Politicians closely associated with former president and current Speaker Mohamed Nasheed said that Nasheed has initiated the process of expanding his political activities and influence, and made the decision to establish a new political party.
Nasheed currently serves as the President of the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP).
One of the members said that in order to proceed with their political work it is necessary to establish a new party.
"A new party will emerge with a broader scope of activities," he said.
Twelve members of parliament have resigned from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) today. Their decision came after the expulsion of Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim from MDP, and four other members were notified of their impending expulsion.
Nasheed said the actions taken against those members was in violation of the party's constitution. However, the parliamentarian group initiated an inquiry into the members due to their repeated violations of the party's whip line on multiple occasions and their active assistance of opposition activities.
They have also expressed their support for the no-confidence motion against several ministers in President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's cabinet.
Nasheed's move towards the formation of a new party followed his announcement of "Fikuregge Dhirun," a faction within MDP meaning "Reviving an Ideology" along with the launch of a political campaign.
A number of MDP members joined Fikuregge Dhirun, and active members of the movement claim to have gathered over 50,000 signatures. However, there was a slowdown in the signature collection process at some point.
At the time, Nasheed's close aides said that the goal of the movement was to collect 95,000 signatures. They had also announced their intention to field a presidential candidate from within the faction.
Nasheed had previously said that despite President Solih's win in MDP's primary election, he would not be able to win the presidential election. Nasheed's plan was to reinstate the 39,000 members of MDP he alleged were unjustly removed from the party and to move forward with the election with a candidate proposed by his faction.
Even though Nasheed was involved in starting a new faction within MDP, no action was taken against him. However, members close to him were dismissed from the party due to their collaboration with the opposition in organizing rallies and protests.
MDP has expressed confidence that they can secure a second presidential term for President Solih, even if Nasheed does not support him.
Speaker Mohamed Nasheed's Fikurrege Dhirun has announced its intention to contest in the upcoming presidential election.
During the press conference held by the resigned parliamentarians, Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb said that the faction plans to establish a new political party and participate in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for September.
However, the faction has not yet revealed the specific candidate who will contest the elections. Despite repeated questions from the press regarding whether Nasheed would be a candidate, they did not provide a definite answer.
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