We were removed through a coup: Alhan

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Vice President Alhan Fahmy has said that he and MDP President Dr Ibrahim Didi were removed through a coup by MDP National Majlis by taking votes of no-confidence on them.

Speaking on DhiTV, Alhan said that since he and Dr Didi were elected as VP and President of MDP, they were told that the posts were symbolic, and not given the chance to carry out their responsibilities, and that they had now been removed from their posts through a coup.

“This was a crime by a group, who had created doubt regarding the party leadership. I believe this was a coup conducted within the legal system. They used the legal structure of MDP to remove the elected President and Vice President. This is very sad. MDP members have to think about this,” Alhan said.

Alhan said that a group within the party began working towards denying the party President his authority when Didi was elected, because President Nasheed wanted Ibrahim Hussain Zaki to be elected party President. Didi was pressured in many ways from within the party.

“It even came to the point where Didi’s desk and chair at MDP office were thrown on the street. I won’t hide anything anymore, because things have gone too far today. The truth is that when Didi decided to contest for MDP President, Nasheed supported Zaki.

Nasheed’s entire team, President’s Office team and Muleeaage team – they all worked on Zaki’s campaign. So when Didi was elected, they couldn’t accept it, and pressured him in different ways,” Alhan said.

Didi said that certain questions are raised in terms of the legitimacy of the National Council meeting, which was chaired by Reeko Moosa Manik who has no legal authority within the party. Also, members should have been informed of the meeting agenda, which was to take a vote of no-confidence on him because he attempted to constitute a party cabinet as required by the party basic laws, but none of this was made clear to the members involved.

“I realise that more questions are raised, because the meeting was chaired by a person who has no legal authority in the party,” Dr Didi said.

Alhan does not believe that they were removed for having cooperated with people who conducted a coup, rather, Nasheed had been unhappy with them ever since he told Nasheed that he would no longer be able to win a presidential election on MDP ticket.

“I met him and told him that I didn’t think that he would be re-elected as president, considering what happened,” Alhan said.

Alhan said that MDP is not one person’s idea; the point is not to have a particular person as leader, but for MDP to remain as the ruling party. He believes it important for Nasheed to take a step back and allow new leadership to take the reins of the party.

Dr Didi said that he was aware of the party’s history when he contested for President. He had worked with the party’s former Presidents Ibrahim Ismail and Dr Mohamed Munawwar, and was aware of the challenges faced by them.

He stressed that he is still the party President, and will not abandon his responsibilities. A group had called for his resignation at Usfasgandu as well, but he disregarded these calls and continued to work for peace among the members of the public.

MDP National Council took votes of no-confidence on its elected President and Vice President, and removed them from their posts.

The two votes were taken separately, at the emergency meeting of MDP National Council held where the issue was submitted by Henveiru Dhekunu MP Hamid Abdul Gafoor and supported by former Executive Services Secretary of President’s Office Mohamed Ziyad (Ziyatte). The meeting was attended by 73 members.