ibra wins election
Ibra Wins MDP Leadership, Waheed HumiliatedMr Ibrahim Ismail (MP Male’) also known as Ibra has just been elected as the first leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom was among the first to congratulate Mr Ismail on this historic occasion.
In late afternoon, Mohamed Nasheed (Annie) who was elected as the Chairperson made an appearance at the congress to the sound of jeering and catcalls. Some called out "Fureytha aee (the Devil has come)". Scuffling broke out between these attendees and the MDP 'congress security' (bouncers) stationed at various points on the floor.
Annie joined the proceedings under special arrangement with the Justice Ministry and Police. He is believed to have signed a declaration stating his intent to return immediately once the proceedings were over. He further agreed to refrain from any incitory activity and warned of a return to jail if these temporary bail conditions were violated in any way.
The leadership vote was cast at Dharubaaruge, during the first Annual Congress held by the MDP in Male’. Mr Ismail won the first round of voting with 120 votes, followed by Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Maniku (105 votes), Dr Munawwar (82 votes), Mohamed Shihab (MP Male’, 10 votes), Ibrahim Hussain Zaki (the former cabinet minister, 3 votes) and Mohamed Ibrahim Didi-Modi (MP Nyaviyani atoll, 0 votes).
The vote achieved by the losing three candidates was then distributed equally between the two leading candidates. Hence Ismail won by an overwhelming majority of 193 votes.
It is yet unclear whether Ibra will include the other leadership candidates in his shadow cabinet. Time will only tell whether Mr Ismail will change the MDP tactics of employing junky hooligans to create riots on the streets of Male’ (August 2005, and August 2004) and whether the MDP will enter into dialogue with the democratically elected government for the good of the nation.
Nazaki Zaki, one of the biggest supporters Waheed told olhuala.com reporters “this is a humiliation for Dr Waheed, we are not sure whether Ibra has the ability or the intellectual capacity to lead the party into the upcoming elections, and I don’t think Ibra will hold the post for long”. When questioned whether Dr Waheed would challenge Ibra in the near future for the MDP leadership Zaki said, “it is a bit early to speculate what Dr Waheed would decide for his future”. Although the Waheed camp has not made any official statements to that effect, its widely speculated by political observers that Dr Waheed will indeed challenge Mr Ismail within a few months, or even earlier if the MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed (Kaanal) loses the all important Male’ seat in the impending by-elections.
To the contrary, it is widely believed among the MDP members in the atolls that Dr Waheed would flee the country once again, in shame. It is also well known that Dr Waheed prefers to reside in Westernised countries rather than the Islamic environment in the Maldives.
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