Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has said former president of the Maldives and main opposition leader Abdulla Yameen remains incarcerated because his party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), has not worked hard enough to secure his release.
Yameen is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence on a money laundering and bribery conviction.
Speaking at a rally held ah GDh. Gadhdhoo for The Democrats' presidential candidate, MP Ilyas Labeeb, Nasheed Friday said PPM leaders have failed to put in enough effort towards freeing Yameen. As a result, party members are unhappy, prompting some to consider voting for Labeeb, said Nasheed.
"If the PPM had done [enough] work, President Yameen would not be in jail today. President Yameen has been in jail for the entirety of the five years of this term. [It is only because] many people in the PPM leadership today hope for it to be that way," Nasheed said.
Reflecting on his own experience of imprisonment during Yameen's presidency, Nasheed highlighted the instrumental role played by his former party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), in securing his release. Nasheed made a bold promise that Yameen would be released within a week of the PPM agreeing to work with the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election.
“I can assure the PPM members that within a week of signing an agreement to work with us, I will bring President Yameen home even if means I have to be on the streets the entire time,” Nasheed said.
Nasheed added that only The Democrats can free President Yameen. Therefore, all PPM members should vote for the Democratic candidate Ilyas in the upcoming election, he said.
