President Mohamed Nasheed, President of Maldives

Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) (born May 17, 1967) is the current President of the Maldives. He is the founder and the Maldivian Democratic Party and was its presidential candidate in the October 2008 presidential election, defeating long-time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in a second round of voting. He was sworn in as President on November 11, 2008.

Nasheed is commonly known in the Maldives as Anni and is a former member of Parliament for Malé. He was an outspoken critic of Gayoom and his policies. Due to his criticism of the government, over the years he was arrested and sentenced several times.

EDUCATION

1999-2003
He was made an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991 when he was being held in prison for writing for the popular political magazine known as "Sangu". On April 8, 1992 he was sentenced to three years in prison for "withholding information". He was released in June 1993 and was re-arrested in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for an article he had written.

In 2000, he was elected as a member of the parliament representing the people of Malé. Six months later, in 2001 he was tried and sentenced to two and half years banishment for the theft of unspecified "government property" from H. Velaanaage - the former residence of former president Ibrahim Nasir. Supporters of Nasheed believe that it was a fabricated charge against him motivated by political desires. This was later proved to be so, when Dhivehiobserver (of Ahmed Shafeeq Ibrahim Moosa) published a leaked letter, sent by then Minister of Construction and Public Works Umar Zahir to the former Minister of Defence (and now High Commissioner to Delhi) Anbaree Abdul Sattar. The letter, dated on October 31, 2001, was published on the website on October 10, 2005. According to this letter, Nasheed did take some files from the residence which were about to be destroyed as they were of no value to the government. According to Umar Zahir there was no restricted area for the public in the residence. In his letter Umar Zahir stated "Later that day I did check the storage place from which Mohamed Nasheed apparently took that material. There was nothing there that could be of use. There remained only old written materials and books. Those things have now been burned."

Maldivian Democratic party
In November 2003, Nasheed left the Maldives and joined Mohamed Latheef to help establish the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), in exile, in Sri Lanka and the UK. He was recognized as a political refugee by the British government in 2004. After about 18 months in self-proclaimed exile, Nasheed returned to Malé on April 30, 2005.

After returning to the Maldives he began promoting the MDP before it was officially recognized by the Government. With the decision to allow political parties in the Maldives, on June 2, 2005 and the official recognition of the MDP's existence, Nasheed accelerated his support campaigns for the party. He made several trips to the Atolls, and neighbouring countries on behalf of the party.

On August 12, 2005, Nasheed was arrested again when he was sitting in the center of the Republican Square, with supporters of MDP, to mark the second anniversary of the Black Friday. His arrest provoked civil unrest in Malé and some other Atolls. After his arrest, acting Government Spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef told reporters that Nasheed had been detained for "his own safety." However, on August 22, 2005, the state announced that Nasheed was to be charged with terrorism under the Terrorism Act.

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of Maldives

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is, in both origin and style, very much a man of the people. A man of progressive thinking, President Gayoom’s governance has ushered in a hitherto unknown period of social and economic success for the nation. Since his assumption of office, the Maldives has made important strides towards greater democracy in a manner which has preserved and enhanced the country’s spiritual and cultural heritage. Through executive excellence and political foresight, President Gayoom has kept up the pace of change needed for a modern society by introducing and strengthening measures that ensured transparency and accountability in the government bureaucracy. The outstanding success attained in President Gayoom’s political life has been the historic milestone achieved in the recent political reform process he initiated – the introduction of a multi-party political system in the Maldives. As a man of the people, he continues to work to uplift the quality of life of the people, advocating good governance, and opening up new horizons for national development.

Born in Male’ in 1937 to a middle-class family, he quickly demonstrated a sound academic potential and, following early schooling in the capital, went first to Al-Azhar University in Cairo and later to the city’s American University; he obtained an M.A. in Islamic Studies at the former, where he also studied law and philosophy – academic disciplines in which he continued to have a keen interest. Indeed, President Gayoom, the politician and national leader, is every bit as much an intellectual as he is an able practitioner in government.

His Degree in Islamic Studies earned him an academic appointment as a Lecturer in that discipline to Nigeria’s Abdullahi Bayero College, a faculty of Ahmadu Bello University, a post he held from 1969 to 1971.

However he returned home to the Maldives soon and began his career of service to the Republic. His first important government appointment was that of Manager of the Republic’s Shipping Department, which quickly led to his becoming Director of the Telephone Department. By 1974 he had well established his reputation as an able administrator and, consequently, was appointed Special Under-Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister. His first overseas appointment was to the diplomatic pos of Deputy Ambassador to neighbouring Sri Lanka. This was followed in two years by his appointment as the Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

At his recall to Male’ in 1977, he was appointed Minister of Transport, and then in November 1978 was nominated as Presidential Candidate by the Citizens’ Majlis, winning a record 92.9% of the popular vote in the referendum which confirmed him as the undoubted choice of the people.

He assumed office on 11 November of the same year and on completion of his first 5-year term as president, was re-elected on 30 September 1983 for a second term of office polling a record 95.6% of the popular vote. On 23 September 1988, he was re-elected for a third term of Presidency by the overwhelming majority of 96.4% of the popular vote. On 1 October 1993, he was elected for a fourth term of office winning 92.76% of the popular vote. On 16 October 1998, President Gayoom was elected for an unprecedented fifth term of office with a clear majority of 90.9% of the popular vote. Again, on 17 October 2003, President Gayoom was re-elected for a record sixth term of office with an overwhelming majority of 90.28% of the popular vote.

He is both a man of the people and a family man. Madam Nasreena Gayoom takes a keen personal interest in the public life of her husband and appears with him on many public occasions. They have four children, two girls, Dunya and Yumna, and two boys, Faris and Ghassan.

President Gayoom is a member of the Constituent Council of Rabitat Al-Alam Al-Islami (Muslim World League). He was awarded Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the Alighar Muslim University of India in 1983, Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the Jamia Millia Islamia of India in 1990 and Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the Pondicherry University of India in 1994. He was also awarded the Global 500 Honour Roll by the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988, the International Environment Award by DRV (Travel Agents and Tour Operators Association of Germany) in 1998, and the Man of the Sea Award for 1990 by Lega Navale Italiana in 1991. In addition, he was awarded the Grand Order of Mugunghawa (the highest order of the Republic of Korea) in 1984, Knight Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG) (the highest order accorded to Foreign Dignitaries by the British Monarchy) in 1997, the World Health Organisation Health-for-All Gold Medal in 1998 and the Shield of Al-Azhar University of Cairo in 2002.

His leisure interests include reading, poetry, astronomy, photography, calligraphy, badminton and cricket.