- Uncertainty of future deepens the split
- Difference of opinion that better members within PPM can be promising candidates as President
- Doubts regarding Yameen’s selfish attitude to contest for the 3rd time
- Yameen’s wrong attitude towards the idea of coalition
PPM is what you can call a group of people fighting a losing battle amongst themselves. Until now, what we have only heard to be rumors are getting more affirmed as truth. As day goes by and one after another source turns up exposing how the internal conflicts perils within the party.
The split in the faction is because of obvious reasons, one being that with ex President Abdulla Yameen, the party sees no future. Because of Yameen’s pending trial cases involving the MMPRC corruption, the party cannot rest assure. If Yameen gets sentenced, he will have to withdraw from the Presidential race. The faction is now considering who might be better suited for the position if the situation arises.
The members lock horns:
When Yameen was first sentenced to five years in prison, the faction held many meetings discussing ways on how to proceed with the party. This meeting eventually continued as Yameen’s sentence transferred to house arrest. But as soon as Yameen got acquitted in Dec 2021, the faction discontinued this meeting. Yameen noticed this changes and was quick to realize that some members were trying to hijack the party by conspiring against him. Yameen, in order to reform his party, tried to bring members under his one purpose driven agenda for election, ‘India Out.’ He thought that diverting the attention to the ‘India Out’ campaign might silent the brewing schemes withing the faction but much to his dismay, the campaign wasn’t as hyped as it was before he got arrested. Another factor was that the Presidential degree made it almost impossible to carry the campaign out with equal force and energy as it had in the past.
Lack of confidence for Yameen:
According to some PPM sources, the party has been clearly divided to function in four parts— first that supports Mohammed Saeed, second that supports Mayor Muizzu, third along with PNC’s President Abdull Raheem that supports Qasim Ibrahim, leader of JP and lastly other members along with Adhurey who have their own sorts going on. It’s also been said that Saeed is trying to get in the good books of Yameen and his wife Fathimath so as to get their approval.
In a news published by Dhauru, another PPM source reveals that senior members of the party feels its unfair that Yameen is being given the party ticket for the third time. They feel that the party has other capable members who might turn out to be a better suited candidate for the 2023 presidential race. One such name is Mohamed Muizzu, Mayor of Male’ city.
It was also rumored that Yameen’s close associates worked against Muizzu in the council elections. The insider said that they would have a dissatisfied look whenever Muizzu’s name would be mentioned in major party rallies. Whereas, the other part of the factions, considers Muizzu to be highly capable and hardworking. Even in the current scenario, PPM’s major power comes through Male City Council.
Yameen’s severed ties with other Political Parties:
Yameen strongly believes that PPM can contest without the support of any second party. Other members differ with his opinion. Maldives political system is such that a party cannot contest and win alone, without the support from coalition. But because of past deeds and severed ties, Yameen is not open to the idea. “No one is against the PPM. They are against Yameen. Other parties do not want to form coalition with Yameen. They are not against joining the PPM,” a source said on condition of anonymity.
The PPM and MDP are still the only two parties in power in Maldives. The three presidential elections held under the new constitution were also between these two parties. Therefore, if the political future of the leader of the two parties are hampered, there is no doubt that others in the two parties will think of replacing him. Recently, a close ally of Yameen revealed how the ex President was getting cornered. Midst of this, someone also said that PNC’s Abdul Raheem Abdulla is secretly supporting Qasim Ibrahim, leader of JP, in exchange of monetary favors. While the party strongly tries to deny that no such internal conflicts exists within the party, the cat is finally out of the bag.
Everyone is anticipating how the turn of events will unfold as the court session progresses. If this continues, how will Abdulla Yameen manage his party, PPM in the future?
