Presidential candidate of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that while he respected the decision of the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) to break the coalition with MDP, he believes they will soon come to realize that the decision to leave the coalition was not the correct one.
President Solih made these remarks during a meeting with campaign teams in Hithadhoo, Addu City. The President arrived in Hithadhoo on Tuesday night.
During the meeting, president Solih said that he was grateful for the hard work done by MDA during the campaign for the first round of the election, and wished MDA a good future.
President Solih said that Adhaalath Party, the only party remaining in the coalition with MDP, had many hopes and the departure of MDA from the coalition is not a matter of great concern.
"They will soon see that their decision was not the right one," said president Solih.
President Solih said, "There is a saying among Maldivians. There will be some things that will go from among those that come in. So, these things will happen. Do not worry and keep moving forward."
The MDA decided to leave the MDP coalition and support the opposition Progressive Part of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) candidate Dr. Muizzu. The decision was taken at a Council meeting of the party held on Tuesday night and only 2 council members voted to remain with the MDP coalition. These two members have now resigned from MDA. The decision to leave the MDP coalition which was based on the majority vote, was supported by 33 members of the MDA Council.
Many of president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's campaign events for the first round of the election were jointly organized with the MDA. The president went as far as to state that MDA leader Siyam was the biggest asset for the presidential election.
However, Siyam had withdrawn from campaign activities when the results from the first round of the election did not meet expectations. His proposal to MDA Council was not to support any candidate during the second round. However, there was no backing for this proposal. The MDA currently occupies two seats in the parliament.
Addressing the audience at the meeting held in Hithadhoo, President Solih emphasized that despite the visible impact of good things done for the development of the country during this term, the opposition PPM and PNC were spreading lies creating discord to deceive the public. The president said that regardless of the extent of good that was done, repetitive false narratives could mislead some individuals into believing otherwise. He further said that the information circulated by the opposition regarding the government was far from the truth.
President Solih said that allegations about the government's link with India and sale of Maldivian seas were major lies. He said the people would also believe that the information being spread is misleading.
The president said that the progress brought to the Maldives in the last five years as compared to the previous five years is evident across the country.
President Solih said he was very happy to visit Addu City ahead of the second round of the election scheduled for Saturday. He conveyed his confidence in winning during this round, despite the fact that the results in the first round were not as anticipated.
President Solih added that the differences in opinion and formation of factions within MDP was one reason votes were lost during the first round. In this regard, he highlighted that the results of the first round show the combined votes for The Democrats and the MDP is more than 50 percent which indicate that the majority of the people support the MDP indeology.
"I believe that the majority in all islands support our ideology and mindset. We have to work to bring back the people who left us temporarily." said president Solih. According to the president, this can be done within the next two days and the results will be good.
The President said that the most important thing is to encourage people to vote by dispelling the inaccurate and misleading information circulated by the opposition. He assured that all the concerns that had previously discouraged voters had been resolved, and everything is ready for the upcoming voting day.
The president said that despite the neglect of door-to-door campaigns, transportation services on voting day, and exit polls during the first round, these aspects would not be overlooked in the second round.
"Arrangements have been made to cover all ballot boxes in all islands and areas. We have to go and vote early in the morning," president Solih said.
President Solih said that MDP would win by being fully preparing for voting day, working jointly with those who temporarily left the party and through explaining the lies and discord being spread by the opposition.
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