President Yameen must reconsider once the public makes their decision: Ex-President Nasheed

Whilst referring to previous incidents where President Yameen had gone back on his decision, former president Mohamed Nasheed has urged President Yameen to reconsider allowing him to run for presidency this year once the public calls for it.

Speaking through Skype at the campaign ceremony held in Thulhaadhoo last night, President Nasheed said that even though five Justices of the Supreme Court unanimously permitted him to contest in the presidential election and the UN has announced their consent twice, the public has not received the opportunity to make a decision regarding his candidacy yet. Therefore he requested Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) members from Thulhaadhoo and other islands in Baa atoll to vote for him in the upcoming party primaries.

'This party hasn't decided if I could run for presidency yet. So I request the members of the party to decide. Supreme Court and UN has already decided', said President Nasheed

Former President Nasheed also stated that President Yameen will be hesitant to allow the candidacy given that he knows he will lose.

Additionally, the former president also said that even if the Maldivian government and President Yameen decided to deny him the candidacy, MDP members' decision needs to be clear to the public as well as the international community. While highlighting previous times President Yameen has gone back on his word due to popular public demand, President Nasheed requested him to do the same regarding the election.

'President Yameen would not want to contest against me. But the upcoming elections is more important than both him and myself. It will be an elections in which the Maldivian public will make one of the most important decisions for our nation which is currently seems to be hanging over a razor blade', said Nasheed while referring to the critical political situation in the Maldives.

President Nasheed also talked about the increasing social issues in the Maldives. He added that while killings have increased rapidly under the current administration, the responsible institutions have neither sufficiently investigated the cases nor been able to grant justice to the deceased. In addition to which he also said that the country has been sold out due to international debt while urging the government to bring changes regarding the issue.