Jailed Dhiggaru MP Faris Maumoon has said that victory is near for Maldivians.

MP Faris said this in a statement released to commemorate the one-year anniversary of opposition MPs filing a no-confidence motion against pro-government Speaker Abdulla Maseeh.

In the statement, Faris said the opposition began their reform work after seeing the deterioration of democratic principles, and that the motion signed by 26 MPs was an important step in protecting the rights of citizens.

“While the motion was thrown out unlawfully, the second motion was filed with signatures of 45 MPs. That is evidence that the lawmakers remain steadfast in upholding the Constitution.”

Faris said that the government had, in the name of protecting the Speaker, arrested him and many other MPs and spread their influence onto state authorities and removed lawmakers. The ordeal has exposed the government’s influence on the courts and its stranglehold on independent institutions.

He said that the successes that the opposition coalition has achieved so far is due to the support of the citizens and ended by thanking the political leaders, lawmakers, and the citizens for their contributions to the cause.