Leaked audio admitting defeat is completely fake: Yameen

Abdulla Yameen has brushed off a recently leaked audio clip of the presidential candidate allegedly admitting defeat for the upcoming presidential elections, as "completely fake".

On a recent audio leaked on video sharing website Youtube, a man thought to be Abdulla Yameen is heard saying that “2013 is already in their bag. It is already theirs.”

The voice on the audio also states that the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has no hope of winning this year’s presidential election and that the party should focus on winning in 2018 elections instead.

“So I don’t think we can win the 2013 elections. We should probably start thinking about 2018,” the voice says.

In reply to an SMS by Sun asking for a comment on the leaked audio, Yameen said that “it is completely fake.”

Yameen’s spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said today that they suspect the audio to be a fabrication, something that has been assembled by stitching together different parts of speeches by Yameen on different occasions.

“The audio has no basis. It is possible that it was produced by connecting the different parts of press conference and political speeches by Yameen,” Muaz said.