Former Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof has accused former Vice President Faisal Naseem of anti-campaigning against his sister and Mahloof's wife Nazra Naseem, who contested for the Central Fuvahmulah seat in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday.
Former Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof has accused former Vice President Faisal Naseem of anti-campaigning against his sister and Mahloof's wife Nazra Naseem (Nazu), who contested for the South Fuvahmulah seat in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday and lost by a narrow margin,
Nazra was the candidate who won the second largest number of votes in that constituency, but lost the seat to Ibrahim Hussain from the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) with a difference of just 48 votes.
In a message sent to a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) social media group on Tuesday, Nazra's husband Mahloof accused Ex-VP Faisal of directly costing them the seat with his anti-campaign. He also alleged that Faisal had called members of his family in Fuvahmulah City personally to anti-campaign against his sister Nazra.
"He took us to a loss with just 48 votes. The South Fuvahmulah team will be submitting this case to the party for review," said Mahloof.
Mahloof alleged that Faisal had been working against Nazra, who had also served as Faisal's secretary for five years under the Solih administration, because of frustrations stemming from former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih having declined to choose Faisal as his running mate for a second presidential term, and also because of an as yet undefined issue that has arisen among members of their family.
Although Mahloof did not disclose the details of the family matter, he did reveal that the case had also been reported to the police.
After having his messages to the MDP group leaked on social media, Mahloof posted on "X" stating that he had accepted the defeat despite standing by his version of why it had happened, assuring that Nazra's team would not give up on the matter.
"As they worked against former president Solih in the presidential election and changed the government, this time they have cost MDP the South Fuvahmulah seat by a margin of 48 votes."
Faisal Naseem, who had served as vice president under the MDP government for five years, signed to the now-opposition party just two months ago. Faisal had expressed an interest in being Solih's running mate for a second term during the presidential elections held last year, but lost his place on the ballot paper to Speaker of Parliament and North Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Aslam, who was Solih's final choice. Faisal Naseem had gone on to distance himself from president Solih's re-election bid, which ended in failure with President Dr Mohamed Muizzu from People's National Congress winning the presidency.
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