Criticism or mockery of Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim, who is also speaker of the People’s Majlis, weakens the government coalition, says Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed.

MP Rasheed, who appears loyal to defeated former president Abdulla Yameen, said that all members of the coalition have a duty to uphold its unity and is ‘saddened’ by what he described to be their failure to do so.

Riyaz, while a member of Qasim’s party, has appeared publicly alongside former president Yameen, having even participated in a recent counter-protest organized by Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives.

Riyaz was among members of the former ruling party that protested against an anti-corruption protest organized by the government coalition’s Maldivian Democratic Party.

Several supporters of the coalition have called on the JP to take action against Riyaz, accusing him of undermining party allegiances.