Divide or unify: Gayoom’s return to politics raises election stakes
The return to politics of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom following his retirement in February last year could unify the opposition or deepen the growing factional split between the two parties, observers have suggested. The former President returned to the Maldives to campaign on behalf of the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP), of which he remains the ‘Honorary Leader’. In a speech on Thursday evening at Kalaafaanu School in Male’, Gayoom did not show overt support of either the faction led by dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, or that of current party leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali whom he endorsed on his retirement. Conflict between the two factions came to a head in mid-December when a party rally descended into a factional brawl after supporters of the dismissed Naseer gatecrashed the venue. In his speech Gayoom urged unity, quoting from the Quran and emphasing that “we should work to reduce the disputes among us.” “I am saying this in my capacity as the Supreme Leader...
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