President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on Monday reposted a tweet from Deputy Youth Minister Mariyam Shiuna that accused former President Abdulla Yameen of allowing the People's National Congress (PNC) to field a backup candidate in last year's presidential election as part of a "devious" plan.
Shiuna, who remains under suspension over the mockery of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said in a post on X that Yameen planned to "act like a devious fox after allowing a candidate to be fielded before the judgment [from the Supreme Court that rejected Yameen's candidacy]."
"What he really tried to do was to remove President Muizzu from PPM [Progressive Party of Maldives] and defeat him in a primary. I saw all the mess they made from very close up. Even when Dr. Muizzu won the primary with Allah's will, [Yameen's lawyer Dr. Mohamed] Jameel came out and said that was Plan C! They ran out of options when all their evil plots failed. It is Allah who gives power!" Shiuna said.
President Muizzu's repost of the tweet critical of Yameen came amid a war of words between Yameen and the PNC leadership. The spat started when Yameen accused senior officials of President Muizzu's government of trying to eliminate PPM.
"President Muizzu and the pilots near him are trying to destroy PPM. They don't want to give any life to PPM," Yameen said last week.
In response, some members of the PNC leadership accused Yameen of trying to throw PPM out to the streets by boycotting the presidential election. However, Yameen denied obstructing the opposition from fielding a backup candidate.
"A PNC presidential candidate was shown before the Supreme Court ruled in my case that I cannot contest. So what are they talking about with being out on the streets? What memory is it that they can't recall, what are they trying to misrepresent?" Yameen asked.
