Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdullah on Thursday said that he still remains steadfast in the reform movement, in spite of President Abdullah Yameen’s intentions to halt reform movement.

He made the statement in a message delivered to the Joint Opposition rally held in Maafannu Kunooz to mark 1,000 days in prison for Imran, which was read by Shidhatha Shareef, Adhaalath Party’s Foreign Relations Committee Chair.

In his message, Imran said that President Yameen had hoped to halt the reform movement by jailing him. He said in spite of his jail sentence, he remained as committed to reform as he was 1,000 days back. Imran added that he intended to remain the same.

Imran said the biggest push he got was from the support and will of public.

He added that he had faith that fellow coalition leaders will carry on reform movement, in spite of him being in jail.

‘Even if I was in jail, Presidents Mohamed Nasheed, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Honorable Qasim Ibrahim will lead this, using their will, courage, determination and forward thinking,’ he said.

Imran was jailed for 12 years following the guilty verdict on terror charges.

Referring to the current situation, Imran said these were the darkest days in the nation’s history, after the public attack on President Mohamed Ameen.

‘I started on this reform movement, when I became sure that the leader of the nation had no intention of protecting state resources, weapons cache, state emblem and flag, protecting and upholding Islam and Constitution, rule according to the spirit of the Constitution,’ Imran said.

Imran further noted the President’s influence into the judiciary, which had resulted in jailing President Mohamed Nasheed, framed Defense Minister Colonel Rtd Mohamed Nazim. The persecution on Qasim Ibrahim, he said, served to both intimidate him and extort funds from him.

He added that he allied with opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to bring the nation to a calm.

Imran reflected on the message of 2015 May Day, which was a plea to seek a peaceful solution with citizens. President Yameen, he said, had responded to this by being stubborn, insisting on chaos.

He said the biggest issue he had was the unjust treatment meted out to arrestees of the May Day protests. Imran noted that one of the arrestees had passed away, adding that this was the most distressing aspect. He further said that they were arrested on trumped up charges and called on to free them.

‘The sacrifice of their families, for the sake of the nation, will be written in the nation’s history,’ he added.

Imran thanked Adhaalath Party, MDP and Jumhooree Party for their unwavering faith in him and the reform movement. He especially noted then Chairperson of MDP Ali Waheed, JP Deputy Leader Ameen Ibrahim, JP Foreign Secretary Sobah Rasheed, who are currently living in exile and expressed concern over this.