The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s victory rally to celebrate the success of the recent elections was overshadowed by infighting among party factions.
The MDP won the mayoral seats of all five cities in the local council elections and achieved a remarkable success in the referendum with 68 percent votes.
But party members from different factions began quarrelling on social media on Monday night after former President Mohamed Nasheed was not allowed to speak at the rally.
"I am very saddened on this happy night," Nasheed wrote in a post on social media X.
Nasheed and former Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail are the leaders of one of the party's three main factions. The other two factions are led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and former Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
Nasheed's faction said he was told to prepare a speech before removing the item from the agenda. They alleged that interim Chairperson Abdul Ghafoor Moosa changed the agenda due to pressure from Solih.
"I told the Chairperson yesterday that there would be problems if he gave me the opportunity to speak. He said it was his decision. 'I will decide.' Anyways, even if I am not allowed to speak, I think it's important to give this opportunity to Nasheed to strengthen the party's unity," Fayyaz said in an MDP WhatsApp group.
In the end, both Nasheed and Fayyaz did not attend the victory rally held at the Artificial Beach in Male'.
During the rally, Nasheed's supporters shouted: "Where is Anni?", and a scuffle was seen among party members.
After the rally ended, Ghafoor responded to Fayyaz in a post on social media X at 1:16 am.
"Former Chairperson and President Nasheed requested to speak at tonight's rally. I regret the comments you have made while I was trying to arrange that opportunity," he said.
Some of Nasheed's supporters boycotted the rally, while Solih's supporters accused Nasheed of trying to "steal" credit for the election victory.
