Abdul Raheem said that PPM/PNC had fought against Yameen's actions of trying to discard the parties after his failure to accomplish his personal aim of running for the presidency himself, and had won the election, having established their government today.
Special Advisor to the President Abdul Raheem Abdulla has accused former President Abdulla Yameen of trying to discard and 'make homeless' Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) in response to his failure to accomplish his personal aim of running for the presidency himself.
Abdul Raheem said that they had fought against Yameen's actions of injustice against the parties' members, and had ultimately won the election, succeeding in having now established a PPM/PNC government in the Maldives.
PPM/PNC, which was the opposition coalition at the time, had granted Yameen the parliamentary ticket without a primary then. However, the Supreme Court had ruled that Yameen did not meet the criteria of a presidential candidate as he is convicted on charges of money laundering and bribery.
Upon SC announcing its ruling, Yameen decided that the two parties, each with thousands of members, would entirely boycott the presidential election.
With the election date nearing, this sudden decision from Yameen led to much discord within the parties' ranks.
Many in the leadership decided on competing in the elections even if it meant acting against Yameen's wishes, and the parties' Senate decided to proceed in this way, ending up winning the elections and their candidate now the President.
With the two parties assuming governance of the country, Yameen began criticizing the government on various matters, ending up leaving PPM entirely.
He then created People's National Front (PNF), which acts like an opposition party today. Speaking at PNF rallies, Yameen has alleged that PPM is now left irrelevant and uncared for.
During his speech at last night's ceremony launching PPM/PNC Hulhudhoo Candidate Mohamed Shahid (Shaadu)'s campaign center, Abdul Raheem responded to comments in this vein made by Yameen.
He reiterated that Maldives now has a PPM/PNC government, affirming that the administration is run by the coalition with the involvement of both parties.
"Today, the Leader of PPM/PNC is President Muizzu. Having divorced your wife, it's in bad taste to keep on talking about what's best for her. You left her because you didn't like her," Abdul Raheem said figuratively.
Abdul Raheem said that it is President Dr Mohamed Muizzu who will work to achieve what is best for the party. He retorted that no one else will know to instruct what may be best for PPM.
"Other people cannot tell us what to do to bring new life to PPM/PNC, or how to develop it. When they tried to discard us, we, ourselves, found that path forward. We did not allow them to do so. Instead, we rose to power," Abdul Raheem said.
"At the time when they tried to drive PPM/PNC to the streets, we came out in defence to prevent that. So it is us who will know how to bring development to PPM/PNC. Just because he did not get his way, because he couldn't get a position he wanted, he tried to do away with the rest of us. That is not how you show sincerity to the nation. That is also not how you show loyalty to the nation. That is also not how you show good will towards the nation. That is also not how you show honesty towards the citizens."
Abdul Raheem maintains that if Yameen sincerely had the best interests of the nation at heart, even faced with personal failure, he would not have chosen to act in the manner he had.
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