Nasheed slams MP Yasir for being 'swayed' easily

Kulhudhuffushi North MP Yasir Abdul Latheef, who left returned to the MDP after working with The Democrats briefly, has been criticised by parliament speaker and The Democrats founder Mohamed Nasheed, who said that he had not thought Yasir would be one to be swayed so easily by temporary glitz.

The Democrats' candidate for the upcoming presidential election, Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, is traveling to the HDh. atoll to seek support.

Former President Mohammed Nasheed is also attending the tours and a rally was held in Kulhudhuffushi on Wednesday.,

A day after Yasir returned to the MDP, Nasheed began his speech by recalling memories of the past without mentioning Yasir's name. Nasheed continued his speech, recalling memories since the 2019 parliamentary elections.

"After the last parliamentary elections, I got two youth from Kulhudhuffushi to work with me. I made one of them the chairman of a standing committee of the parliament and facilitated all the opportunities available to him," Nasheed said.

"And I spent my free time with him, discussing and talking as much as possible”.

Nasheed said he regretted that Yasir had fallen into the trap of “temporary gain” at such a young age.

“I never thought the morals of the people of Kulhudhuffushi could be rattled so soon,” Nasheed said, referring to Kulhudhuffushi Mayor Ahmed Athif and the city council members who re-joined the MDP with Yasir after defecting from the MDP to The Democrats.

Nasheed's speech somewhat highlighted the "temporary benefits" he mentioned. He said the people of Kulhudhuffushi would not want their support to be turned into a business transaction that would earn millions of Rufiyaa for three or four people.

"What is available should be available to all citizens. It is development opportunities," he said.

Nasheed said the people's support for the Democrats was an opportunity to realise the vision of development that the people want.

Yasir, who was one of 12 MPs who left the MDP to form The Democrats, was very critical of the government at the time. In particular, his biggest problem was that the development projects in Kulhudhuffushi had not progressed at the desired pace during the past five years.

However, it is unclear why Yasir, the Kulhudhuffushi mayor and many council members re-signed with the MDP after all that.