Bondey says Nasheed will be MDP’s 2028 presidential candidate and Fayyaz will support it

Former MDP MP for Maafannu Central, Ibrahim Rasheed (Bondey), said on Sunday evening that the MDP’s 2028 presidential candidate will be the party’s current chairman and former president Mohamed Nasheed, not former chairman Fayyaz Ismail.

Speaking on SSTV’s Baaru Hathareh programme, Bondey said Nasheed’s name would appear on the ballot paper for the next presidential election and that Fayyaz would support the decision. He claimed the MDP is preparing Fayyaz for a future run in 2033.

“The election after 2028 is a Bodu Badhalu. Fayyaz is contesting that election. But in 2028, President Nasheed. Fayyaz will accept that,” Bondey said.

He added that Fayyaz would likely take the vice-presidential post or another senior government position in 2028. If the matter is not settled through the MDP congress, Bondey believes it will be resolved through other means.

Bondey said MDP members know from experience that internal conflict is not the right path to power, and that the party should recognise that bringing Nasheed to office would provide a clear political direction for the country.

He said last week that he personally supports bringing Fayyaz to power, despite having many supporters of his own.

Rumours have circulated that many MDP members want Nasheed to contest the 2028 presidential election on the party ticket. Nasheed and Fayyaz, who previously exchanged verbal attacks, have been working together for more than a year. The pair have jointly proposed several constitutional and governance reforms under the Bodu Badhalu agenda, including separating the roles of head of state and head of government, and introducing major changes to Parliament and independent institutions.

On the day the reform agenda was announced, Nasheed endorsed Fayyaz for the party’s presidential ticket.

Fayyaz, former President Abdulla Shahid and former Vice President Faisal Naseem are also rumoured to be contenders for the MDP’s presidential ticket.