Nasheed thanks the people for choosing democracy 'again'

Self-exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed has thanked the Maldivian people for endorsing ‘democracy again’.

In a series of tweets sent out following the announcement of the final results of the 2018 presidential election on Saturday, Nasheed stated that the people of Maldives ‘have said a resounding no to autocratic strong man politics’, adding that ‘they have endorsed democracy again’.

Further thanking the people and congratulating the country’s newly elected president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nasheed described it as ‘a very proud moment’.

The former president also thanked Solih’s running mate, vice president-elect Faisal Naseem for his hard work throughout the campaign, adding that the election victory was the result of Solih and Naseem’s ‘combined chemistry’.

“With this election victory, the members and supporters of the Maldivian Democratic Party have yet again pulled the Maldives back from the brink of authoritarian rule. Your imagination and hard work will never be forgotten in Maldives’ history,” he added in a separate tweet.

Nasheed won MDP’s primary for the presidential election despite being in exile, but was forced to withdraw due to authorities’ refusal to accept his candidacy. He was sentenced to 13 years on terrorism in March 2015, following a trial deemed ‘politicallu motivated’ by both the local and international community.

Furthermore, he is one of the nine high-profile prisoners whose release was ordered in the controversial Supreme Court order back in February