Shaheeda Saeed
Daughter of the Former President of Maldives and founding leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Yumna Maumoon has said that it is impossible for DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen to win the Presidential elections of 2013 without Gayoom.
Yumna said that the support of the people is still for her father, the founding leader of DRP, Gayoom. Speaking at “One to One” show aired on DhiFM, Gayoom’s daughter Yumna said that she does not believe that Thasmeen can win in the 2013 elections without the seeking the support of Gayoom.
Yumna said that if Thasmeen works with the support of Gayoom, he will be gaining more support and eventually win the elections. She said that most of the members of DRP and the people still have greater support to Gayoom than Thasmeen.
In contrast to the rumour around the media and the public that Gayoom is working to form a new political party, Yumna said that if Gayoom has to take another path to work for the people then he would do so. Yumna said that up until now, Gayoom has not decided on making a new party.
“However it is perhaps the thought of many of the members. DRP is the founding leader. The founding leader is DRP. And the members will never want the founding leader to leave the party. So founding leader has to think from all of these angles,” Yumna said.
Meanwhile, the news of the fuming internal crisis within DRP has been making headlines in the media for quiet sometime. The anti-Thasmeen movement earlier led by the dismissed DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, which is now taken over by DRP founding leader Gayoom, has been continuously attempting to expose Thasmeen’s leadership lapses and defame him.
However, against the background of all these mounting challenges and the volatile internal clashes, Thasmeen on his part has been assuring his fellow party members and supporters he will remain firm as Party Leader despite the opposition to oust him. Thasmeen is seen to have the support of other strong politicians such as Speaker Abdulla Shahid.
Though it was Former President, DRP founding Leader Gayoom himself who endorsed Thasmeen to be his successor in party leadership, his support for Thasmeen has been apparently lost.