Fayyaz thanks MDA; says party’s resolve remains firm

Main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s chairman Fayyaz Ismail has remarked that the party’s resolve remains firm despite coalition partner Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) breaking the coalition to back opposition coalition’s candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu in the runoff round of the presidential election.

MDA’s National Council decided to withdraw support for President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and break the coalition with MDP in order to support Muizzu, the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition comprising of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People’s National Congress (PNC), in the runoff scheduled for Saturday on Tuesday night.

In a tweet late Tuesday night, following MDA’s decision, Fayyaz, who also serves as the Economic Minister, highlighted the assistance rendered by MDA for the campaign in the first round, extending gratitude to the party.

He described MDP as a party that always wins after faring rough seas, adding their hopes and resolve remain firm. 

Three proposals were put forth during MDA’s National Council meeting on Tuesday night; to reaffirm support for President Solih for the runoff, to support Muizzu in the runoff and to support neither candidate.

Two members of the council voted in favor of supporting neither candidate, another two had voted in favor of reaffirming support for President Solih while 33 members voted in favor of supporting Muizzu.

MDA said they decided to back Muizzu in the second round in order to respect the decision of the public – citing the opposition candidate had won the first round with a landslide difference of 15,000 votes. They attributed the difference in votes to a clear decision by the people, adding the party could only serve the nation by backing Muizzu.