A row erupted inside the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) office yesterday after some members were accused of sowing discord and barred from contesting in primaries for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Some members whose candidacies were revoked went to the PNC office to protest and quarrels broke out between them and members who backed the party's decision.
A video circulating on social media shows the disqualified candidates and their supporters complaining to party officials.
PNC decided not to allow some candidates to contest in the primaries scheduled for next Saturday after postponing the polls twice.
Some members of the Progressive Party of Maldives-People's National Congress (PPM-PNC) coalition were barred from primaries for the March 17 parliamentary elections over allegations of siding with former President Abdulla Yameen in the PPM founder's dispute with incumbent President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
"As you got caught up in the currents against the party's policies that rose within the party after this coalition won the presidential election, participated in ongoing efforts by some to create discord among the party's regular members, worked to promote those policies, and acted in ways that created divisions within the party...," stated letters sent to some members by PNC Chairperson Abdul Raheem Abdulla, who is also a senior minister at the President's Office.
The party told some other members that their candidacies could not be accepted because they had not adequately served the party.
"We inform you that your candidacy cannot be accepted as you have not provided an adequate service to the party, and it has been decided that you do not meet the conditions," some of the letters stated.
PNC has not revealed the number of disqualified candidates.
Former President Yameen, the PPM's former leader who is serving an 11-year prison sentence on corruption charges, left the party in November 2023. After his departure, Yameen's close associates said President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu cut ties with Yameen and accused the government of stopping the party's activities.
Since then, Yameen has been working towards forming a new party called the People's National Front.
