Fayyaz appeals not to involve family in politics

Economy minister and MDP chairperson Fayyaz Ismail said on Friday that he cannot tolerate having his wife and family ambushed on the streets by linking them to political differences.

Fayyaz's comments come at a time when the contest between MDP’s presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has intensified and supporters on both sides have been engaged in a heated exchange of words.

Without directly referring to a particular incident, Fayyaz tweeted that even if he had differences of opinion, he would not be able to tolerate his family being involved. He also thanked Nasheed for urging his campaign team to call for stopping it.

In his tweet, Fayyaz also shared a screenshot of a message sent by Nasheed to the party's WhatsApp social media group. In the message, Nasheed requested that no one should go up and against Fayyaz’s family.

"If we wish, we will win this election. I have a huge request for this. I want no one to harass Minister Faya [Fayyaz] and Faya's [Fayyaz's] family in a personal manner," Nasheed's message read.

 With Fayyaz not campaigning for any candidate in the MDP primaries, supporters of President Solih and Nasheed have been describing it in different ways. However, sources close to the party and Fayyaz said he could not be seen anywhere because he could not campaign for a particular candidate as the party's chairperson.

However, during the MDP chairperson's election, Fayyaz had said that he would endorse the upcoming presidential election and seek a second term for the president. At the time, he had said that he was in favour of giving the party ticket to President Solih.