The politics of the Maldives take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic,whereby the President is the Head of Government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the Cabinet;like many presidential democracies,each member of the cabinet need to be approved by the Parliament. The President,along with their pick for vice president,is directly elected by the denizens to a five-year term by a secret ballot. Once in office,they could be re-elected to a second 5-year term,which is the limit allowed by the Constitution. The current President of the Maldives is Mohamed Muizzu,when his predecessor,Ibrahim Mohamed Solih lost the 2023 Maldivian presidential election.
The Maldives has remained an independent nation throughout its recorded history,save for a brief spell of Portuguese occupation in the mid-16th century. From 1887 to 1965,the country was a British protectorate while retaining full internal sovereignty. At its independence in 1965,the Maldives joined the United Nations on 20 September.
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is a Maldivian politician who served as President of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as transport minister,he was nominated president by the People's Majlis and succeeded Ibrahim Nasir in 1978. He was defeated in 2008 during the first Presidential Elections after democratic reforms in the Maldives. He holds the nations highest award,"The Most Honourable Order of Distinguished Rule of Ghaazee",presented to him in 2013. Maumoon was the longest-serving president in Asia.
The Maldives National Defence Force is the national military responsible for defending the security and sovereignty of the Maldives. It is primarily responsible per the constitution to defend and protect the Republic,its territorial integrity,its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the people. Its branches include the Maldivian Coast Guard,the MNDF Marine Corps,and the Special Forces.
Mohamed Nasheed GCSK,also known as Anni,is a Maldivian politician and activist who served as president of the Maldives from 2008 until his resignation in 2012. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party,he subsequently served as the 19th speaker of the People's Majlis from May 2019 until his resignation in November 2023. He is the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and the only president to resign from office. He is currently a member of The Democrats.
Lieutenant General (retd) Abdulla Shamaal MA MSc ndu psc is the former Chief of Defence Force (CDF) of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). General Shamaal was appointed to the post of Chief of Defence Force on 11 December 2018 by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and served until 17 November 2023. Shamaal was trained in various military institutions such as the United States Army Infantry School in Fort Benning,the Pakistan Military Academy and the Defence Services Staff College in India. Shamaal was previously discharged from service in November 2013 but was reinstated in December 2018 following High Court verdict that his discharge was unlawful. He has also held various Senior Command,Staff and Instructional appointments during his career.
The Cabinet of the Maldives is the most senior level of the executive branch of the Government of the Maldives. It is made up of the President,the Vice President,Attorney General and the Ministers.
Ali Mohsen Saleh al-Ahmar,sometimes spelled Muhsin,is a Yemeni military officer who served as the vice president of Yemen from 2016 to 2022,when he was dismissed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi,who transferred the powers of the president and vice president to the Presidential Leadership Council. He is a general in the Yemeni Army and was the commander of the northwestern military district and the 1st Armoured Division. He played a leading role in the creation of the General People's Congress.
The 2011–2013 Maldives political crisis began as a series of peaceful protests that broke out in the Maldives on 1 May 2011. They would continue,eventually escalating into the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed in disputed circumstances in February 2012. Demonstrators were protesting what they considered the government's mismanagement of the economy and were calling for the ouster of President Nasheed. The main political opposition party in the country,the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party led by the former president of the country Maumoon Abdul Gayoom accused President Nasheed of "talking about democracy but not putting it into practice." The protests occurred during the Arab Spring.
Abdulla Shahid is a Maldivian politician who served as President of the 76th United Nations General Assembly between 2021 and 2022 and the President of the Maldivian Democratic Party. Shahid is the first Maldivian politician to hold that post. He had served as Minister of Foreign Affairs,Maldives from 2018 to 2023.
Ali Waheed was the Tourism Minister of Maldives,a Maldivian politician,former MP and the Chairperson of Jumhoory Party. He was also the Chairman of New Radiant Sports Club.
Diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Maldives were established in 1972. China has an embassy in Maléwhich opened in November 2011,and the Maldives has an embassy in Beijing which opened in 2009. Approximately 70 percent of the Maldives' total debt is attributed to Chinese projects,with an annual payment of $92 million to China,constituting around 10 percent of the country's entire budget. China has become pervasive in the Maldives,exerting influence over infrastructure,trade,and energy sectors,raising concerns of a new form of Chinese entrapment.
Mariya Didi is a Maldivian barrister and politician who served as the Minister of Defense of the Maldives. After being the campaign manager for president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during the 2018 elections,she was appointed the nation's first-ever female Minister of Defence.
The Ministry of Homeland Security &Technology,sometimes called as the Ministry of Home Affairs is part of the Maldivian Executive branch responsible for maintaining law and order in the Maldives at the national level. It was introduced in 1965 after the Maldivian independence under president Ibrahim Nasir,the second president of Maldives.
Mohamed Irfaan Ali is a Guyanese politician serving as the tenth and current president of Guyana since 2020. A member of the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),he previously served as the minister of Housing and Water from 2009 to 2015. He is the first Muslim to hold office,and is the third Muslim head of state in the Americas after Noor Hassanali of Trinidad and Tobago and Carlos Saul Menem of Argentina.
John Kai Tien Jr. is an American government official and retired United States Army officer who served as the United States deputy secretary of homeland security in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2023.
Stefan Dinchev Yanev is a retired Bulgarian Army Brigade general and a politician. He was from 12 May to 13 December 2021 acting deputy prime minister,acting minister of defense and caretaker government Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
Dr Mohamed Muizzu is a Maldivian politician who is the 8th and current president of the Maldives since 2023. He previously served as Housing Minister and was the Mayor of Maléfrom 2021 until his resignation in 2023.
Ahmed Usham is the incumbent Attorney General of the Maldives. Earlier,he served as Deputy Solicitor General at the Attorney General's Office,and as Deputy Attorney General. He currently serving as the Maldives National Party's (MNP) Vice President.
The Cabinet of Mohamed Muizzu is the current most senior level of the executive branch of the current Government of the Maldives. The cabinet ministers were appointed following the inauguration of President Mohamed Muizzu.
