News

MDP agrees to a constitutional referendum post election

Published

2 weeks ago

18/09/2023

Main ruling MDP’s Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail, on Monday, said the party has informed The Democrats of the party’s agreement to hold a constitutional referendum after this year’s presidential elections.

MDP’s candidate President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih secured 39 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections held on September 9th – placing second. The greatest number of votes was opposition PPM-PNC coalition’s candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu with 46 percent of the votes. The Democrats, placed third, with 7.18 percent of votes becoming the choicest party to form a coalition for the runoff.

The Democrats, however, have put forth a condition to agree to a coalition; holding a constitutional referendum.

MDP’s Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail told Sun on Monday that the party was not agreeable to hold a constitutional referendum before the runoff, however, was agreeable to holding a constitutional referendum after the runoff. He noted that the party’s decision has now been informed to The Democrats.

“Have informed that we are agreeable to hold a constitutional referendum after the election,” he said.

However, The Democrats has been advocating to hold a constitutional referendum on September 25th. Opposition PPM-PNC coalition has refused the condition, while the imprisoned PPM’s leader, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom has rejected a meeting with The Democrats’ driving force, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

Therewith, The Democrats has previously said they were only in discussions with MDP at the moment.

Meanwhile, The Democrats is set to make an official decision on their stance for the presidential election’s runoff at an interim council meeting of the party slated for 9:00pm tonight.

The Democrats was formed by a breakaway faction from MDP after major divisions between pro-government and anti-government members. Former members of MDP who left the party to join The Democrats have previously criticized the government, while also making major allegations.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Fayyaz: We have no agreement with the Democrats

Published

4 hours ago

04/10/2023

MDP’s Chairperson, Fayyaz Ismail has said today that even if the Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, has said that MDP has agreed to the referendum for changing the governing system, there has been no such agreement between MDP and the Democrats.

Heading today’s Parliamentary sitting, Nasheed said that MDP has informed the Democrats that they will give their full cooperation to the referendum.

“As far as I know, MDP asked the Democrats to not support any party and if they do so MDP will cooperate with the referendum,” Nasheed said.

Speaking to Sun, Fayyaz said, in response to Nasheed, that there is no agreement between MDP and the Democrats and that Nasheed was adding to the truth. He also said that he does not know any reason for Nasheed to do so.

“That is not correct information. I don’t know why Nasheed said that,” Fayyaz said.

Nasheed, who left MDP, after remaining the leader of the party for many years, due to issues between President Solih and himself, said today that he can no longer trust MDP.

After MDP’s primary elections, Nasheed refused to support President Solih. When the relationship between them both soured further and the people who supported Nasheed left MDP and established a new political party called the Democrats.

After the Election Commission registered the party, Nasheed also left MDP and signed up for the Democrats.

The interim council of the Democrats, who received seven percent in the first round of the presidential elections, presented both of the two main political parties with heavy conditions. However, the interim Chairperson of Democrats, Hassan Latheed, even said that they decided not to support either party in the second round as both parties refused to agree to the conditions.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Chinese leader congratulates Muizzu, seeks to reinforce ties

Published

24 hours ago

03/10/2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on winning the Maldives presidential election on Tuesday, expressing keenness in deepening the age-old ties between Maldives and China.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Chinese ambassador Wang Lixin shared a message sent by Xi, congratulating the Maldivian president-elect.

In the message, Xi noted that the friendly relations between Maldives and China date back to ancient times.

“China and Maldives are not only good friends of sincerity, mutual trust and mutual assistance, but also good partners for common development and prosperity,” he said.

Xi said that he attached great importance to the enhancement of Maldives-China relations, and expressed keenness in working with Muizzu on that front.

“I’m ready to work with you to carry forward the traditional friendship and deepen practical cooperation so as to promote China-Maldives future-oriented all-round friendly and cooperative partnership with more progress,” he said.

Maldives and China established official diplomatic relations on April 15, 1972. The relations between the two countries had seen significant enhancement during the first PPM administration from 2013-2018.

Muizzu, from the PPM-PNC, won the presidential election runoff on Saturday with 54 percent of votes, beating MDP’s Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the incumbent president, who won 46 percent.

Source(s): sun.mv

World

Saudi Arabia hosts China-Arab publishing cooperation forum

Published

1 day ago

03/10/2023

RIYADH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — The China-Arab States Publishing Cooperation and Exchange Forum was held on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Under the theme of “Deepening China-Arab Publishing Cooperation and Exchanges, Promoting Mutual Learning between Chinese and Arab Civilizations,” publishers from China and Arab countries reviewed their cooperation in translation, publishing, copyright trade, book fair platforms and online publishing.

The summit also paved the way for a translation project of 100 Chinese and Arab classics, exploring the establishment of a China-Saudi Arabia online publishing exchange mechanism, jointly expanding the platform for international cooperation, and promoting mutual learning between Chinese and Arab civilizations.

The event was attended by a senior official with the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), representatives from the Arab Publishers Association and the Saudi Scientific Research and Knowledge Exchange Center, as well as more than 100 Chinese and Arab publishers, scholars, experts and writers.

Source(s): Xinhua