MDP's estranged leader Nasheed leaves party

Former President and current Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has resigned from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The estranged leader of the ruling party resigned from the party on Wednesday.

He made the announcement via a Twitter post, publicizing his resignation letter.

In his letter, Nasheed wrote that he believes he made the right decision to leave the party, based on how things are currently going on, in the Maldives.

Earlier, Nasheed asserted that the reason he remained in the party for so long even after breaking off to form a separate faction to voice against President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, was to “win the party back”.

On behalf of MDP and its members, Chairperson of the party Fayyaz Ismail wished Nasheed success in his future endeavors.

Fayyaz revealed that although it is a sad day, the day signifies that every party should be able to follow the path they want to take, on their own.

Acknowledging Nasheed’s service to the party, Fayyaz expressed gratitude to him.

Nasheed is spearheading the formation of a new political party, ‘The Democrats’, which was recently denied its request to register the party citing issues that needed further investigation.

‘The Democrats’ party filed for registration with the Elections Commission (EC), with 3,560 membership forms on June 1.

Although the application to form a new party was submitted by Nasheed’s loyalists, Nasheed did not defect from the MDP up to now, and continued to hold on to his post as the party leader, asserting that he wished to take more members to his ‘The Democrats’ party.

Since President Solih won MDP’s primary election in January this year, the party has been divided into two factions; one supporting the incumbent president and one backing the former president and current Speaker. Nasheed lost control of the party after Solih won the party ticket to run in the presidential election, and has been rebelling ever since.