Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom will run in the next presidential election, the former President and Leader of the People’s National Front (PNF) has confirmed. President Mohamed Muizzu’s current term is set to end in November 2028.

Yameen, the sixth President of the Maldives, whose single term lasted from November 2013 to November 2018, said he would look forward to the opportunity to serve the nation and address key challenges facing the Maldives.

The former President, during an interview with Raajje TV, said that his main focus would be to recover the area the Maldives lost from within the Chagos ocean territory due to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruling and, if a claim can be made, to establish sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago itself. The Mohamed Muizzu administration, even with its multiple protestations against the loss initially, had done scant work within its first year in office towards establishing the Maldives’ claim, Yameen said.

Yameen also said he would prioritise the removal of the Indian military presence from the Maldives. According to the former leader, there was still an Indian military presence in the Maldives; something the Muizzu administration was not being truthful about.

“If they are not in uniform, there is no Indian military? They will be in something other than uniform, correct? The [Muizzu] administration is lying about similarly huge issues. I am telling with absolute certainty they are lying. The Indian military is here,” Yameen said.

According to Yameen no other candidate has the will to address these issues.

“I don’t believe that anyone who comes [forward] next will do these things. Everyone is compromised,” he said.

Yameen was unable to contest last year’s presidential election after the Supreme Court ruled that he was ineligible due to his jail sentence, after which he called for an election boycott.

However, his Progressive Party of the Maldives and People’s National Congress (PPM/PNC) coalition chose to proceed with Muizzu as their candidate — a move that initially received Yameen’s approval. However, speaking during the interview, Yameen confirmed that he now “regrets” supporting Muizzu’s candidacy.