DRP “disintegrating” as factions mull new party possibilities
07 Mar 2011, 3:51 PM
Neil Merrett
At least one MP of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has claimed the party is on the brink of “disintegrating”, and will almost certainly split due to infighting.
DRP MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News that realistically, the formation of separate parties could only be stopped by nothing short of a “miracle” reconciliation between its current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and the party’s ‘honorary leader’, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
A growing split between Thasmeen – endorsed by Gayoom on his retirement and elected unopposed – and a faction consisting of dismissed former Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and serving party members including MP Ahmed Mahlouf, has engulfed the party since December.
The Umar Naseer faction of the party campaigned alongside former president Gayoom during a tour of a number of islands ahead of last month’s local council elections.
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