Nasheed directs some strong words at Alifushi MP; asks to not speak of other's loyalty

Speaker and former President, Mohamed Nasheed has directed some strong words at Alifushi constituency MP Mohamed Rasheed Hussain, amid an evident rift between the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

In a tweet posted on Friday, Nasheed said that he would prefer if MP Rasheed refrained from speaking of other’s loyalty and kindness to him.

While the former president referred to the lawmaker as his “friend” in the tweet, Nasheed added that he was aware of the things MP Rasheed would “do and say for political gain”.

Nasheed’s tweet came shortly after the Alifushi went on live TV and denied the accusations against him following the parliament’s committee on privileges and ethics’ decision to reject a case submitted by the speaker. He also said that MDP members will know that Defence Minister Mariya Didi will ‘will not do anything that could harm MDP or its leader Nasheed”.

The case by Nasheed was following a letter by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) saying that individual officers cannot be summoned for a parliament inquiry and that MNDF will be answering as an institution on their behalf. The inquiry in question is being carried out to determine the security breach that led to the assassination attempt on Nasheed last month.

While a number of MDP members have expressed no-confidence in the defence minister following the attack, MNDF's decision only added to it.

The letter from MNDF was signed by Deputy Minister Hassan Zameel, and Nasheed had requested the committee to look into the case.

Following the committee’s decision to reject it, with support from members of Nasheed’s MDP, accusations were made against MP Rasheed including by Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla.

An alleged screenshot of messages sent to a MDP Viber group shows the deputy speaker accusing Rasheed of meddling in committee work on behalf the government.