President Abdulla Yameen (R-2), tourism minister Moosa Zameer (C) and PPM PG leader Ahmed Nihan (L) at a PPM event.
The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) on Sunday brushed off the opposition lobbied motion at the Supreme Court, which seeks to impeach President Abdulla Yameen.
The motion to impeach was filed at the top court on behalf of the joint opposition leaders: former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed, Jumhoory Party leader Qasim Ibrahim and Adhaalath Party leader Imran Abdulla. The motion accused Yameen of being involved in multiple corruptions and urged the Supreme Court to impeach him and hand over the presidency to Vice President Abdulla Jihad.
The leadership of PPM reacted to the development with scorn and took to Twitter late Sunday, criticizing the opposition leaders of grappling for any straw that could bring them to power.
Referring to Nasheed and Qasim, who are both convicted for a number of years in jail but are currently living abroad under political asylum, PPM’s parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan questioned how fugitives of the law could file the case. He went on to slam the joint opposition for useless efforts instead of announcing a candidate for this year’s presidential election.
The party’s secretary general Abdulla Khaleel remarked that the opposition was “laying it on thick” and that they had once succeeded in bringing a leader with such tactics, referring to Nasheed.
“Results: after numerous counts of corruption, he bankrupted the nation and resigned in three years,” he said in his tweet.
Meanwhile, PPM’s deputy leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla proclaimed that the opposition was desperate to remove Yameen from power because they did not have any chances of winning in an independent election. Calling them “enemies of the people,” he accused them of harbouring ulterior motives and hidden agendas, declaring that the opposition leaders were simply after power.
The opposition parties had released a joint statement after the motion to impeach was filed at the top court Sunday. The coalition accused Yameen’s regime of being engulfed in corruption and embezzlement, violating the people’s basic rights, and subjugating the parliament and independent institutions.