Self exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed Thursday vowed to return to the Maldives in time for the next presidential elections slated for 2018.
Nasheed serving 13 years in prison for the arbitrary arrest and subsequent detention of a sitting judge while he was president now lives in exile in the UK after he was allowed to leave for medical treatment in an internationally brokered deal.
The ex-president during a program on opposition aligned Raajje TV on Thursday insisted that he would return to the Maldives even if it means he would have to go back to prison.
"Insha Allah I will return to the Maldives. If it means straight to prison, so be it. I don't intend to spend the rest of my life in exile like this. Insha Allah I will return before the presidential elections in 2018," Nasheed said.
Nasheed said he was "100 percent" confident that he would be taken back to prison as soon as he returns but quickly said he would take it is a necessary sacrifice for his effort to restore democracy in the Maldives.
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom had urged Nasheed to return to the Maldives and continue to serve the people.
The government had recently revoked Nasheed's passport and issued an arrest warrant to force him to return and serve the the remainder of his sentence.
Despite criticism over his decision to flee the country, Nasheed said he had no regrets over his decision.
