Ex-President Yameen not working to create a new political party, defends close associates

Former legal affairs minister at the President’s Office, Azima Shakoor has denied reports that former President Abdulla Yameen is working to create a new political party.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the legal affairs minister during Yameen’s tenure said that he is not working to establish a new political party.

While President Yameen was elected as Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s leader at a congress held after September’s election, where Yameen suffered a rather embarrassing defeat now-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Elections Commission has refused to endorse the “unlawful” congress.

Hence, Azima in her post emphasized that the congress was held as per party regulations, ‘in the presence of a Commission official’.

In addition to Azima, Yameen’s spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali denied these reports as well.

In a tweet sent out on Thursday, Muaz said that President Yameen “is not working to establish a new political party”, adding that such reports are being spread to create issues between him and “the party he represents”.

Yameen’s close associate and former Maldives ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mohamed Hussain Shareef also refuted the reports.

While Elections Commission member Ismail Habeeb revealed that an official from PPM had taken the necessary forms to create a new party, Shareef said that “such a thing has not happened”. He is the secretary general of PPM.

High Court on Thursday ruled that EC’s refusal to recognise PPM’s congress “is unlawful”.