Nasheed says Solih’s overconfidence cost MDP its biggest defeats

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) suffered its worst electoral setbacks, losing both the 2023 presidential race and the 2024 parliamentary elections, because then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih believed he could secure victory without the support of Nasheed’s faction.  

The remarks came shortly after MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail announced his resignation, citing mounting internal competition for the party’s 2028 presidential ticket. Fayyaz, who has recently aligned himself more closely with Nasheed, said overlapping ambitions among senior leaders had made it impossible to maintain party unity. His departure has reignited tensions between the Solih and Nasheed camps.  

In a message sent to a WhatsApp group of current and former MDP MPs on Monday afternoon, Nasheed thanked Fayyaz for laying out how the party lost both elections. Minutes later, Nasheed added that he had twice attempted to give Solih a clear path to contest without facing a primary challenge, but Solih and his allies rejected the idea.  

“They thought they could win without us, and everything collapsed,” Nasheed wrote.  

Although Nasheed did not specify which contest he referred to, observers believe he meant the 2023 MDP presidential primary, where Solih defeated him by a wide margin. Following that loss, Nasheed and his supporters broke away to form The Democrats, who went on to contest separately in both elections but fared even worse. The party has since dissolved, with Nasheed and his allies returning to the MDP fold.  

Today, Solih’s faction remains in control of the MDP, but the party faces criticism for weak opposition performance. Allegations of corruption involving senior figures from its last government and parliamentary leadership continue to surface, with the Auditor General’s reports highlighting governance lapses.  

Critics argue the MDP’s opposition work has been so weak that even former President Abdulla Yameen, operating informally from his residence, appears more effective in rallying support.