The main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) 's Chairperson and Economic Minister, Fayyaz Ismail, has said that he will do whatever is necessary to re-elect President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for a second term.
President Solih contested against Nasheed in the party's primary in January and won the election by a large margin. President Solih received 61 percent of votes -- 24,572 votes-- against Nasheed's 39 percent -- 15,631 votes. The party is preparing to officially hand over the party ticket to President Solih on Friday night.
Speaking at MDP's National Assembly meeting held at Izzuddin School on Wednesday night, Fayyaz said he would not step back in working towards re-electing President Solih for another five years in Office.
"There is no backing down. And hopefully, we see this happening [the President being re-elected] easily for us," he said.
Fayyaz noted that it was regrettable that there were differences of opinion when things were done in a democratic manner. He said the party would try to win the presidential election, whether by forming a coalition or contesting alone.
The MDP National Assembly Wednesday passed a resolution giving President Solih the power to decide if he wants to form a coalition for the upcoming presidential election. While there are 170 members in MDP's National Assembly, only about 60 members attended the meeting held at Izzuddin School on Wednesday night. The number of members present was less due to the absence of many pro-President Mohamed Nasheed members in the National Assembly. Members supporting Nasheed boycotted the meeting.
Meanwhile, a close associate of Nasheed, former Henveiru South MP, and current Police Board member Hamid Abdul Ghafoor has filed a case at the Civil Court, seeking an order to hold the MDP presidential primary again. The petition mainly seeks an interim order to stop the handing over of the MDP's presidential ticket to President Solih and an order to re-hold the primary.
MDP's Chairperson and Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail
