No plans to undermine 1 party, expand other: Abdul Raheem

There is no competition between PPM and PNC, and there is no plan between the two parties to make a particular party smaller and expand the other, said Abdul Raheem Abdulla, who is temporarily in charge of the PPM-PNC coalition.

Yameen held two recent meetings at the PPM office with the bail relief. Some of the faces always present in the front lines of the PPM-PNC were not seen beside Yameen. Abdul Raheem, who used to sit next to Yameen at every PPM-PNC meeting, has not been seen at any of the meetings lately.

In one of the meetings, Yameen said that PPM members will not have to fill out forms for the PNC. However, it was followed by the PNC President and President-elect Dr Mohammed Muizzu expressing his wish for the PNC to reach 10,000 members.

When the PPM-PNC leadership, who are busy with the work of the transitional committees during this change of government, were asked these questions by the media before leaving for Addu on Thursday.

Abdul Raheem, who recently took over as the chairman of PNC, said Muizzu had requested that 10,000 members be added to the party without transferring PPM members to PNC.

"The purpose is that the PNC will be the legal ruling party. And the PNC has not tried to increase its membership since its inception. So when it comes to power, the party has about 3,000 members only”.

It is not a difference of opinion with the PPM and PNC, he said.

"The two parties will continue to work together. We have no intention of reducing one party and enlarging the other”.

After the recent release of Yameen under house arrest, Muizzu has not attended any meetings. None of the leadership figures who have been constants in the front row of the PPM rallies are seen attending the rallies with Yameen now.

When asked why he did not attend the meetings, Abdul Raheem said he did not attend the first meeting because he had been invited to an event of the President-elect.

"The President-elect's event at Jen [Hotel Jen] ended at 11:15 pm. President Yameen had left the PPM office and gone home by then. What happened that night was that the President-elect's event had been planned far ahead. So the President [Yameen] came to the office while almost all the leadership members were a Jen,” he said.

He could not attend the second session Yameen hosted either, because he had to deal with President-elect Muizzu and transitional affairs again, he said.

The second night was Muizzu's departure to Singapore, so the leadership went to the airport to see him off, Abdul Raheem said. Before that, PPM Vice President Ahmed Shiyam had gone to meet with Yameen at the PPM office and informed him that the leadership team was leaving to the airport, he said.

"So we didn't do it with the intention of not attending an event where President Yameen is attending. President-elect Muizzu is endorsed by President Yameen”, he repeated.