India does not wish for me to be barred from the presidential elections: President Nasheed

Former president and presidential candidate for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mohamed Nasheed has said that India does not wish to see a presidential candidate for any party being barred from the presidential elections.

Speaking to the press after returning from his trip to India this afternoon, Nasheed said that barring a presidential candidate from the elections will further infuriate India.

“If things are being molded so that a leader from a party cannot compete, it is not right, it is wrong. It is something that might affect the stability in the Indian Ocean. India has highlighted these two points, to heal the relationship,” said Nasheed.

Nasheed said that he met with a number of relevant parties and said that he held discussions regarding the strengthening of the deteriorated relations between Maldives and India.

He also said that he does not believe that the court cases currently taken against by the state can be continued.

“I don’t think that the court case can be continued. I also don’t think that making it impossible for any political leader to compete, negotiating with anybody will have any favourable conclusion. So the way I see it, the court case cannot proceed,” said Nasheed.

The hearing for Nasheed’s trial regarding the illegal detention of Criminal Court judge Abdulla Mohamed was cancelled yesterday as he failed to attend court. When asked if he will attend the next hearing, Nasheed said that he will now have to “find out the date of the next hearing”.

Nasheed said that he has plans to leave the country later this month to attend an invitation by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and said that the Government of Denmark has also extended him an invitation for a visit.

A large number of people gathered near Bank of Maldives to welcome Nasheed as he came back from India today. A bit of a commotion caused the police to arrest a few of the people gathered.