Raee: AP has the right to only one ministerial appointment, which they have

Makunudhoo MP Mohamed Raee, on Tuesday, said that Adhaalath Party (AP) had the right to only one ministerial appointment, which it had already been granted; hitting back at Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdulla over his remark that AP now had the right to one more ministerial appointment following the recent resignation of Gender Minister Shidhatha Shareef.

AP, a government coalition partner, had originally been granted two spots of the Cabinet. However, Shidhatha’s resignation in February leaves AP with only one representative on the Cabinet; Home Minister Imran, who is also the party’s leader.

Imran, in an appearance on RaajjeTV’s Falasuruhee show on Monday night, said that AP now had the right to one more spot on the Cabinet.

Raee, a representative of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), hit back at Imran over the remark during the parliamentary debate of the Higher Education Bill on Tuesday morning.

He said that the fact that “a minister from a party of a few” complaining over being denied his right was “ridiculous”.

“The rightful extent is just one minister. We have appointed that minister,” said Raee.

Raee said that the government had come to power through the effort of MDP members. And that neither MDP’s members nor its leadership believed that MDP had been granted its rightful place within the government.

He said that a government minister pressing MDP for his right was therefore “disgraceful”, and that MDP refused bow down to the demands of a minister who represented a coalition partner party.

 Raee said that AP had always worked in the shadows of MDP, and threatened that the party would be further cut off if it continued to make such demands.

“It’s us who will talk about the rightful extent. And we have granted the rightful extent, even if it is the coalition. If he continues to talk about this any further, we think it best that he loses that [what he has] and learn a lesson on rightful extent,” said Raee.

The current government had come to power in 2018 as a coalition of three political parties and one political movement; MDP, Jumhoory Party (JP), Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) and AP. The allocation of spots within the Cabinet had, however, been a point of contention between MDP and other coalition partners. It is often evident in remarks made within the Parliament, which MDP enjoys a supermajority at.

Ministers of coalition partner parties are often criticized, but little criticism is voiced against MDP ministers.

Minister Imran, Fisheries Minister Zaha Waheed, Telecommunications Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, and Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, in particular, have been repeatedly criticized by MDP parliamentarians.