MDP cannot win a general election: Maumoon

Considering the general sentiment of the Maldivian population at present, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) cannot expect to win the presidential elections to be held next year, said former President Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom.

Speaking at Addu City, in a special gathering of his Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), Maumoon criticized MDP, and said that the latter could muster only a few votes in a general election as things are now.

Maumoon, addressing a huge crowd at Sharafuddin School, Hithadhoo, Addu City, said that a failure of MDP at an election would see a repeated February 8. Maumoon was referring to MDP activists’ violent protests on the 8th of February this year, following the resignation of their leader Nasheed from Presidency a day earlier. MDP activists took to the streets, and by the end of the day, set fire to almost all police stations and court buildings in G.Dh. Thinadhoo and Addu City.

“MDP cannot expect to win a general election. However, the result of their failure would be a repetition of what we saw on the 8th of February. The whole nation will see that scenario repeated. We will see the whole nation set on fire, and the rights and property of the people would be violated. The whole nation will be on fire. We must try our best to not let this happen”, said Maumoon.

Responding to MDP’s repeated call for early presidential elections, Maumoon said that PPM would not support such an election, and that even the Constitution did not allow it. He said that an early presidential election would necessitate prior constitutional reform, and that such a move would be extremely detrimental to national interest.

“Should we change our Constitution just because some people want to step into government? Should we change the Constitution just because a group of people want control over the wealth of the nation? Should we change our Constitution just because a group of people want to ‘sell’ the whole nation to a foreign party? This is not something we can allow”, said Maumoon.

In his speech, Maumoon criticized former President Nasheed for the way he presided over the nation from November 2008 to February 2012. Maumoon said that the nation was, at that time, in a heartbreaking condition, and that the Divehi nation really did not exist during that sad time. He also said that PPM’s task would be to recreate the Divehi nation, following the presidential elections of 2013.

“They broke the fundamental bedrocks on which this nation was built. Those fundamental principles have been undermined. We do not have peace and harmony in this nation any more. Everywhere we see crimes being committed, we see bloodshed, gang fights, murder, violent protests, personal attacks on one another, hatred, and what and what not?”, said Maumoon.

Maumoon said that he “cried, seeing the burnt ruins of Addu Police Training Academy, a property of the people of this nation, which was set on fire on the 8th of February, by MDP activists without any thoughts”. Maumoon said that such acts could never be accepted, and that those who perpetrated it should soon be brought to justice.

In the gathering, some 954 new signees to PPM handed over their application forms to the Party through Branch Heads. Ibrahim Rasheed, a senior leader of PPM Hithadhoo Branch, said that all leaders of DRP at Addu City except one had joined with PPM, and that they would work hard to make PPM the largest party in Addu City.