The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is now trapped in a crisis that its own leadership created. Party president Abdulla Shahid and party adviser, former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, stepped back from responsibility at the moment the party needed direction. Their refusal to lead opened a path for the Parliamentary Group (PG), and the group moved quickly to take advantage.
The first signs of this abandonment appeared soon after former chairperson Fayyaz Ismail resigned. Instead of taking control of the party’s affairs, Shahid and Solih tried to hand authority to a three-member committee. Legal advisers told them the arrangement would violate party rules. They then turned to the idea of electing an interim chair through the National Assembly. Neither step showed leadership. Both steps exposed hesitation and fear of owning the party’s problems.
This vacuum allowed the PG, made up of twelve MDP MPs, to begin asserting itself. The PG is not guided by unity or shared ideology. It is driven mostly by individual ambition. Its leader, South Hithadhoo MP Ibrahim Nazil, has taken centre stage. Party insiders, analysts, and several MPs say Nazil sees a path to contest the 2028 presidential primary. Kendhoo MP Mauroof Zakir is now widely viewed as his preferred running mate. The pair act with clear coordination.
The interim chair vote showed how deep the leadership failure had become. Abdulla Shahid, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the PG aligned to counter the Fayyaz bloc. Their aim was to block the faction that had supported Fayyaz Ismail during his tenure. The plan collapsed. Nazil had predicted that the Fayyaz bloc held only 15 to 20 votes. Shahid and Solih accepted the same number. The recount proved all three groups wrong. Forty-nine members supported former Dhidhdhoo MP Abdulla Waheed, with forty-eight needed.
The miscalculation was severe. It exposed how little Shahid, Solih and the PG understood the internal dynamics of the National Council. As the count exposed their error, members linked to all three factions began walking out of the hall. Their exit disrupted the meeting, but it failed to hide the reality. A report later sent to Shahid confirmed that the attempt to block the vote had failed.
Abdulla Waheed’s withdrawal letter added clarity to the breakdown. Waheed, a former Dhidhdhoo MP, had entered the interim chair race with initial backing from Solih, Shahid and the PG. A PG member urged him to run, and Waheed wrote that Solih and Shahid encouraged him and promised their support. The Fayyaz bloc later backed him as a unity candidate to stabilise the party. Only the Fayyaz bloc kept its word. Solih, Shahid and the PG abandoned their commitments during the vote. Waheed wrote that the events of 27 November contradicted every assurance he received. His account pointed to unreliable behaviour from the party’s top leadership and from the PG that pushed him into a contest they later walked away from.
Neither Shahid nor Solih addressed the collapse of their strategy. Both remained silent. Analysts say their silence is part of the pattern. Commentators describe both as leaders who avoid tension rather than manage it. Their retreat is what created the space for the PG to step forward with its own agenda.
The PG has now started acting as if it is the party’s main power centre. It undermines the party president and the party adviser while positioning itself as the only active force. The group’s confidence does not match its mandate. It reflects personal ambition rather than organisational responsibility.
The situation has become simple to describe and difficult to fix. Shahid and Solih abandoned their duties. The PG exploited that abandonment to expand its influence. The result is a party with no steady leadership, pulled by MPs who prioritise their personal rise over the party’s stability.
The MDP is watching its leadership collapse from both ends. At the top, the president and adviser stepped back. At the parliamentary level, the PG stepped over them. The damage will be felt by the party and its supporters long after the individuals who caused this crisis attempt to claim new positions in future contests.