Former President Mohamed Nasheed has issued an apology to the members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for his decision to leave the party in 2023.
Nasheed offered the apology during a meeting held yesterday in Raa Dhuvaafaru, in response to a question posed by an MDP member from the island.
The participant noted that Nasheed’s departure from the MDP in 2023 was a great distress for its members. Characterizing the move as a "small mistake" on Nasheed’s part, the member requested that he apologize to the membership and seek to work together once again.
Responding to the question, Nasheed said that leaving the MDP was also a matter of great personal sorrow, describing the party as his entire life. He further asserted that no one had endured more hardship or worked longer for the party than he had. Nasheed emphasized that he never truly wished to leave the MDP.
However, outlining the circumstances that led to his departure, Nasheed claimed that following the 2019 parliamentary elections, then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ceased all communication with him. He further noted that the handling of the investigation into the assassination attempt against him, combined with the party’s disciplinary actions against his closest political allies, made his continued presence in the MDP untenable.
"Since the question has been asked, I must answer. We secured 65 seats in the 2019 parliamentary elections. By the end of that year, President Solih had stopped speaking to me," Nasheed said during the meeting, which was part of his campaign to reclaim the MDP chairmanship.
"Then came COVID-19. After that, there were three attempts to plant bombs to kill me, one of which was detonated. Then there was the way those investigations were conducted... Finally, they [tried to] remove Hassan Latheef, Eva, Ilyas Labeeb, and Wadde. By then, Azim had already been removed. Once they were sent to the disciplinary committee for removal, if I had any sense of shame, I had to leave at that point."
Nasheed acknowledged that he may have made mistakes and offered his apologies. However, he also called upon the MDP membership to apologize to him in return.
"I also did things wrong. But I very much wish for you to apologize to me as well. You must apologize to me. I have already asked for it. I have asked," Nasheed said.
He did not, however, specify the reasons why the MDP membership should apologize to him.
Nasheed expressed his belief that the MDP’s loss in the 2023 presidential election was not solely due to his departure. He attributed the defeat to the caliber of the party's candidate at the time.
Remarking that "the more you dig into the past, the more dust you stir up," he reiterated his apology for his past actions.
Nasheed, a founding member of the MDP, left the party on June 21, 2023, following a prolonged and unresolved political rift with Solih. At the time, his close associates had already left the MDP to form The Democrats. Nasheed officially joined The Democrats on July 13, 2023, before eventually rejoining the MDP in June of last year.
