Take bribes from rivals and give it to my campaign: Nasheed

MDP president and former president Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday called on his supporters to take bribe money from his rivals ahead of Saturday's presidential primary and give half of it to his campaign.

Nasheed, who is also the speaker of the parliament, made the remarks while speaking at a campaign event held in Addu on Tuesday night.

Nasheed alleged that his rival, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's campaign team, would distribute bribes to ensure that the votes in this primary are cast in a specific way. Nasheed requested that the money be taken into account.

"I don't want to put my hand on anyone's earnings. My rivals will give you money to buy this vote. I think you should accept the money. Even if it's two-thirds, I'm very keen to have it with us for the September 9 elections," said Nasheed, who is pitted against president Solih, a senior party leader.

"Yes, you take the money, everyone. I would like to tell this to all the people of the country, especially to the MDP members at this time. Carrying black bags [they will distribute money]. I don't want to say any names, but you know who is distributing money in your islands"

Nasheed had asked his supporters to double the amount if they received a bribe offer of MVR 10,000.

"If they are trying to give MVR 10,000, say 20,000 in bargain and take it too," he said.

Nasheed said that even if the money was distributed, this primary was successful for him. So, the next thing to do is, according to him, to prepare for the September 9 elections.

"Then you know the price of an aircraft ticket, the cost of a launch trip. Elections are costly. So this time, it happened very well. The primaries have done two things for me. That's because I got the ticket and the expenses  covered [for the presidential campaign]," he said.

When Nasheed said this, MDP members present at the meeting applauded. With this, Nasheed then thanked his "rich rivals".

"I am very grateful to my rich rivals for the work they have done for me. The more,  the merrier. We can work for September 9 and move forward with our elections even better," he said.

Distribution of bribes and bribery: