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President Nasheed speaks at a campaign meeting held in Raalhugandu. Dhauru Photo/ Abdulla Riza

No space for coup as long as I'm in parliament: Nasheed

Nasheed said it should be remembered that MDP became a strong army and came back to power in 2018 because he "did not shoot the people" back in February 7.

13 January 2023

By Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim

Speaker Mohamed Nasheed said Thursday that the MDP’s government collapsed on February 7, 2012, after some of the lawmakers at the time allowed a coup to pass and that he would not allow it to happen to the government as long as he was the speaker of the parliament.

Nasheed's remarks were aimed at incumbent foreign minister Abdulla Shahid, who was the speaker in 2012. MDP had then described Shahid as a "partner" in the "overthrow" of Nasheed's government after then Vice Pesident Mohamed Waheed Hassan was administered the oath of office so soon. However, when Shahid later joined the party, there was no more talk of it.

Speaking at a campaign rally held at surfing point of Male Thursday evening, he said that some of the party's internal leaders are talking about the change of government in 2008. Responding to the remarks, Nasheed said that some of the people who are now talking about February 7 were those who were in parliament at that time and opened the door to the rebellion. 

Nasheed said it should be remembered that MDP became a strong army and came back to power in 2018 because he "did not shoot the people" back in February 7.

"I will not allow anything like this to happen in Parliament for as long as I am in Parliament... I will ensure the door to any rebellions will not  be opened," Nasheed, who has praised Shahid in the past, said in an indirect taunt to him.

While Nasheed gave an indirect message to Shahid this evening, he also spoke this week about how It had been tried to replace Shahid with himself in the presidential primaries. 

  • Speaking in Hulhudhuffaaru on Tuesday, Nasheed said Shahid had been requested to contest the primary

  • If Shahid comes out, Nasheed says he is not going to be contesting, but Shahid did not agree

  • Nasheed had earlier said in an Ask Speaker programme that Shahid was capable of governing.

Government's slogan is ‘coming, coming’

After his verbal attacks on Shahid, Nasheed then targeted the government. He reiterated his concerns over delays in government projects this evening as well.

"The government's slogan is ‘coming’. Coming to the Olympus, coming, coming, then coming. Coming in the coming quarters. Coming in the next quarter. I haven't seen this movie still. It is still coming," he said, taking a dig at the government.

Nasheed said that a lot of such projects are at the same level as "coming, coming".

"I don't see any completion of any of the projects," he said.

"It's been five years since we talked about opening Olympus. This is the place built by President Ibrahim Nasir. It's been five years since it's been painted. The airport is coming in the next quarter, in the current quarter. And that's where it still is," Nasheed said.

Nasheed added:

  • There's no policy to provide housing to residents of Male

  • He noted that the road construction project in Male is also underway.

  • Addu’s Shangrila Resort is also in the coming-queue

"There are sand dunes in every island. It's about playing pretend on a big scale... Nothing happened in any of these islands. The MDP MPs are worried that things are not being completed," he said, pointing out that after the commencement of work, many projects were pending in rural areas as well.

'President Solih can't catch me'

As soon as he reached the podium to address hundreds of supporters gathered at the lake area, he said loudly, "The real MDP has come out."

"A lot of islands have been given attention again. Suddenly, the real MDP has come out. MDP has come out of different parts of the country together, marching ahead like an ant colony out of anthills," Nasheed continued his speech with the sound of supporters clapping hands.

"The real MDP has gathered. If we wish, we will win this election. We are going to win this election."

Stating that a week is a long time in the political world, Nasheed said, "When the primary started, the contestants might feel that it is going to be easy. But the scene is different now."

"When this primary started, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had assumed that this would be an easy task. Today, he will let his team members know that we have climbed the internal track and that we will finish the race."

Nasheed said it would be more clear to President Solih and his team that his supporters "have no way to catch up" again.

"Cant catch us,  cant catch up with us now, we are on the inner track," he reiterated.

"President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih knows the number of people here tonight. I didn't go to Velidhoo or Thulhadhoo with people from Galolhu."

Nasheed concluded his speech by saying that the "real MDP people" coming out of the anthills cannot be stopped and he is confident of winning this election with them.

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