Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed have not spoken since signing the historic agreement to work together, in March 2017.

Last week, citing ‘a highly placed source in the Gayoom camp’, Maldives Independent reported that the former rivals turned allies ‘have not spoken to each other since March 2017’, when they signed the agreement to work together to restore democracy in the country.

Noting that senior politicians on both sides have tried to facilitate meetings between the two, the source had told Maldives Independent that this is yet to happen.

It said that both parties are putting up a front ‘for the public and media,’ but that they are ‘at odds’ and that the ‘disunity among the leaders is a major concern’.

Maldives Independent reported that Nasheed had first spoken of a possible alliance with Maumoon in 2016, which was then denied by Maumoon. A spokesperson had informed the media that former President Nasheed was ‘lying to bring President Maumoon into disrepute and to create discord among PPM members.’ Al Jazeera had also reported that Gayoom had demanded money from his successor, as a goodwill gesture prior to forming an alliance. While both parties denied any exchange of money, Al Jazeera claimed that Nasheed had paid ‘at least one installment of $50,000’.

The news website is to have spoken to a senior MDP official, who ‘corroborated that Nasheed and Gayoom had not spoken since the coalition was formed’. According to the official, there is ‘a huge lack of confidence between the both of them and it has shown throughout last year,’ adding that it has been ‘quite difficult to find areas where everyone is willing to compromise in order to move forward’.

Furthermore, noting that the idea of the opposition uniting behind a single candidate was first brought up by Nasheed in January 2017, Maldives Independent highlighted that Gayoom was dismissing questions regarding the possibility of a single candidate ‘as late as November 2017’.