I spent several days in prison for MDP

Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed (Colonel), who left Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and joined Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) last night, has said that he had to spend several days in prison for the sake of MDP, for trying to gain support for the party’s ideologies.

Colonel said while speaking from a DRP podium for the first time last night, that he had made great efforts to revive MDP’s ideologies after they had been completely destroyed. He said that the truth we have to face, however, is that former presidents of the Maldives have nothing more they can contribute to the country.

“MDP is a party that I love very much. I even advocated the party’s ideologies to the international community. I went to their Haruge [station] to try and revive the party’s ideologies after they had been completely destroyed. I spent several days in prison for those ideologies,” he said.

Referring to the people who held high positions in former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government, Colonel said that Nasheed had several plans to ensure reform in the Maldives, but the people he surrounded himself with did not have the capability to bring about those changes.

He said that while MDP recently voted ‘green’ to pass the Bill on Parliamentary Powers and Privileges, the party voted ‘red’ to a similar bill submitted when Nasheed was president. He said that Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) also voted differently on the bill back when MDP was in power, and now when PPM is in power; and that DRP, however, voted the same on both occasions.

He said that the whip lines issued by MDP are based on the wishes of Ilyaz Labeeb and Eva Abdullah, and that he would rather work for the sake of the nation than follow such whip lines.

He said that he joined DRP because it is the only party that remains steadfast in following its values and principles. He said that DRP is the only party that can address the issues in the parliament that require reform in a disciplined manner.