Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih should not run for a second term.
Speaking in the fifth episode of the ‘Ask Speaker’ show on Thursday night, Nasheed said that he believes President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih running for a second term is not ideal for the main ruling party, MDP. Nasheed instead backed the President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, to compete in the MDP Primaries for the Presidential Ticket.
When asked whether he would contest in MDP’s primary for the presidential election scheduled for next year and whether he would support the winning candidate in a circumstance he loses, Nasheed said that he would not run in any election to lose. He added that if he is running in possible future elections, it would be to win. He also underscored that ahead of President Solih announcing his candidacy for 2018’s presidential election – Shahid had met with him and requested to contest the election as MDP’s candidate. However, he told Shahid that the most capable candidate for 2018’s election was President Solih.
President Solih had expressed his intention to run for re-election in the upcoming 2023 presidential elections at a press conference held earlier this month. Nasheed was quick to downplay the announcement by stating that now was not the time to put forward personal aspirations and get one’s foot in for the presidency.
