North-Henveiru constituency MP Abdulla Shahid has said that the Maldives Joint Opposition will take the country to the right path “through the People’s Majlis, with the 12 dismissed opposition parliamentarians”.

Speaking on RaajjeTV’s FalaSurukhee programme on Saturday night, the former parliament speaker referred to the 12 lawmakers as “heroes”.

Noting that important votes such as the vote on budget were taken without these 12 MPs, who were chosen by the people, MP Shahid said that this is not acceptable, “in any way”.

He further noted that the Maldives has always been seen as a peace-loving nation, but that “this has all changed due to a tyrannical government”.

Highlighting the government’s various violations, MP Shahid said that the opposition will stop incumbent President Abdulla Yameen, adding that they will “not do anything out of legal ambit”.

He also called on the people to remain steadfast with the opposition, and their reform work.

The 12 MPs were unseated by the Elections Commission last year, following a Supreme Court ruling banning floor-crossing. While the Supreme Court had issued a ruling reinstating them on February 1, 2018, President Yameen refused to implement the order and had instead declared a nation-wide state of emergency.