Male’, Maldives – Former President and current Speaker of the Parliament of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed said that the way Former Presidents are treated in the Maldives and the tradition of imprisoning Former Presidents must come to an end.
Speaking at the ‘Ask Speaker’ programme last night, Former President Nasheed said that a person must be punished for their crimes and that he has no obligation with that. However, he said that it is disturbing to see strict measures taken against those who have once lead the country. He also said that no matter how he views that person personally, his heart does not tell him that many Maldivians would agree with this type of treatment with their former leaders.
Speaker Nasheed then said that the Constitution of the Maldives states how Former Presidents must be treated and that no one person will be supported by everyone. Further speaking, Nasheed said that he is now saddened by the fact that Former President Abdullah Yaameen Abdul Gayyoom is currently serving a five year sentence after he was proven guilty of money laundering.
Nasheed then noted that he did not attempt to imprison Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom after succeeding the elections even though according to Nasheed, he is someone who had an extremely abusive, tyrannical presidency and ruled over Maldives for 30 long years.
I tried to rule the country in a way which benefits the citizens and would be written in the chapters of history, and this was possible for quite some time.
Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed
Speaker Nasheed further said that right after his presidency was overthrown and Former President Dr.Waheed Hussain Manik came to power, he was imprisoned and that Yameen also did the same thing after coming to power. Nasheed said that as long as this is being done, an end to this tradition cannot be seen and that he wishes for this tradition to end.
Nasheed recently said that he wishes for the welfare of Former President Yaameen and that he wishes for him to have an ease in his sentence soon. It has now been an year since President Yaameen was imprisoned for money laundering.
