Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom said that any party acquiring a majority at Parliament is in essence, not necessarily an issue.

While President Yameen is the leader of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), he said this during a joint press conference held by PPM and newly formed People’s National Congress (PNC). Former President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has declared that the party is aiming for a majority at the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

President Yameen spoke regarding a centralized system of governance and said that the Maldivian public needs to consider how appropriate the system is before embracing it. He said that, weather governance is carried out by State officials or even a coalition under a centralized system, the government will fall without a majority at Parliament.

He highlighted that while members flitter from one party to another, the public needs to ask itself how appropriate a centralized system of governance is.

The former President said that Israel and Italy are among “unstable” countries under a centralised system of governance where coalitions and change in government are frequent. He said that this is due to the majority at Parliament being acquired by minor political parties. President Yameen further said that the government then falls, the moment one of the smaller parties look in another direction. He said that the government typically has to then seek other means of bringing more people into the coalition.

He said that the way to ensure a government’s accountability is through the opposition party acquiring a majority. President Yameen also said however, that the ruling party has to acquire majority at Parliament if the country is under a centralized system of governance.