Monthly meeting between coalition leaders unscheduled amid row
Neither the President's Office nor the parties have claimed responsibility to hold the meeting this month
Coalition leaders at a meeting
There has been no date scheduled for this month’s meeting between the leaders of the government coalition.
On November 15, the leaders of the four government coalition parties agreed to have a meeting each month.
The leaders of the coalition are President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, former President Mohamed Nasheed, Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim, and Adhaalath Party leader Imran Abdulla.
While the last meeting was on December 20, President’s Office spokesperson Ibrahim Hood told RaajjeMV that the coalition parties are responsible for scheduling the meetings. However, the parties stated that the meetings are scheduled by the President’s Office.
This comes at a time of conflict within the coalition, which is now seemingly on the verge of collapse.
Some senior members of the second largest coalition partner, Jumhooree Party (JP), have condemned ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for deciding to contest almost all constituencies in the parliamentary election, which they say is against the coalition’s agreement to distribute the parliament seats between the parties.
JP leader Qasim Ibrahim has also criticised MDP leader Nasheed for saying that MDP needs majority in parliament to fulfill the government’s pledges. Qasim has also recently met with the People’s National Congress (PNC), a new party formed by former President Abdulla Yameen.
After Qasim threatened to make a deal with parties outside of the coalition for April’s parliamentary election, Imran and Maumoon have urged the importance of maintaining the coalition.
