Yameen would not want to win by sending me to prison: Nasheed

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) primary election contestant Abdullah Yameen would not want to win the upcoming presidential election by sending Nasheed to prison.

Nasheed said this while speaking at a rally held in Galolhu-North last night, as part of MDP’s door-to-door ‘Walk of Pledges’ campaign. Nasheed said that no candidate who wants to win by competing in an election would want to arrest him or send him to prison.

“I don’t think candidates would try to win the election by sending a candidate representing thousands of Maldivians to prison. I certainly don’t think, for example, that PPM presidential candidate Abdullah Yameen would want to win by arresting me or sending me to prison. He would also want to compete in order to win,” he said.

Nasheed said that while members of President Waheed’s government have talked on several occasions about sending him to prison, this would not be possible.

“Some ministers have said that I would be sentenced, that I would be sent to prison. I am telling you very clearly, they will not be able to do that. See how their stories have changed. First they said that I would be sentenced to life in prison. Then they said I would be sent to prison for a long period. And now the charges against me carry a sentence of only two, three or four months. The penalty for the charges is a mere MVR100 fine,” he said.

Nasheed said that political parties should make promises, but they should ensure that they can fulfil those promises. He said that after making a promise, politicians should explain how money would be used to fulfil it.

He said that it would not be possible to believe a person who says that oil can be extracted in the Maldives, and that people who say this should explain how this would be done and how much it would cost.