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Maldives pres labels ruling party split as "gift" to opposition

Mohamed Visham
06 July 2016, MVT 07:16
President Yameen (L) speaks to the media as his half brother and ruling party president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom looks on.
Mohamed Visham
06 July 2016, MVT 07:16

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom for the first time publicly acknowledged the ever widening rift in the ruling party and admitted that if unresolved could mean a "gift" to the opposition.

"That is a gift i don't want to give. I strongly believe that none of our supporters would wish to offer that gift," president Yameen said in his address to the nation on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr.

His statement comes in the wake of a widening rift between his half brother and ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom that has split the ruling party.

The rift between the two brothers widened over a government proposed controversial amendment to the Tourism Act.

The elder Gayoom last week had assumed full control of the party amid a fallout from his failed attempt to get his party lawmakers to vote down the amendment which sought to bypass the bidding process in island lease for tourism.

However, the government controlled parliament on Wednesday passed the amendment with all the ruling party lawmakers except two, voting to defy Gayoom .

Gayoom after announcing a reform program in a bid to wrestle back control of his party told reporters late Thursday that the amendment to the Tourism Act was a clear violation of the partys charter.

He also said the PPM parliamentary group which controls the parliament had ignored and defied several requests to follow the party’s democratic values.

He also admitted that the move to launch a reform program came after many futile attempts to resolve the divisions within the party.

President Yameen insisted that there should not be discourse within the ruling party and urged party members to unite in a bid resolve the present differences.

"If there are problems within our party, I strongly suggest that we find a way to resolve it," he stressed.

PPM lawmakers loyal to president Yameen had decided to amend the law putting an age cap of 65 years for political party leaders in a bid to oust Gayoom.

The amendment would effectively put an end to Gayoom’s rein as the PPM leader.

The PPM parliamentary group’s decision to oust Gayoom who is now 80 came shortly after a sit-down with president Yameen.

Gayoom had also recently rejected a petition by the party council to gift the party’s presidential ticket to president Yameen for his re-election in 2018 without a primary.

Meanwhile, the country’s graft watchdog is set to question the elder Gayoom over several corruption allegations during his last year at office in 2008.

The President added that the PPM was the largest political movement in the nation and that this was a time for the party to come together, rather than slide back to the uncertainty of four years ago, and to deliver on meaningful change for the nation – to move forward through clear dialogue and mutual counsel.

The president also assured his party members that he would a find an amicable way to resolve the crisis within the party.

President Yameen's national address came hours after her niece and foreign minister Dhunya Maumoon stepped down over what she described as a profound differences of opinion with the government’s bid to enforce the death penalty.

Shortly before Dunya’s announcement, the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives expelled her brother, MP Faaris Maumoon, for voting against a government tourism bill at Gayoom’s request.

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