Newly-appointed President of Gaumee Party Riyaz Rasheed has said that the individuals, who said that they belong to Gaumee Party and declared support for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mohamed Nasheed yesterday, are not members of Gaumee Party.
Riyaz Rasheed told Sun Online in an interview today that that the purpose of doing this was to mislead the public.
The individuals who spoke at the press conference yesterday, during which they said that they are members of Gaumee Party Council who plan to support MDP in the second round of the presidential election, are Deputy Minister of Finance Mohamed Latheef, Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Anil, Yasir Waseem and Ahmed Zareer.
Riyaz Rasheed said that none of them are on the Gaumee Party Register.
He said however, that discussions did take place regarding including Yasir and Latheef in the party’s council when two council seats became vacant, but this was never confirmed and the two individuals never participated in any council meeting.
Gaumee Party’s council has decided to support PPM in the second round of the presidential election.
Former President of Gaumee Party Dr Hassan Saeed resigned and decided to step away from politics following the defeat in the first round of the presidential election.