PPM deputy leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla (L) speaks to Tourism minister and PPM council member Moosa Zameer during the press conference on Thursday. MIHAARU PHOTO/NISHAN ALI
The split in the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) widened on Saturday after party leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom axed his deputy along with two other council members.
The former president locked in a bitter power struggle with his half brother and incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom axed PPM deputy leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla from the council and two other members appointed by the elder Gayoom.
The move comes a day after the Fonadhoo lawmaker Raheem flanked by members of the PPM council and parliamentary group loyal to Yameen taunted Gayoom over the 2018 presidential elections insisting that the latter’s support was not needed.
“I can confidently say that president Yameen will definitely win the 2018 presidential elections. Anyone who doesn’t want to support him can stay at home. The PPM council and the parliamentary group will help president Yameen secure a second term in office,” Raheem had said Thursday.
The bitter power struggle between the two brothers has led to deep divisions within the ruling  party and the elder Gayoom has refused to grant the party’s 2018 presidential ticket to his half brother without a primary.
PPM council in June had signed a letter to leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom urging the ex-president to gift the ticket to his half brother.
However, the elder Gayoom had rejected the request insisting that he would not violate the democratic values within the party.
According to PPM’s charter, a presidential candidate must be elected through a party primary which must be held three to six months before the presidential elections.
Gayoom had assumed full control of the party amid a fallout from his failed attempt to get his party lawmakers to vote down a government proposed amendment to the Tourism Act which sought to bypass the bidding process in island lease for tourism.
Gayoom soon after announced a reform program in a desperate bid to wrestle back control of his party had labelled the amendment as a clear violation of the party’s charter.
The party’s disciplinary committee then had ignored a ban on all party sit-downs imposed by Gayoom to vote out his lawmaker son Faaris Maumoon who had voted against the amendment from the party.
In an unprecedented turn of events, a faction loyal to Yameen had walked out of the last PPM council meeting in protest against the presence of Faaris in the council.
Gayoom had called in the emergency council meeting after a long hiatus in a bid to resolve the rift with his half brother Yameen and push his reform program.
Soon after, two PPM lawmakers in a bid to wrest party control from Gayoom filed a lawsuit last month claiming that Gayoom had hijacked the party by suspending its internal committees and announcing a reform agenda.
The elder Gayoom has since refused to hold a council sit-down demanding an apology for the walkout.
President Yameen reportedly told lawmakers that he was willing to pursue legal means if his brother continues to hold onto his powers as the party leader.