The current Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leadership did not listen to its president Mohamed Nasheed during the formation of the government, Maafannu Uthuru MP Imthiyaz Fahmy has claimed.
Speaking at a rally of The Democrats on Friday night, Imthiyaz alleged the leadership tried to keep Nasheed from returning to the country after president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the 2018 elections.
“When the leadership changed, the government acted quickly to free all political leaders. They played a big role. We were listening. President Mohamed Nasheed spoke about this. He asked when they would work to free him. He was in self exile out of the country at the time. He asked, when are you going to do something about this? The government refused to listen,” Imthiyaz said.
The Democrats is a new political party being formed by Nasheed’s supporters. Nasheed remains the president of MDP and many of his supporters, including 13 MPs, are former members of the ruling party.
The MDP is currently working to impeach Nasheed as parliament speaker. The party accuses him of repeatedly violating parliamentary procedures and stalling a no confidence motion against the attorney general.
Imthiyaz criticised the MDP in connection to the impeachment motion and challenged that Nasheed will face no consequences even if removed from the position.
“Remove him from the parliament seat too. There is nothing this can do to him, God willing,” he said.
He claimed that Nasheed has no greed for power and that his only motive is to bring revolutionary changes to the country.
Government not formed when Nasheed returned to Maldives
Whilst Imthiyaz heavily criticised the MDP government and alleged them of trying to block Nasheed’s return, the MDP government was not yet finalised at the time of his return.
Nasheed and several other political leaders were sentenced to jail during the administration of former president Abdulla Yameen. Nasheed travelled abroad for medical reasons and did not return.
Yameen was still the president when the Supreme Court reviewed prison sentences and freed many of the political leaders.
Solih, who was the president-elect at the time, travelled to Colombo to receive Nasheed who was in exile. The pair returned to the country together on November 1, 2018.
