The opposition has claimed that jailing their leader, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom "is a step back in the country’s democratic history".

Delivering the opposition’s response to the presidential address during Wednesday’s sitting of the People’s Majlis, the minority leader and MP for Eydhafushi constituency, Ahmed Saleem revealed that the country’s multi-party democracy was rooted with the implementation of the Maldives constitution during 2008.

MP Saleem stated that the strongest element of a multi-party democracy is proactive and challenging political parties that work to hold the government responsible.

In light of this, the MP stated that currently incarcerated opposition leader is the one who has to work alongside the people on the frontlines to ensure the government is held responsible.

Highlighting that their leader is currently serving the five-year prison sentence, the minority leader stressed that jailing the ex-president was a “step back” in the country’s democratic history.

This is a great big challenge facing competitive political parties, said MP Saleem.

The former president was convicted on money-laundering charges on 28 November for misappropriating USD through the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) via a private company Scores of Flair, during his presidency. He was slapped with a five-year prison sentence and fined USD five million to be paid within six months. Yameen has since appealed the verdict at the High Court. During the appeal process, the opposition leader made two requests; granting him bail arrangements and delaying his prison sentence.

The presiding judge, Hussain Mazeed had ruled that the requests cannot be granted, upon which the former president requested for the ruling to be reviewed. During Monday’s hearing, the presiding judge denied this request.

While the opposition criticized Yameen's conviction, current Parliament Speaker and former president, and then-opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed was issued a 13-year prison sentence during Yameen’s term in March 2015. He was convicted of terrorism charges after being proven guilty of the arrest of then Criminal Court Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed.

Further, it is also notable that the former president had brought amendments to the law on public gatherings, hindering with the rights to peaceful assembly a great deal.

Also as part of the opposition’s response to the presidential address, MP Saleem stressed that the people have lost trust in the government due to its failure to develop health centers to hospitals. The minority leader compared health services during the previous administration to the current administration at Wednesday’s sitting.

The opposition also claimed that the Maldives is headed towards “dark days”, where the people will not be able to reach their desired destinations.

MP Saleem also criticized the government’s foreign policies, commenting that they are “off-balance”. The opposition claimed that the Maldives will fall into “slavery” if its independence is lost.

The minority leader went on to claim that the people’s concerns are skyrocketing, owing to the fact that the government is “failing” to fulfill its pledges which in turn is hindering with the country’s economy.

In conclusion, MP Saleem assured that the opposition will remain with the people to change the course of the nation.