Maldives' former home minister and presidential hopeful Umar Naseer sparked media and public outrage for using a sexist saying that women were one of three factors responsible for making good people bad.
"Wine, Women and Wealth, the 3W, makes good people bad. Wine made a president resign and wealth made a president politically blind," Umar's Tweet read.
Umar's Tweet was a thinly veiled jibe at former president Mohamed Nasheed and his former boss, incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
Maldives' first democratically elected president Nasheed labelled as 'anti-Islamic' by his opponents and long accused of a drinking habit had stepped down in 2012 in the wake of opposition led protests capped off by a police mutiny.
President Yameen, meanwhile stands accused of mass corruption and internationally money laundering.
The Tweet immediately created an uproar on Twitter with many dubbing the outspoken Umar as Maldives' Donald Trump, the US Republican presidential candidate , notorious for his lewd comments about women.
Local women's rights group condemned Umar's Tweet which was quickly deleted after the outrage.
"We believe that the tweets were misogynistic, deeply undermines women's dignity & status," Hope for Women said.
Canadian High Commissioner Shelley Whiting also slammed Umar by saying "women should not be blamed for the failings of their leaders or their governments."
Umar Naseer, immediately after stepping down in July has been rallying support for the PPM presidential primary as he looks to lock horns with his former boss.
Umar lost out on the presidential primary to Yameen who eventually went on to win the 2013 elections.
He was subsequently suspended from PPM after publicly criticizing Yameen.
Umar had supported Jumhooree Party (JP) candidate and business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim in the presidential elections and secured a cabinet post on a JP slot.
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