Ousted ruling party leader and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, for the first time shed light on his youngest son's decision to abandon his father and take his uncle's corner in the ugly party row.
Ghassan Maumoon is the only child of the elder Gayoom who had appeared hesitant to pick a side in the bitter power struggle between his father and uncle.
Incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a political wrangle for ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) control with the elder Gayoom had split the party in two and the spat reached a bitter end after the younger Gayoom was handed the PM reins by a court order which was later backed by the appellate courts.
Gayoom had snubbed the court order to continue holding party council meetings while his brother did the same. Ghassan had attended council sit-downs of both factions but has since sided with his uncle after his father withdrew his support for the government.
In an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka's 'The Island' newspaper on Sunday, Gayoom was asked if Ghassan's decision in contrast to his siblings would be a drawback for his present campaign against the government.
"Ghassan is working on some projects as State Minister in the President’s Office," Gayoom said
"All my children are educated.I did not ask Dunya, Yumna or Faaris to leave the government.They did so on their own on matters of principle."
Gayoom’s daughters, Dhunya Maumoon who served as the foreign minister and Yumna Maumoon who was the deputy education minister had resigned before the rift emerged.
The row between the Gayoom's son boiled over after the elder Gayoom's lawmaker son Faaris Maumoon had broken a whip-line after his father publicly urged lawmakers to vote down a government proposed amendment to the tourism Act.
Since then, Gayoom and his lawmaker son have continued to publicly criticize the government policies and recent legislation.
President Yameen last month, in an apparent attempt to sway his nephew had promised a parliament seat after heaping lavish praise on Gayoom's youngest son.
“Ghassan has a bright political future. I will make sure he gets elected from a good constituency in the next parliamentary elections,” the president had said.
