Male, February 27 (newsin.Asia): Dunya Maumoon, one of the State (Junior) Ministers of Health in the Maldivian Council of Ministers, and a daughter of incarcerated former President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has resigned from her Ministerial post saying that she wants her father to be released.
She was one among four State Ministers of Health. She was earlier Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs but resigned in 2016. She rejoined the Council of Ministers in 2017 as a State (Junior) Minister of Heath, against her father Gayoom’s advice.
Dunya announced her resignation in a statement on Tuesday. Her departure from her uncle’s government appeared imminent after President Abdulla Yameen arrested her father on February 6, but has taken weeks to materialize.
“Resignation is not an easy decision and I walk away with a heavy heart. Walking away does not solve the country’s problems. Today, at this time of pain and crisis for both my family and my country, it is my sincere hope to see my father home at the earliest Insha’Allah. He is not just my father, but The Father of the Nation, who has built this country and has earned the respect and love of the people,” she said.
“HEP Yameen is my uncle, he is also my blood. My offer to support the President and other political leaders to resolve conflict through peaceful dialogue remains.”
She further said that she will remain Independent and join the opposition.
She said that the Maldives is yet to get used to multi-party democracy and democratic institutions whether political or judicial ,are yet to be development. In her view, multi-party democracy democracy had been fast tracked in Maldives because of international pressure from 2004 to 2008.
Dunya appealed to the international community to understand the difficulties that a young democracy is going through and help it overcome the difficulties it is facing now.
Gayoom campaigned on behalf of Yameen during the 2013 Presidential election, but withdrew support for him in 2016 after a bitter power struggle within the ruling party that saw it split in half.
“I have refused to be bullied by different political forces and I remain strong and stand by my convictions. As I said before, I walk alone. I have not joined the opposition and I remain an independent. A proud Maldivian citizen,” she said.
Dunya’s brother Faris Maumoon has emerged as a leading figure in the opposition alliance but is currently in jail. In his absence, Dunya’s twin sister Yumna has represented the breakaway faction.
Yumna’s husband Nadeem was jailed along with Gayoom.
(The featured image at the top shows Dunya Maumoon)
