The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has elected Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa as its interim chairperson. He received 65 votes from the 66 members present at Monday night’s national assembly session. The sixty-sixth attendee chaired the meeting and was not eligible to vote unless there was a tie.
Ghafoor thanked members for their trust and acknowledged the service of former chairperson Fayyaz Ismail. He is the longest-serving member of the MDP parliamentary group in terms of years in Parliament.
His immediate task is to prepare the party for the upcoming local council elections. The position became vacant following Fayyaz’s resignation.
The vote comes a week after an earlier leadership process collapsed. Former Dhidhdhoo MP Abdulla Waheed withdrew his candidacy after accusing party president Abdulla Shahid, former president and party adviser Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, and members of the Parliamentary Group (PG) of failing to honour pledges of support. In a letter to Shahid, Waheed said he entered the race only after senior figures encouraged him to run.
According to Waheed, events on 27 November contradicted those commitments. During the National Assembly session that night, he secured 49 votes in a show-of-hands count. One vote was later withdrawn, leaving him with 48 — the minimum required from 95 eligible voters. Members linked to Solih, Shahid and the PG began to walk out during the recount, and the meeting collapsed before the result was formally declared.
Party figures said the tally indicated broader support for the bloc aligned with former chairperson Fayyaz Ismail than senior leaders had anticipated.
Ghafoor’s election fills the leadership gap after Fayyaz Ismail backed him as a unity candidate.