- DRP gears up for second round of campaigning in Male and the atolls.
- Gayoom ready to join Nasheed for debate.
- DRP will not announce formation of coalitions before agreements are finalized.
MALE, Maldives — Maumoon 2008 Campaign Media Manager Ibrahim Athif Shakoor provided the press with campaign updates for the run-off round of the elections. He also commented on rumors of coalitions between the Dhivehi Raiyyitunge Party (DRP) and other Maldivian political parties at a press conference held at the Media Office at 1230hrs.
Campaign trail
Athif Shakoor said that DRP Presidential candidate incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will be touring the atolls and making campaign visits to specific locations in Male in the coming weeks.
He said that the 1230 press conference which will be a serial event throughout the working week from now onwards will provide updates from the campaign trail.
Debate
Athif Shakoor said in response to a question from the press that there is no reason why Gayoom would not agree to attend a debate with his Presidential contender Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed.
Athif Shakoor said that the reason why the Maumoon 2008 Campaign was reticent to do so before was because the earlier format allowed for other candidates to jointly attack Gayoom and that this campaign believes such a format defeats the purpose of a fair debate.
Joint Action
Commenting on the rumored formation of coalitions between the DRP and other political parties Athif Shakoor said that his party is in talks with other parties and that he would not say that a specific party has joined the DRP before the fact.
He said that claiming the support of a party before an agreement is finalized does not fit into DRP policy.
Elections
Athif Shakoor said that the public as a whole is more “energized” following the first round of elections in light of the observations he made at the DRP’s victory celebration at Imaduddin on the 9th of this month.
He said that in contrast to the first round, the public now faces a stark choice between two candidates and it is up to the people to choose the one who will usher in further developments to the country. He said that the people should also give importance to choosing a candidate who will work towards acclimatizing the country to democratic principles and integrating reform legislation into society and culture.
He said that the country is still new to recently established legal and institutional reforms citing the example that certain parties mistakenly associated the independent Election’s Commission (EC) with the Government following complaints of voting irregularities.
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