Nasheed: Trying to get President Solih reelected will render MDP homeless

Trying to secure Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s presidential ticket for President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will render MDP homeless, states the party’s leader and Parliament speaker, former president Mohamed Nasheed.

The remark by Nasheed – who is competing against President Solih for MDP’s presidential ticket – hits back at President Solih’s comments that he would never forget the way MDP was rendered ‘homeless’ halfway into its first administration.

In a campaign event at N. Kendhikulhudhoo on Monday, Nasheed said trying to secure the presidential ticket for President Solih would render the Maldivian people homeless. He said MDP would lose a huge number of votes, lose its power, and render the party homeless.

“We will be rendered homeless if any of us tries to secure the ticket for President Solih. We may lose by 10 percent. I have full confidence I will be able to get the votes President Solih is sure to lose,” he said.

Nasheed said President Solih’s administration had begun showing traits of a ‘Maumoon-like’ administration.

He said that initiatives like the school breakfast program, an allowance for the elderly, and an allowance for single mothers were introduced due to the democracy the people brought to Maldives themselves.

The path to achieving the development the people desire lies in expanding the democratic system, he said.

MDP is set to hold its presidential primary on January 28. 57,255 people are eligible to vote in the election.