Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), led by jailed former president Abdulla Yameen’s half-brother, is against releasing the opposition leader ‘under any condition.’

The party’s secretary-general Abdul Aleem said this during an appearance on RaajjeTV on Saturday night, where he emphasized that Yameen was sentenced after being found guilty of money laundering. He added that additional cases are being investigated against the former president, and stressed that such an individual must not be released, even on bail.

Aleem further said that MRM believes that the courts must follow all rules and regulations, and consider Yameen’s crimes when making a decision on his bail. The former president's legal team has filed a case at the High Court, seeking bail. Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison on 28 November, after being found guilty of laundering U.S dollars through the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) via a private company SoF, during his presidency. He was also fined MVR five million to be paid in six months.

He also spoke on the decrease in opposition coalition supporters, stating that this shows the lack of support for Yameen.

While MRM leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was the former leader of now opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the MRM secretary-general also touched on how the party broke into two factions.

As such, Aleem said that this happened because Maumoon “spoke against corruption.”

While MRM is the third political party founded by Maumoon, he also founded Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Aleem said that he does not believe that the party has anyone that will try to create a rift.

PPM was founded after the issues that rose within DRP after Maumoon’s loss in the 2008 presidential elections. With its formation, a number of senior officials from DRP defected to the party as well as those from People’s Alliance; a party formed by Yameeen.

While he won the 2013 presidential elections through a PPM ticket, reports of issues between the half-brothers emerged less than a year later.

The Maldives Reform Movement, formally known as the ‘Maumoon Reform Movement’, was officially registered as a political party in November last year, and Aleem said that the party’s aim for the year is to reach 10,000 members.