News DeskIn the space of ten days, two of the four men seeking the Maldivian Democratic Party’s presidential ticket have been drawn into the courts, and a third faces a corruption inquiry. The party they hope to lead abolished its presidency in October, is run by a chairperson, Mohamed Nasheed, who has backed one of the candidates, and has not yet set a date for the primary. Mr Nasheed has said he will back whoever wins the ticket if Mr Fayyaz loses.
Abdulla Shahid, 64, a former foreign minister and former president of the UN General Assembly, led the party from February 2024 until August, when he resigned to run. He was arrested at his home in Hulhumalé on the night of 2 November. Police said the arrest followed a court order and that he is accused of sexually abusing a person under 18 while in a position of trust. A court has remanded him in custody for 30 days, which runs to early December. Shahid denies the allegation. In a post minutes before his arrest, he called the claims false and politically motivated. His lawyers have appealed the remand to the High Court. The allegation has not been proven in court.
President Mohamed Muizzu said on Monday that the government would not obstruct the proceedings and rejected suggestions of political motivation. “No one will be persecuted for political reasons,” he said.
The MDP has issued no statement on the arrest. It removed Shahid from the National Council’s messaging group on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Civil Court ruled against Dr Ahmed Shamheed, who represents Hulhumalé South in the Majlis, in a case brought by Maldives Islamic Bank. Dr Shamheed and four others had guaranteed a $500,000 sale-and-leaseback facility for Duplex Private Limited, a company in which he is a shareholder, and the bank sued when the repayments stopped. The court ordered the guarantors to pay within six months. Media reports placed the total debt at $281,474
Dr Shamheed said he formed the company with former friends and that the loan was taken for the personal needs of some shareholders. He said other partners have since endorsed his rival in the primary, and that he had not been summoned to the hearings and learned of the ruling by email. He said he has been paying the installments himself and will pay what the court ordered. Under Article 73 of the Constitution, an MP who does not pay a court-ordered debt can lose a seat. The Supreme Court removed another MP, Mohamed Sinan, in April over a debt to the same bank. Dr Shamheed can also appeal the ruling to the High Court.
Fayyaz Ismail, a former economic minister who chaired the party until November, was summoned last October by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The commission alleges that he took part in a 2019 decision by a dispute resolution committee that granted an undue benefit to Swift Engineering, a company owned by a former MP. He denied the allegation, stating that officials were carrying out the president’s orders. He was also questioned by police in 2024 over a matter involving the Road Development Corporation, denying any wrongdoing at the time. According to information obtained by this outlet, he may be summoned in the coming weeks for questioning in connection with another case.
The fourth candidate, Faisal Naseem, is President Solih’s former vice president. He is the only one of the four with no case reported against him. He announced his run in October with Malé’s mayor, Adam Azim, as his running mate.
The party’s own structure adds to the uncertainty. Mohamed Nasheed, the former president, left the MDP before the 2023 election to form his own party and returned in 2025. He became chairperson in June, helped by Fayyaz, whose resignation created the vacancy, and he now backs Fayyaz for the ticket. At its congress in October, the party abolished the posts of president and vice president, so leadership now rests with the chairperson. That leaves a party led by President Nasheed, who supports one candidate, while President Solih, the other former president, supports another. The two men’s rivalry split the party ahead of the 2023 election—a division that ultimately led to the MDP’s defeat—and they are on opposite sides again, this time over a candidate.
The divisions show in other disputes. The MDP’s national council voted 57 to 1 this week to demand a referendum on the Rasmalé development, and President Nasheed spoke against it.
President Nasheed has said he thinks the primary should be held early next year, after Ramadan, but the National Council decides. The party has not set a date.
