Former parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid said that he will be supporting former President Mohamed Nasheed in the MDP primaries.

Shahid said this in a tweet on Monday with a picture of him with the Nasheed, the leader of MDP.

Speaking to RaajjeMV after the tweet, Shahid said he wants a leader that listens to the people and that Nasheed is the only one who can get the Maldives out of the current turmoil.

The MDP primaries will begin on May 15 and voting on May 30. Nasheed is the only one who has announced his running in the primaries, and has already begun his campaign. His campaign manager is North-Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Aslam.

MDP and the other Joint Opposition parties have agreed to back one candidate in this year’s presidential election. They have agreed to pick the unity candidate out of the ones chosen in the party primaries.

Since Nasheed, who is in self-exile, is still to serve his prison sentence, he is barred from running in the presidential election. However, Nasheed has said that he will be allowed to run in the election at the last minute.

However, the government is vehemently against letting Nasheed run. Fisheries minister Dr Mohamed Shainee, the government representative of its talks with the opposition parties, has said that the ballot will not have Nasheed’s name in it. Also, Azima Shakoor, the President’s Office legal affairs minister, said that Nasheed won’t be allowed to run even if the United Nation (UN)’s calls for it.