MDP, AP: Freeing political leaders is a goal of discussions

Two political parties taking part in official talks with the government, MDP and Adhaalath Party, has said that one of the goals of the discussions is to free the political leaders.

Speaking at an MDP-Adhaalath Party joint press conference held today, the Vice President of MDP, Mohamed Shifaz said that since they decided to start discussions with the government with no prior conditions, the topic of discussions would be clear once the official discussions begin.

But they would try to free the political leaders imprisoned with terrorism convictions according to the MDP Vice President.

Indicating that Party representatives must be allowed to run in the Presidential Election, Shifaz said that allowing all candidates from the parties to run in the election will be discussed at the table.

He said that they are not taking part in the talks for show but to achieve results. And so the MDP wants to achieve goals in a set time period of discussions and if the talks are being held for the sake of the people, the people need to work in the same spirit.

At the press conference, the Vice President of Adhaalath Party, Ali Zahir said that the details of the discussions with the government will be continually shared with the international community, especially the Commonwealth.

The multi-party talks are set to restart after the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) put the Maldives on their Agenda on Friday and ordered to continue the all-party talks. But with the representatives of the political parties yet to be decided, the government has requested the names of representatives from the parties.

MDP and Adhaalath Party have talk against the government-led talks in the past. While the two parties repeatedly stated conditions to join the talks, the government had accepted them as well.