Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has urged incumbent President Abdulla Yameen to accept his defeat in the presidential elections.

Maumoon, who is President Yameen’s half-brother, said that ‘for his own sake’ he should accept that opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidency.

The opposition leader, who was recently released from prison on bail, said this while speaking to the press after meeting with president-elect Solih.

Maumoon told the press that when he was defeated by Mohamed Nasheed in the 2008 election, his colleagues had advised him not to accept the results. However, Maumoon said that while he had lost by a narrower margin than Yameen did, he had decided to accept defeat out of concern that if he did not, it might create national unrest.

Maumoon, who played a crucial role in getting Yameen elected, said that in a democracy, even receiving one less vote is a loss and so he urges Yameen to not attempt to create disorder in the country and to step down peacefully after saying his farewell to the citizens.