Nasheed offers ‘full cooperation’ in upholding MDP’s unity

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, who had led the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for years before his 2023 exit and re-entrance two years later, says he will provide his full cooperation in maintaining unity within the main opposition party.

The remarks come with MDP divided into factions as senior figures within the party set their sights on the 2028 presidential ticket.

In a post on X on Tuesday afternoon, Nasheed congratulated Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa (Gapo), after he was elected as the interim chairperson of the MDP with the unanimous backing of the party’s national council.

He provided assurance of his full cooperation in maintaining the party’s unity and winning the upcoming Local Council Election.

“You will get my full cooperation in maintaining the party’s unity and in efforts to achieve victory in the upcoming Local Council Elections,” he wrote.

MDP ge Vaguthee chairperson MP Abdul Ghafoor ah marhaba. Party ge unity obahattavaa, kuriah mioh local council inthikhaabuga kaamiyaabah vaasilu vaan kuranjehey masahkathuga alhugandu ge hurihaa ehbaarulumeh libeyne.

— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) December 9, 2025

The word “unity” is something that former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, an advisor at the MDP, has also been frequently emphasizing as of late.

Monday’s vote had been the second attempt to elect an interim chairperson, after the first meeting had to be abandoned due to intense rivalry. But in sharp contrast to the previous meeting, the vote to elect Gapo had been unanimous.

In 2018, Nasheed backed a successful campaign to hoist Solih to power, after he was ruled out of contention due to a conviction that was later overturned.

But tensions flared between Nasheed and Solih as it drew closer to the 2023 presidential election, especially after the former lost the MDP presidential ticket to the latter in January that year.

The rivalry between them created a rift within the MDP, culminating into Nasheed and those loyal to him leaving the party in June 2023, to form a new party, the Democrats.

Following the formation, Nasheed famously declared that he would “dismantle” the MDP, a party that he had helped found.

This rift is widely believed to be one of the main reasons for MDP’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election.

But in June this year, Nasheed and his allies dissolved the Democrats and rejoined the MDP.

The decision by Nasheed to rejoin the MDP had come with the Maldives set to hold two key elections; the local council election in 2026, and the presidential election in 2028 – the latter of which Nasheed had said he is considering contesting.

The decision by Nasheed to rejoin the MDP increases the rivalry within the party for its presidential ticket. The party's former chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has already announced he plans to contest in the party’s presidential primary, while sources confirm that both Solih and the party’s president Abdulla Shahid are also campaigning for the ticket.