Thasmeen confident on winning 2013 elections without Gayyoom

Leader of the main opposition party, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Ahmed Thasmeen Ali yesterday has expressed confidence that he will win the presidential election and be sworn-in as President in 2013 without the backing of DRP founding leader Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom.

Celebrating his first anniversary in his tenure of DRP Leader, Thasmeen said that he is even ready to compete with Gayyoom if he chooses to run in the 2013 election. He said that he will not turn to the influence of any one.

Thasmeen said that the ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is bound to lose in the Presidential race of 2013 since the people are now aware that MDP only works for the benefit of their members alone disregarding the pleas of others. He noted that the person who swears as the President will be have to take the responsibility of serving all of the people fairly, without any party bias, regardless of their political ideology.

Thasmeen said that the Presidential candidate should be more attuned to the needs of the people irrespective of what colour they have chosen to embrace, more committed to the democratic values it promotes and undoubtedly more capable of delivering on its promises.

Thasmeen said that the internal factionalism within DRP was created as a crafty attempt to obstruct him from winning the 2013 elections at a time when the party is steadily gaining popularity.

Moreover, Thasmeen said that the slanders against him are made to create suspicion and mistrust among his fellow party members and to weaken the opposition that has been gaining in strength and momentum.

DRP Leader said that the party was fairly united on all fronts and that the actions of founding leader Gayoom are one of the causes that widened the rift within the ranks of the party.

Despite Thasmeen’s confidence of winning the 2013 Presidential elections without Gayyoom’s support, Gayyoom’s daughter Yumna Maumoon earlier, speaking at “One to One” show aired on DhiFM last month, said that it is impossible for Thasmeen to win the Presidential elections of 2013 without the backing of Gayyoom. She claimed that the support of the people is still for her father and that she does not believe that it is impossible for Thasmeen to win in the 2013 elections without the support of Gayyoom.

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, he later declared that the support for Thasmeen has been lost.