Solih calls The Democrats join MDP

Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has asked The Democrats to join Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to work alongside once again.

After Solih and former President Mohamed Nasheed had a falling out, the then ruling party was split in two with several of its top members leaving with Nasheed to form The Democrats.

The two parties had contended separately in both the recent presidential and parliamentary elections.

In an interview with RaajjeTV on the occasion of MDP's 19th anniversary, Solih said he faced the recent presidential election defeat since a portion of the party had detached from it.

Solih requested the members who stepped away from MDP to rejoin and work together once more.

"This party belongs to all of us. All of us worked to build this, so we must continue forward together. So, whether it is a personal reservation or any issues with me, I urge to keep those aside and to work together for the nation since our work is not done yet," Solih said.

"We can work together, if not it is a great loss for the people. The public has trust in MDP."

Solih said his current efforts are focused on ensuring the party is not split further. He added the party's leadership sought his counsel of various matters as well.

"We can only move forward as MDP if we all work together, and we have the local council elections in 2026. And if we remain united ahead of 2028, we could achieve victory at the next presidential election," Solih said.

The main opposition party split into two following the spat between Nasheed and Solih, which originated after Nasheed's requests to shift the country's governance into a parliamentary system was rejected by Solih.

The rivalry intensified afterwards, with the two at loggerheads on several other issues that followed after which Nasheed exited MDP.

Nasheed-founded The Democrats fielded its candidate in last year's presidential election, while Solih sought re-election through MDP.

Due to this, the votes MDP would have originally secured were split between the two parties.

After its defeat in the presidential elections, Nasheed later said he was open to joining with MDP. However, several members of MDP top brass, who believed Nasheed was the sole cause the party lost to PNC, rejected working together.

Not long after, Nasheed had announced stepping away from politics and relocated to Ghana to run an environmental organization.