Qasim: President must resign if JP slots need to be vacated

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih himself must resign if Jumhoory Party (JP)’s members in top government positions are forced to resign, states the party’s leader and Maamigili MP Qasim Ibrahim.

JP, which is part of the current coalition government, decided Tuesday it will not support President Solih for re-election.

Qasim made the comment during the parliamentary sitting Wednesday, after some of the MPs from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the main ruling party, said that JP’s politicians in top government positions needed to resign following the decision.

In thinly-veiled criticism directed against JP, South Thinadhoo MP Abdulla Saneef said President Solih was the only leader who had accomplished so much, working with “rivals and the envious”.

Saneef said he welcomes JP’s decision, but demanded that the party’s politicians within the government resign.

“It’s their right to contest. But there must not be any people from rival parties in the President’s Cabinet and in other positions, serving the people on behalf of the government,” he said.

Responding to the criticism, Qasim questioned whether MDP had delivered on the pledges it made when it asked JP to join the coalition for the 2018 election.  

He said that JP’s politicians in top positions in the government were there with the guarantee they would retain their positions until the end of term.

“If so, the honorable President must also resign. I want to say that the positions granted to Jumhoory Party didn’t come out of anyone’s inherited property.

Qasim said the 2018 coalition agreement leaves JP free to contest the upcoming presidential election independently.

He said that no government official from JP is required to resign before the end of the current presidential term.

JP members in President Solih’s cabinet include Qasim’s wife, Transport Minister Aishath Nahula.