Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that he will be running for president again, in the 2023 presidential elections.

Nasheed, who is also the current speaker of parliament, said this during a virtual Q and A session named “Ask Speaker” held on Monday night.

While the former president was asked whether he would endorse incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih if he decided to run for a second term, Nasheed said that he will be the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s candidate in the 2023 elections.

Solih was elected to office in September 2018 after running against then-President Abdulla Yameen. He ran as the joint candidate of a coalition comprising of MDP, Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath Party (AP) and Maldives Reform Movement (MRM). The leaders of the coalition include Nasheed and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the nation for 30 years before losing to Nasheed in the country’s first multiparty presidential election in 2008.

While this is the first time Nasheed has expressed in running for presidency again, the former president said that he still would prefer a parliamentary system of governance than the current one.

Noting that he will continue to do the necessary work to bring about this change, Nasheed said that he was certain opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and its leader former President Yameen will support the change.

While the current speaker was also questioned on Yameen’s future in the 2023 elections, Nasheed said that he had never wished ill on the former president and that he wishes for all parties to be able to nominate a candidate in the elections.

However, Nasheed added that he does not believe that country will hold another presidential election.

While Nasheed was elected to office in 2008, he was ousted in what he described as a coup in February 2012. He lost the 2013 elections to Yameen, and was not allowed to contest in the 2018 elections due to a 13-year prison sentence issued in March 2015.