Former president and parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed on Thursday night vowed to disband the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after signing to the newly formed The Democrats.
"I am saying this to all the MDP members. God willing, I will disband your party. I will disband it..." the former president of MDP said repeatedly during the rally at the Artificial beach in Male'.
Nasheed is a founding member of the MDP. After 18 years, he resigned on June 21 following deepening disputes with incumbent president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who is in control of the MDP.
The Democrats was formed by Nasheed's supporters, most of whom are former members of the MDP. He urged supporters remaining in MDP to leave the party and join The Democrats.
"My friends, in the MDP, you are in the wrong place now. You are giving up on your values. Don't give up your principles for material wealth, for a job. You can't regain it. You can't get your principles from the SME bank," Nasheed stated.
With the presidential election scheduled for September 9, Nasheed earlier said it is best for him and jailed opposition leader and former president Abdulla Yameen to not contest in the polls.
It is unclear whether Nasheed would be running. Solih has launched his re-election campaign while Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim and Maldives National Party (MNP) leader Mohamed Nazim are also contesting.
