Yameen: PPM members do not need to leave for PNC

Former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom told supporters on Sunday that Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) members do not need to leave the party for the People’s National Congress (PNC), according to his lawyer, Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed.

The PPM leader met with members of the party at its headquarters in Male’ City on Sunday night.

In a post on Facebook on Monday, Jameel said that Yameen told the members that PPM remained the country’s strongest political party, and its greatest goal must be to teach and sell the party’s policies to the younger generation.

According to Jameel, Yameen told the gathering that PPM members do not need to leave for any other party, including its coalition partner PNC.

“The two parties share the same ideology. We must work hard to win the parliamentary elections,” he said.

A PPM official who attended the meeting told Sun that Yameen urged the party’s members to support the incoming administration, and also addressed the current economic situation.

Based on the pictures shared of the meeting, it does not appear to have been attended by the top leadership of the PPM-PNC.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bribery charges in connection to the sale of V. Aarah on December 26, 2022. It disqualified him from this year’s presidential election.

The disqualification led to the PPM-PNC deciding to produce a presidential candidate from PNC. Male’ City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who had been the PPM’s deputy leader until then, signed with the PNC.

The PPM-PNC joint senate took a secret vote, which Muizzu won by a slim margin, beating his rival, PNC’s deputy leader and top lawmaker Adam Shareef Umar, by just two votes.

Muizzu went on to win the election.

Yameen was transferred from his cell in Maafushi Prison to his home in Male’ City on October 1 – within hours after Muizzu asked caretaker president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who he beat in the election, to use his executive powers to transfer Yameen to home confinement.

Yameen’s conviction is being appealed at the High Court.

PNC had been founded at Yameen’s instructions as a backup party, amid a court battle between him and his brother, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, over PPM’s ownership.