President questions Nasheed's ability to maintain coalition
Solih assured that he would end his term with the coalition handed over to him by the people in 2018, intact.
By
Shahudha Mohamed
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has questioned whether president Mohamed Nasheed can maintain a government coalition.
MDP's primary rival for President Solih, Nasheed said on Monday that he believed in forming an alliance. President Solih responded to the remarks while speaking during his presidential primary campaign in B. Dharavandhoo.
"I have been saying repeatedly that we can come to power in the country only if we have a government with different ideologies and a large number of people. This is how the political situation in the country is today," he said.
But "our rival candidate did not accept it from the beginning."
President Solih noted that Nasheed had accepted that this could not be the case today even though he had said that he was trying to win the election alone.
"Today, he said we will form an alliance. A government can be formed by a coalition. What I want to say is that an alliance cannot be formed alone. [It] should be with the participation of multiple parties," he said.
"You have to see who can do it."
The question seems to be a blow to Nasheed. Making an alliance is hardly all of it, he said. The alliance has too be kept intact and if we don't do that, we will not be able to fulfil the promises made to the people, he said.
He said the first MDP government, which failed to deliver on its promises, was on the streets "without the mentioned goal".
He also assured that he would end his term with the coalition handed over to him by the people in 2018, intact.
Nasheed had said on Monday that he could form an alliance with other parties if he had to go for a second wave in the upcoming elections. But he said it could be done only on the basis of the number of votes polled. An alliance other than that would be a gross injustice as well as the exclusion of a large number of people, he said.
President Solih arrived in Male on Monday night from Dharavandhoo after concluding his visit to the North. MDP’s Male constituency lawmakers, campaign teams and the President will meet at Dharubaaruge at 8:30 pm, Tuesday.
His rival Nasheed has already flown to northern islands.
