Qaumee Party council assents Dr. Hassan Saeed

Dhivehi Qaumee Party’s council has decided leave President Waheed's 'Forward with the Nation' coalition and to assent to the party's Leader Dr. Hassan Saeed’s nomination as the running mate for Jumhoory Party’s presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim.

Speaking to Sun on condition of anonymity, a senior official from DQP said moments ago that the council's decision was made just this morning and that Dr. Hassan Saeed will resign from his post as the Special Advisor to the President sometime today. Dr. Hassan Saeed has now communicated his intent to resign to the cabinet secretary, Dr. Abdulla Nazeer, the official said.

Sun is aware that DQP decided to leave the 'Forward with the Nation' coalition over frustrations regarding the poor coordination of the coalition's campaign and amongst claims that the campaign lacked steam.

A DQP official told Sun that they still believe that President Waheed is the "best candidate", but said "the family influences everything," and that the campaign is not properly organized.

DQP is the second party to leave President Waheed’s Forward with the Nation coalition. Adhaalath Party has also joined Jumhoory Party after leaving the coalition last week, cited ‘suspicious activities’ within the coalition as a reason for leaving the coalition.

Dr. Hassan Saeed and Gasim Ibrahim both competed for presidency in 2008, where Dr. Saeed received 17 percent and Gasim Ibrahim, 15 percent of the votes.

Dr. Hassan Saeed had criticized Gasim Ibrahim a few weeks ago, stating that Gasim did not have a team to run his campaign.