in addition to honoring the existing party system in the Maldives.

“I do support the multi-party system. Maldives has two main political ideologies – one being that of MDP and the other being that of PPM. Hence, I do not believe that an MDP-PPM coalition is the best for the multi-party system. The way I see it, these two parties should work as opponents,” he had said.

President Solih further added that the actions one side should be questioned and criticized by a second side – noting that an MDP-PPM coalition would end the multi-party system currently in place.