Ruling party chief unfazed by opposition coalition

The main opposition party Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) and The Democrats, which joined hands on Wednesday to "hold the government accountable", are trying to bring the government to a standstill and it will not be done, the chairperson of the ruling People’s National Congress party (PNC), Abdul Raheem Abdulla said on Thursday.

The opposition MDP and Democrats on Wednesday announced that they will work together in parliament to hold the government accountable. As part of the effort, the two parties have decided to seek legal remedies to set a limit on political positions in the government.

Abdul Raheem, who is also the Special Advisor to President Mohammed Muizzu, said the move was an attempt to bring the government to a halt.

"... They are in a completely different mindset. They didn't just talk about it [determining the number of MPs]. At the same time, they talked about amending the law to limit the number of political posts," he said.

He said he supported the opposition's amendment to keep the number of MPs at a certain level.

"So it's clear that it's not because their income is not enough. They are trying to bring the government to a halt.. I would like to say that don't think the government is very weak and it can be brought to a halt. It can't be done," he said.

Abdul Raheem said the current government was elected by a large majority of the people and the people have decided that the MDP does not know how to govern.

"The MDP has not brought the development, progress, security and stability that the people wanted. So we wanted change. Because we wanted the change, the people chose the PPM-PNC candidate Dr Mohammed Muizzu from among five-six candidates that contested," he said.

"Nothing can be done against the people's decision. Again, we will not do anything against the people”.

The President has the constitutional power to appoint people to political positions, he said. He also questioned why the constitution was not amended to fix a certain number of political posts when the MDP was in power and had a super majority in parliament.

"Why did you increase the number of political posts to 1200, 1300 and 1400? Our President said he would not increase the number to more than 700. So far it has not come close to that number," he said.

The work of the people appointed by this government to political positions will produce results, he said.

"We are not going to waste time on useless things. So the opposition is talking nonsense. I am saying very firmly that we will not allow any attempt to bring this government to a halt. It's very clear. It cannot be done”, he said, adding that he would not allow to oppose the people's verdict from within the parliament.