MDP Loosing Support
MDP Support Plummets in the AtollsOlhuala.com can report that the little support the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had in the atolls is slipping through rapidly and that it is at an all time low. This is a huge blow for the MDP, with important by-elections just weeks away. This loss of support is due to the undemocratic ways the party leadership has conducted itself during the last couple of weeks.
To name a few instances, the incident of Mohamed Shihaab’s (MP for Male’, candidate for MDP leadership) hijacking of the Dhaal atoll Hulhudheli Branch Presidency comes to mind. Iqbal Hameed of Dhaal atoll Hulhudheli informed themaldivian.org that Shihab and his brother have hijacked the leadership of the branch. The MDP supporters in Hulhudheli were hoping to elect their own Iqbal Hameed and Huzaam to the posts of President and Vice President of the branch respectively. Hameed and his supporters have since travelled to Male’ to challenge Mr Shihaab for the post of Branch President. Olhuala.com has so far been unable to track Mr Hameed in Male’ for an interview.
Olhuala.com has found out that Mr Shihaab was desperate to become the President of any MDP branch, as this would be necessary for him to compete for the Party leadership.
This move by Mr Shihaab has surprised the majority of MDP supporters in the atolls as the MDP wooed them into believing that the MDP was a democratic organisation working for reform. But their actions do not seem to be in line with their words.
Furthermore, Mr Ibrahim Ismail (Ibura, MP Male’, candidate for MDP leadership) tried to register a few branches long after the party deadline for branch registration had passed. Haamid Abdul Gafoor, informed olhuala.com that Ibura tried to ‘sneak in a couple of his supporters to add eleven forms into the files in an effort to register eleven more branches’. Ibura who vowed to register 50 branches single handedly managed to register only one branch.
Mr Gafoor also said that he was disgusted with these events and was greatly disheartened that both Male’ MPs have been implicated in this way.
Political observers in the Maldives are not surprised by these events. Reputed Newspapers such as Haveeru Daily of Male’ predicted this sort of conduct from the MDP leadership as early as the day the MDP was fully registered.
In a recent article, Haveeru reported that the MDP’s spokesman in exile Latheef (Gogo) had been turned away by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Mr Mckinnon at the CHOGM held in Malta recently.
The MDP’s secretive and illegal ways of operating are coming into light as these truths are made public my disgruntled MDP supporters like Mr Gafoor. ‘We actually believed that the MDP was a democratic organisation working for reform. But sadly I now think that these are a bunch of power hungry thugs, trying to muscle their way into power by any means’ added Mr Gafoor. He also indicated that he would be considering of moving to another party in the near future, if the MDP leadership did not clean up their act.