Speaker of the Parliament and former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed has stated that main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) lost the local council election due to the government.
MDP suffered an embarrassing defeat in Male City during April's Local Council Election when the opposing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) won the majority of Male City Council seats and some other constituencies which were previously won by MDP.
In an interview given to India's WION News, Nasheed said MDP lost the election as the government had let go of the core values of MDP. Nasheed said MDP voters felt that their core beliefs and ideas were ignored and that the government was pandering to minority views. This resulted in MDP voters not turning up to vote, said Nasheed.
"They were not very happy about that. They wanted to give a clear message to the leadership, especially in Male'. I believe that government must correct its course quickly," said Nasheed.
Nasheed, who recently accused religiously conservative ruling coalition partner, Adhaalath Party of 'monopolizing' the government's decisions, further said previous elections have been won with the support of extremist elements. However, pandering to such ideologies means letting extremism creep into the country, said Nasheed.
Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed (R) with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (L)
