Speaker of Parliament, and leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Qasim Ibrahim has said that if there ever was a coup d'état, it was former President Mohamed Nasheed that carried it out.

Qasim said this in response to questions posed by journalists during a press conference. He said that he has never believed that an actual coup d'état ever even took place. Qasim said that if there ever was a coup, it was at the hands of President Nasheed. He said that this was owed to President Nasheed not knowing how to properly run a country. He further said that President Nasheed had carried out his actions after not knowing how to properly allocate funds. He reiterated that the reality kf what had happened was that President Nasheed had then placed blame on other people following these events.

Qasim said this after President Nasheed had said in a campaign event at Hulhudhoo that the government will fall into a coup d'état carried out by opposition, if a majority at Parliament is not secured for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

President Nasheed had said that events similar to that of the years from 2008 to 2012 that led to the fall of his government to a coup, are playing out even right now. He said that should MDP not secure a majority in Parliamentary elections, events similar to that of 2008 will come to pass.

Qasim Ibrahim responded to the comments made by President Nasheed and said that te lockdown of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Service Commission took place due to President Nasheed not knowing how to govern. He said that during this time, President Nasheed did not know how to provide wages for Civil Servants and added that the benefits given to MNDF and Police officers had also been cut off by President Nasheed.

The leader of JP said that the people only came out and took to protests calling for the release of judges after there was no other alternative.

He raised the question as to who implemented a coup d'état and stressed that the people only took to protests under pain and loss of confidence in the government. Qasim also said that opposition leaders came out to ensure the release of the judges.

He said that President Nasheed is attempting to influence people’s thoughts by claiming that it was former Minister of Defence Colonel Nazim and former Police Commissioner and current MP for Kinbidhoo constituency Mohamed Riyaz who had executed the coup d'état. Qasim said that he completely denies President Nasheed’s claims that the coup d'état under these senior officials at the time had been carried out under Qasim’s leadership.