Former President of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom, and Founder of the now main opposition Divehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), has decided to form a new political party.
Maumoon formed DRP while still in office as President, and has been the undisputed leader of the party until the presidential election 2008. After the election, he chose Ahmed Tasmin Ali as heir to his leadership office in the party, and retired from politics. However, Maumoon returned to politics early this year, after a number of prominent leaders within DRP started accusing Ahmed Tasmin Ali of failing to direct the party faithfully in accordance with the legacy of its charismatic leader. Since then, those leaders who supported Maumoon’s policies and criticized Tasmin’s leadership have acted within DRP as a break-away faction, self-styled as Z-DRP, or the Z Faction.
A senior official from the Z Faction, on condition of anonymity, said today that the decision to form a new party with Maumoon at its helm was made last night, in a special meeting of Z Faction Council held at Maumoon’s Office. Maumoon chaired the meeting which was participated by some opposition Members of the Parliament and also some of Maumoon’s cabinet ministers from his days as president.
According to the source of information, all participants of the meeting, except four, supported the decision to form a new party, including Maumoon himself. “Our Leader himself was positive about going for a new party, and the decision would be formally announced within three days”, he said.
Those who opposed the idea to form a new party included Umar Naseer, Ahmed “Maaz” Saleem and Dr. Mohamed Saud. They opposed the idea essentially on the ground that it would be challenging to rally the necessary number of members and raise funds for the activities of forming a new political party.