New Delhi: On Sunday night, Mohamed Nasheed watched his childhood friend Ibrahim Solih declare victory live on television. It was a poignant moment for Nasheed who couldn’t stand for elections due to his conviction, but who campaigned for his friend through social media.
After president Abdulla Yameen conceded the elections on Monday, Nasheed told The Wire that Solih’s political skills had been key in bringing and keeping the joint opposition together.
And Nasheed knows him well. They not only grew up together, but Solih also married his first cousin.
During the campaign, Yameen had taunted Solih as being the hand to hold the knife to cut the cake of the coalition.
But Solih won the Maldives presidential elections on Sunday convincingly – bagging 58% of votes as compared to Yameen’s 42%, with a margin of around 40,000 votes. Over 89% of the Maldivian electorate turned out for the elections and stood in line for hours.
“He is an excellent person to best get different views together,” he said, on the phone from Colombo. “He is the best for the coalition.”
Former president Mohamed Nasheed has been largely living in the Sri Lankan capital, with the government, especially Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, being sympathetic to the Maldivian opposition.
“We won against the odds,” Nasheed said of the opposition’s electoral victory.
But his return to Maldives may not be swift.
Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen speaks as he gives a statement at President office in Male, Maldives, September 24, 2018. President Media//Handout via Reuters
Nasheed was forced to resign in 2012 due to a mutiny by security forces. In March 2015, he was sentenced to 13 years on terrorism charges. Following foreign pressure, especially from Sri Lanka, Nasheed was allowed to leave Maldives for UK for medical treatment in January 2016. Five months later, UK granted him political refugee status.
The UN working group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) had ruled in September 2015 that Nasheed’s conviction was in violation of obligations accepted under international treaties, including International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
“I will return.. but also would like the rulings of the United Nations and the Supreme Court to be upheld,” he said.
Nasheed was referring to Maldives Supreme Court’s February 1 ruling which released political prisoners and triggered Yameen to impose a state of emergency.
When the MDP held the party’s primary in May this year, he had been the MDP’s sole presidential candidate. But with election commission not accepting the results, he was forced to withdraw from the fray.
Because of his conviction, Nasheed is barred from running for public office for 16 years.
When asked if he would like to be part of the government, Nasheed demurred, “I will always be on the side of my friend….but may not be in government”.
On the fate of former President Yameen, Nasheed said that he was not speaking on behalf of the joint opposition, which would have to take a call on it soon. “We will have to take a collective decision on how to proceed”.
However, he has certainly a personal opinion. “My view is that there should be investigation,” said Nasheed.
A day after the election victory, Sri Lankan Prime Minister met with Nasheed on Monday afternoon.
Significantly, Wickremesinghe also spoke to Yameen and told him that he is “always welcome to visit Sri Lanka, anytime he wishes”.
Nasheed, along with his party, had been vocal about concerns Chinese investment in mega infrastructure projects. He reiterated the manifesto pledge that there would be a review of Chinese projects by the new government.
During the election campaign, Chinese diplomats in Maldives had reached out to the opposition over the latter’s criticism of Chinese investment in the Indian ocean nation, sources told The Wire.
When pointed out current Sri Lanka government had also intended to review Chinese projects, but had to change their mind due to billowing external debt, Nasheed added, “We will pay our pound of flesh”.
Nasheed, who has asked for support from India to put pressure on Yameen for curbing civil rights, said that he will be “thankful to India”. When asked whether he thought India did enough, the former Maldivian president didn’t reply directly: “Let’s say, we have learned a lot from India and they have also learned from us.”
