Fuvahmulah DRP Council Members resign enmasse from party, over Fahmyissue and secret voting issue

The 14 Fuvahmulah Council Members ofDhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), including three Atoll Council Members and 11 Island Council Members, have resigned en masse from DRP citing dissatisfaction over the actions of the party’s leadership.

Fuvahmulah Atoll Council President Ali Fazad said that Fuvahmulah Council Members of DRP have sent their letters of resignation from the party, and that their main reason is that the party leaders’ actions are not according to the wishes of the Maldivian people.

“We can’t accept the decisions and policies being followed by the party’s leadership. While DRP’s slogan is ‘pulse of the people’, the party’s current actions are not such that this can be achieved. There is discrimination, which is against the constitution. Also, their actions led to CSC President losing his seat, which was done out of jealousy because he was from Fuvahmulah,” Fazad said.

A statement issued by the Fuvahmulah Council Members of DRP following their resignation from the party states that DRP members of Fuvahmulah continued to support the party even after divisions were formed within the party’s leadership. They expressed sadness over the fact that DRP’s purpose is no longer clear, and that the party is no longer informed of the people’s pulse.

The statement said that DRP’s actions in relation to the vote of no-confidence against CSC President Mohamed Fahmy Hassan is an example of the party’s efforts to uphold the interests of the public; and that if the party believes that Fahmy should have submitted his own resignation, and if efforts had been made to remove MPs and DRP leaders who have decreed debts from their posts, the Council would not have the opportunity today, to talk about the vote taken against Fahmy.

The statement said that moreover, the fact that DRP voted against establishing secret voting on no-confidence motions against the President, Vice President and Ministers when the Parliament voted on the issue the first time, but voted in favour of establishing secret voting when Parliament voted on the same issue the second time, shows the instability of the DRP leadership.

The Fuvahmulah Council Members heavily criticised the leadership of DRP for the way it handled the GMR issue as well.

The statement also called for the resignation of DRP leadership, in order to make way for a new, honest leadership that would work for the people without discrimination.