(UDHAYAM, COLOMBO) – Ousted former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed to contest the next presidential election in 2018, saying the 2012 coup that forced him to live in exile had failed to crush his spirit.
In an interview in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo where he was busy reorganising his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Nasheed said he would expose the alleged money laundering rings and drug-running cartels that supposedly fuel the current administration led by current President Abdulla Yameen in the picturesque island nation.
Nasheed became the first democratically-elected president of Maldives in 2008 in a historic election that saw him end Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30-year rule.
He then resigned from top slot in February 2012 under duress following what is largely referred to as an opposition-backed military coup.
