Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the reason he opted to stay in exile until now is because he knew that he could do more for the country from abroad.
The self-exiled former president returned to Maldives on Thursday afternoon, a little over a month after the Joint Opposition’s candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih emerged victorious against sitting President Abdulla Yameen in the presidential election.
In early October, Nasheed announced plans to return to Maldives on November 1 “come what may”; he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in March 2015, and has been living in exile since 2016 after being granted political asylum in the United Kingdom during a medical trip there.
When asked why he did not return to Maldives prior to the election “come what may” at a press conference held in the evening, the former president said that he believed he could more for the Joint Opposition’s reform work from abroad.
Noting that his main aim was to topple Yameen’s administration, Nasheed said that it would not have been “smart” for him to return prior to that.
“In short, I remained abroad to continue the work to remove President Yameen,” he said.
However, he highlighted that he wanted to do the work within democratic principles, “through a vote”, adding that he will always remain as such.
Noting that returning to Maldives beforehand did not seem the best way to accomplish this, Nasheed stated that “this can be clearly seen today”.
The Maldives’ first democratically elected president further said that despite being away from the country and people, that he continued to interact with the people and shared their sentiments with the international leaders and representatives he met while in exile.
He added that technology made it easy for him to interact with the people, even if he was far away.
During his nearly three years in exile, Nasheed held a number of Facebook Lives where he spoke directly to the people.
Thousands gathered in capital Malé City to welcome the former president back home on Thursday.
After arriving in Malé at Izzudheen Jetty, Nasheed walked to the Aritificial Beach where he addressed the public for the first time since 2015.
Speaking there, he emphasized that the opposition leaders are “indebted” to the Maldivian people.
He concluded the speech by quashing any reports that he and the president-elect were having issues, leading a chant of ‘President Ibu!’
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