I am in the political arena, cannot be sidelined: Former President Yameen

Former President Abdulla Yameen has declared that he remains within the political arena and asserted that he cannot be sidelined.

Yameen said this in last night's weekly rally of People's National Front (PNF) in response to statements made by Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal.

Faisal had earlier said that Yameen has been sidelined from politics, hitting back against Yameen's criticisms against his family in various speeches.

"Whether President Yameen laughs, or gets angry, or trembles, he remains sidelined from politics," Faisal had retorted.

Yameen responded in his speech last night that is still prominently in the political arena, and that he would remain so.

"So regardless of how loudly Faisal says so, I am not sidelined from politics. I cannot even be sidelined. I remain here in the political arena. And in such a way that they have to keep responding to what I say," Yameen said.

Yameen went on to criticize senior officials of the government, saying that if they went on to create their own parties, they would not be able to even gather a 1000 members behind them.

He alleged that this government had come to power through displaying an empty chair purportedly reserved for him, but that in reality, neither President Dr Mohamed Muizzu nor Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla wished for him to be free from prison.

Despite Yameen's statement, President Muizzu was seen appealing to then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to release Yameen from prison even in his first public address after winning the presidential election as well as during his campaigns. Yameen was ultimately transferred to house arrest less than 24 hours after President Muizzu appealed to Solih to do so in his first address as President-Elect.

Yameen also went on to respond to recent remarks that he had distanced himself from the government despite the government having been acting in the right.

"Even they don't want President Yameen to be released from jail. Then now they go to islands and claim they were being so good but it was President Yameen who decided to distance himself. That is not how it happened," he objected.

Yameen maintains that he did not want to remain with the government as he did not wish to be part of their wrongdoings.

Although Yameen says this at present, he had, in fact, distanced himself from the government before President Muizzu had even taken oath of office, and had publicly criticized government leadership.

Yameen further said last night that the current administration had been brought to power by the people due to their discontent with former President Solih's administration. He said that, despite this, the incumbent government has failed to look into the actions of the Solih administration. He criticized this government saying they are failing to look into cases of corruption and other offences, and failing to address issues via the parliament as well.

Yameen also alleged that the government is not abiding by the manifesto they had presented to the public in a bid to win the election for President Muizzu.