Nasheed agreeable to moving forward with MDP

Former president Mohamed Nasheed, on Wednesday, said he is agreeable to set aside differences and move forward with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in response to an invitation extended in this trajectory by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

During an interview with Raajje TV on Wednesday on the occasion of MDP’s 19^th anniversary, Solih extended an invitation to The Democrats, a party formed by supporters of Nasheed who defected from MDP, to work together.

Nasheed shared Solih’s interview on X, captioning his remarks were “utmost truth”. He also expressed that he, was also hoping for the parties to achieve the feat envisioned by Solih.

Solih, in his interview, attributed his loss in September’s presidential election to the defection by a portion of MDP’s members.

"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,” he added.

Solih, who serves as an advisor to MDP, 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.

The Democrats, spearheaded by Nasheed, fielded its own 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.