Not joining in Talks with Nasheed: Maumoon

During the PPM meeting held last night in Seenu atoll Hithadhoo, Sharafuddeen School, former President Maumoon said that the American ambassador Patricia Butenis who visited the Maldives last week had requested to hold talks with former President Mohamed Nasheed but that he had conveyed he had no desire to do so.

He revealed that the main reason why he does not wish to join in dialogue with former President Nasheed is because of the allegation Nasheed has constantly made claiming  he was the mastermind behind the ‘coup’ in the local and international media. Hence Maumoon deemed cooperating with Nasheed under the circumstances as something he cannot do.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Imthiyaz 'Inthi' Fahmy has stressed that the party was willing to retract its claims that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had played a role in the "coup" in order to facilitate the resumption of the All Party Road Map Talks. While the Moderator of the All Party Roadmap Talks initiated by President Dr Mohamed Waheed to resolve the ongoing political strife in the Maldives.

Ahmed Mujthaba the mediator residing over the talks has said that all parties agree on principle to the need for high-level discussions. He also said that he hopes to secure the commitment of these parties to convene such a meeting at the highest level in the very near future. 

Maumoon claimed that the government did not chang through a ‘coup’ on February 7, 2012. He also noted that the Police and the armed forces had done a praise worthy job at that time of distress and that he is thankful to the security forces for their valuable services.

In the meeting held to kick-off the 2013 Presidential election official campaign in Addu by PPM which supports President Dr.Mohamed Waheed united government, Maumoon said that the nation is in a sorry state and that this had happened within the last three years.

In the meeting attended by many, Maumoon said that the Maldivian nation is no more and that the nation is now engulfed in chaos, violence, murders and bloodshed.

He stressed that the Maldivians need to act to get back their nation and that PPM is ready for the task. He added that PPM will try its best to make Maldives a politically, economically, and socially perfect and prosperous nation and would achieve it as well. 

He told the attendees of the meeting that the main aim of PPM is to win next Presidential election come back to power and to direct the Maldives towards a more harmonious state of affairs. He expressed his confidence in PPM to achieve the aim and said that the most important task right now is to increase party members.

Maumoon said that MDP cannot return back to power and that even if they competed in an election, no one would vote for them.

He said that though MDP keeps demanding for early elections, he does not see a reason why and does not believe that an early election should be held and said that it is with reason that he doesn’t believe so.

He added that the constitution does not allow such elections and that if such an election is to be held within the one and half years, major changes will need to be made to the constitution concluding that President Mohamed Waheed’s government will remain in power till 2013.