Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt – President of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Speaker of parliament, Mohamed Nasheed has said that he will not support President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih in the party’s primary for next year’s presidential election.
Nasheed, who is currently in Egypt for the COP27 summit, sent a message to a WhatsApp group of MDP National Council members saying he could not support President Solih in the primary.
The former President Nasheed added that MDP could lose the presidential elections if the MDP members wanted to move forward with President Solih as their candidate.
“If President Solih is the candidate, MDP is very likely to lose. All of you, please understand. The party and the country should be more important. It wouldn’t be right to follow someone. This time I cannot give my support to President Solih,” Nasheed said.
While this is not the first time Speaker Nasheed has said that he will not support President Solih in the primaries, he changed his mind from time to time and did not hold the same stand.
Speaker Nasheed has previously told that he will not be able to work with President Solih on several occasions after President Solih decided not to entertain Nasheed’s plea to change the governing system of Maldives to a parliamentary system.
President Nasheed has reiterated his view on President Solih today following Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid’s statement that he will support President Solih in the party’s primaries for the presidential election.
The date of the MDP presidential primary has not yet been decided. The party spokesman Anas Abdul Sattar said the date of the primary would be decided after all the administrative arrangements are completed. Although the party has not officially announced a date for the primaries, it is expected to be held early next year.
