The opposition's only interest is impeaching the President through the parliament and that they have no sincerity in their claims that they want the best for the country, Maldivian diplomat Mohamed Hussein Shareef has said.
Mohamed Hussein Shareef, who has held different posts in different governments, and is the current Maldivian Ambassador to Japan made the remarks in an exclusive interview with PSM News. If the opposition was responsible they would have prepared for the next presidential election and let the people decide rather than attempting to impeach the President for their personal political agenda, Mohamed Hussein Shareef added. The opposition has failed to reveal the true intentions for any of their actions, especially their warranting to pass a motion of no-confidence against the Speaker of Parliament, he said.
"They know very well that the current term of office of the president ends next year. So there is going to be an Election. So the responsible path would have been for them to prepare for the next election. That is to garner votes for the next election. My point is very simple, let the people decide rather than, trying to expose loopholes in, not necessarily the constitution per say, but trying to impeach the President through parliament. Which is although they haven't said it in that many words, this is precisely what they are trying to get at. The current no-confidence motion against the speaker for example, they haven't made it clear to the people, who deserve to know, what it is that the speaker has or has not done that they believe warrants a no-confidence motion." Mohamed Hussein Shareef said.
The actions of the senior members of the opposition coalition are based on their personal interests rather than the best interest of the country, he further noted.
"While they say, President Maumoon and the others say that what they are doing, they doing for the best interest of the country. It's hard to believe, because each and every political in the so called coalition of the opposition have their own interests. These are not individuals or politicians who are new to the Maldivian people. They are people who we know. We know what their interests are, we know what their business interests are. We know that a number of them have criminal convictions. So if they are looking at overturning these, if they are looking at, you know bringing changes to the constitution to facilitate their own candidature, for example, in some cases. That for me is not the best interest for the country, that's individual interest." he said.
The opposition leaders are not individually capable of beating the President Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom next year in an election and the temporary arrangement of the loosely knit coalition does not have necessary caliber to compete with President Yameen, he added. He dared the opposition leaders to contend in an election, citing that he was sure none of the opposition leaders will be able to win an election against President Yameen. The opposition coalition does not have a candidate or a manifesto which they can present to the people, he stated.