News Desk
Former President Mohamed Nasheed said on Monday night that he has begun the work of bringing down the current government and that it will be done through the People’s Majlis, predicting that PNC members will cross the floor and sign a no-confidence motion against President Dr Mohamed Muizzu before the end of the year.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Male’ for MDP candidate Sobe, contesting the Addu Hithadhoo North by-election, Nasheed said the opposition was confident of reaching a two-thirds majority in parliament through defections from the ruling party.
“This government must be changed before the end of this year. Don’t worry. We will hopefully bring the majority of the parliament, a supermajority, two-thirds of the vote of no confidence. President Yameen is also very much ready to do this. And I know very clearly that many of the PNC members of parliament will cross. They will change their party. They will sign a no-confidence motion against this President,” he said.
Nasheed said PNF leader and former President Abdulla Yameen was fully committed to the effort. The three-president alliance, which also includes former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, has been pushing a joint agenda since signing a cooperation agreement earlier this month.
He framed the Hithadhoo North by-election as a referendum on the Muizzu government, saying the results of the April 4 local council elections had already demonstrated that the President had lost public trust. “It is a slap in the face to President Muizzu,” he said of Sobe’s candidacy.
The Hithadhoo North seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court on 12 April ruled that former MP Mohamed Sinaan had lost his seat following non-payment of a MVR 3.8 million loan from Islamic Bank. The by-election is scheduled for 6 June. Sobe faces Hithadhoo Moolekede councillor Ahmed Saeed.
Whether Nasheed’s predictions about PNC defections are grounded in actual commitments or political theatre is a question the coming months will answer. The PNC holds 76 of 93 seats in parliament. Reaching two-thirds would require a significant number of ruling party members to break ranks openly, something that has shown no visible sign of happening. Under existing law, the barriers to floor-crossing are high enough to make the scenario Nasheed is describing not just unlikely but close to impossible without a fundamental shift in the political landscape.
