Yameen ‘deeply regrets’ backing President Muizzu; but will not join forces with MDP

Former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom said on Thursday that he deeply regrets backing President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s 2023 presidential campaign, adding that he never expected the administration would turn out to be so “inferior, irresponsible and reckless.”

Yameen, once the leader of the PPM-PNC (Progressive Party of Maldives-People’s National Congress) coalition, had left the coalition less than a week after President Muizzu took office in November 2023, and initiated efforts to form a new party, the PNF (People’s National Front).

In an exclusive interview with ‘RaajjeTV’ on Thursday morning, Yameen said he deeply regrets backing President Muizzu.

“Absolutely. I deeply regret it. Because... and I have said this in a previous PNF gathering too… because he is someone we produced to the people. I never, for once, expected that things would turn out so inferior, irresponsible and reckless,” he said.

Yameen said the Maldivian people are facing hard times under President Muizzu’s administration.

He expressed concern over the administration’s failure to deliver on its promise of recovering the maritime territory disputed between Maldives and Mauritius. He also alleges that though the incumbent administration has asserted that the Indian troops stationed in the Maldives have been expelled, Indian military personnel continue to operate in locations across the Maldives.

“Imagine this… If the kind of tourism that the Maldives offers were to be launched there [in Chagos], that would be it for Maldivian tourism, right? Now, a lot of the young travelers who visit the Maldives are surfers. The waves there are bigger than in the Maldives,” he said.

“It is not just the maritime area and the resources there that we have lost in the Chagos dispute…But I am thinking what if tourism is launched there. It is Maldives’ beaches that are there.”

Yameen said that while he regrets supporting President Muizzu, he will not join forces with the main opposition MDP (Maldivian Democratic Party) against the incumbent administration.

“No, that is not happening,” said Yameen, when asked about a possible coalition with the MDP.

“The thing is, our ideology is very different from that of the MDP. Its very different. And all the harassment and abuse I was subjected to… That was by the former MDP administration. So, why would I move forward with them. I do not have any intention of doing so.”

Yameen did say he was open to engaging in discussions with the MDP.

“But I have no intention of signing an agreement and doing political work with the MDP to overthrow the incumbent administration or cause damage to them. I do not trust them,” he said.

Yameen added that he does not believe that MDP is necessarily working for the wellbeing of the Maldivian people.

He said that while he acknowledges that MDP has done some good, he believes that it is the MDP administration that must bear full responsibility for how the Maldives “became so enslaved, so under the control of India and everything got ruined.”

Yameen has announced his intention of running in the 2028 presidential election.