Opposition leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed has arrived in Sri Lanka, where he is to hold a press conference on Monday.

Nasheed arrived in Colombo on Sunday, and was welcomed at Bandaranaike International Airport by Ahmed Naseem, his administration’s foreign minister, former parliamentarian and international spokesperson of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Hamid Abdul Ghafoor and Umar Abdul Razzaq, a member of the Maldivian Democratic Party’s national assembly.

Nasheed is to speak at a press conference in the Grand Crystal Ballroom of Taj Samudhra Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Monday, January 22.

According to Gafoor, the former President “will respond to the government's reply to UN Human Rights Committee, urging it find that his disqualification to run for President was in violation of International Law”.

UNHRC is to consider the case during its March/April sessions this year.

Earlier in January, attorney general Mohamed Anil refuted claims that the United Nations is pushing for Nasheed to be able to contest in the upcoming presidential elections, slated for later this year, highlighting that it is not in its mandate to do so.

At UNHRC’s 35th session in 2016, a group of more than 30 countries called on the Maldives to restore constitutional freedoms, allow space for political opposition, and prevent the intimidation of human rights defenders.

However, the Maldivian government dismissed the statement, calling it “unwarranted and unconstructive”. It further accused the United Kingdom of “unduly attempting to affect domestic politics in the country”.