Yameen dismisses Nasheed’s presidential ambitions as futile
Nasheed hit back today at Yameen’s criticism of MDP members revolving around the opposition leader, saying his popularity is not his fault and declaring his intention to seek the opposition party’s presidential ticket.
09 Feb 2017, 9:00 AM
Exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed’s presidential ambitions are futile because he is legally barred from contesting in the 2018 polls, President Abdulla Yameen said Wednesday, urging opposition supporters to seek a new leader.
Speaking at a function held to welcome 700 new members from Addu City to the ruling party, Yameen heavily criticised the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, likening its members to “a flock of ducklings” unable to act independently without the “mother duck”.
“What we’re seeing from our opposition party is a ritual circling around just one person. They’re circling around just one centre, one person, but there is no end, middle, or hope in this at all,” he said, in a veiled reference to Nasheed, who lives in exile in the United Kingdom after he was found guilty of terrorism.
“I don’t understand at all how this can be done given the laws of the Maldives. So the party has to untie itself from its mother’s apron strings. The party has to believe that it can create other leaders.”
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