Speaker at loggerheads with government, opposes state administration

The Speaker of the Maldives Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has urged members of the ruling party not to "sink with government."

This marks the first time Nasheed has publicly indicated his challenging stance against the current administration led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Moreover, this recent metastasizing of the rivalry between two factions of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has seemingly culminated in a bitter rivalry between two of its most senior members; who are also leading the respective factions.

Nasheed further criticized the government claiming that the Solih led administration has failed to fulfill pledges towards both the party members and the public.

Meanwhile, Nasheed has been indirectly active in the campaign efforts of the inter-party elections that aims to elect the new chairperson for MDP. Nasheed is endorsing his faction's candidate Imthiyaz Fahmy, who is currently the sitting lawmaker of North-Maafannu constituency.

Fahmy faces stiff competition from the most influential cabinet minister, Fayyaz Ismail who is the current Minister of Economic Development.

The party has been mired in divisiveness for some time now, while both factions have been a loggerheads with each other; often criticizing and undermining each others efforts.

One of the most recent instances where Nasheed had visibly lambasted the government came with relation to the fishermen's plight.

Nasheed had claimed that the state failed in providing solution to the concerns raised by local fishermen, which in turn defeated the campaign manifesto's credibility.

Meanwhile, parliament members affiliated with Nasheed had also consistently voiced their disregard and frustration with the current administration.

The state administration has not stepped forward with a formal comment regarding Nasheed's publicly addressed criticism.