Coalition leaders' meeting to be held this month, after a long hiatus

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the ruling coalition leaders will be meeting this month.

He said this at the press conference held at the President’s Office on Thursday.

Noting that they had initially worked to meet on July 7, the president said that this did not work out as one of the leaders is currently out of the country.

Hence, the meeting is to be held after the 10th of July.

While there have been reports of conflict within coalition, especially during April’s parliamentary elections, President Solih assured that the coalition “remains.”

Noting that the he came into power through the "hard work of many people," he said that the meetings were halted as they did not see any benefits in doing so.

He said that he did not believe that the meetings could be productive, given that the leaders were not able to reach an agreement to work together during the parliamentary elections; the main ruling party went on to win super majority in parliament.

The ruling coalition comprises of four parties; main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath Party (AP) and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Maumoon Reform Movement which is in the works to be officially registered as a political party.

The leaders are; former President Gayoom, MDP leader former President Mohamed Nasheed, JP’s Qasim Ibrahim and AP’s Imran Abdulla; President Solih and Vice President Faisal Naseem join these meetings as well.

The four joined forces for the 2018 presidential election, nominating Solih as their candidate and Naseem as his running mate.

The last coalition meeting was held in December 2018, despite assurance that these meetings will be held “one a month.”