Former home minister Umar Naseer has reiterated his commitment to stand for the upcoming presidential elections insisting that he would not "back out".
Umar Naseer remains the only candidate to publicly announce his intentions to stand for the crunch elections slated for September 23 alongside incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and opposition alliance presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
However, Umar's failure to name a running mate had sparked rumours that he could back out of the elections.
In an interview with AVAS, Umar insisted that he would name a running mate before he officially submits his candidacy when the elections commission opens candidacy filing on Monday.
"My manifesto is now almost complete. Most of it has already been shared with the public. Campaign efforts are also underway," Umar explained.
Umar added that he had been waiting for the opposition alliance to name a candidate and reveal their plans to get the country back on track.
"By waiting I mean to see what changes they [opposition] plans to bring to the country. What their vision is. Whether they can solve the problems facing this nation. What their plan is to do that. So I was waiting to see all that. Now we know that three people are most likely to contest this election. The other candidate is president Yameen and we know what has happened in the past five years. So we're very familiar with what he will do and what he won't," Umar said.
He aimed a dig at the opposition alliance manifesto saying that it was still "very vague."
