Former President Mohamed Nasheed declared late Monday that Jumhooree Party (JP), a member of the ruling coalition, will be part of the opposition in the newly elected parliament to be sworn in late May.
The leader of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) made the statement in an exclusive interview to state-run Public Service Media (PSM), in response to a question regarding the new parliament minority.
Nasheed proclaimed that JP was clearly in alliance with the opposition parties, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC).
"They became allies for the parliament (elections); they said so very clearly", he said.
However, Nasheed went on to assure that JP's actions during the parliamentary elections would not negatively reflect on any JP members serving as ministers in the current administration.
The former president stated that JP, PPM and PNC, along with the new independent candidates, can work together to efficiently hold the government accountable in parliament.
"They can do it. The parliamentary agenda and regulations must accommodate them as such", he said.
"Adequate time must be granted to our opposition in parliament".
Nasheed defended his stance, stating that MDP in the past also held the government accountable in parliament with only 18 lawmakers to represent the party.
He also hit back at comments made by JP leader Qasim Ibrahim, who accused MDP of violating the initial seat-sharing agreement within the coalition.
"What we (ruling coalition) agreed on was to join together to form the government. We did not agree on a coalition to form the parliament, in my opinion", he said.
Despite Nasheed's claim, member parties of the ruling coalition had separately signed agreements with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to work with the coalition in the 2018 Presidential Elections, the Parliamentary Elections and Local Council Elections. The only opposition leader who did not sign the agreement was former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of Maldives Reform Movement.
The agreement allocated parliament seats to member parties of the ruling coalition based on their representation in the government.
JP's leader Qasim Ibrahim harshly slated MDP after the latter decided to contest for all parliamentary seats as opposed to the seat-sharing agreement. Qasim also stated that he began efforts to secure the parliament majority with PPM after discussions with ruling coalition leaders failed to reach a solution.
MDP secured the parliament super-majority in a historic win, attaining 65 out of 87 constituencies in the April 6 elections, while JP won only five seats.
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