Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that he was inspired by Adhaalath Party leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla's work towards reform.

Nasheed, who recently returned to Maldives after years in exile, met with Imran on Sunday. Sentenced to 12-years on terror charges in 2016, he was freed last Thursday after the Supreme Court issued a stay order on the enforcement of his sentence.

In a tweet posted afterwards, the former president said that Imran had been a source of strength for him in the past years, highlighting that the Adhaalath Party leader had refused to take a single step backwards in their reform work.

Nasheed further commended Imran’s wife, Mariyam Reem’s hard work following his incarceration in May 2015.

While Imran was released the same day Nasheed made his return to Maldives, the former joined the celebrations immediately after.

Nasheed and Imran, along with Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, have been working against sitting President Abdulla Yameen’s autocratic rule.

They worked together to defeat Yameen in the presidential elections, uniting behind a single candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who went on to take 58.4 percent of the votes.

All four opposition leaders have vowed to keep the coalition intact, and to put national interests over their own self interests.