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 diplomat and 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.
Fathulla Jameel was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives from 1978 to 2005.
Dunya Maumoon is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013–2016) of the Government of Maldives.
Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to the office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed, under whom he served as Vice President. He had previously worked as a news anchor, a teacher, a principle, a United Nations international civil servant with UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO, and as member of the Maldivian Parliament.
Ahmed Shaheed is a Maldivian diplomat, politician and professor. On 24 March 2016, he was appointed for the sixth year running as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Shaheed is also the Chairperson of the Geneva-based international human rights think-tank, Universal Rights Group, which was launched in January 2014. He now lives in England as a Professor of Human Rights Practice at the University of Essex. Shaheed is also a Senior Fellow at Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Centre and a Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human rights at the Oxford university of Law.
Israel–Maldives relations refer to foreign relations between Israel and the Maldives. The countries had diplomatic relations from 1965 to 1974. From 2012 to 2017, they maintained cooperation agreements, but did not restore full diplomatic relations. In 2024, the Maldives banned Israeli passport holders from entering the nation due to the Israeli government's conduct in the Israel–Hamas war.
Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim is a Maldivian politician. He was an official in the Ministry of Atolls Development from 1990 to 2004, then a member of the Special Majilis (parliament) representing A.DH Atoll from 2004 to 2008. Between 2008 and 2013 he was Deputy Minister or Minister of State for Immigration and Emigration, Housing and Environment, and then Defense and National Security.
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.
Abdulla Hameed was a Maldivian politician. He was the Minister of Atolls during the administration of his brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Hameed was the Speaker of the Majlis from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was a recipient of the Order of Distinguished Rule of Izzuddeen.
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 from 2018 to 2023.
Husnu Al Suood born in Meedhoo is a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Maldives since 8 December 2019. He was the Attorney General of the Maldives from June 2009 to August 2010. He served as the Chief Judge of the Civil Court and as a member of the Judicial Service Commission of Maldives. He also served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission of the Maldives from 2003 to 2005. As a member of the Special Majlis Suood participated in drafting the current constitution of the Republic of Maldives.
Asim Ahmed is a Maldivian politician, and the Permanent Resident Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva from the Maldives, and was approved for the tenure by the Maldives Parliament, People's Majlis on July 24, 2020.
Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 2013 to 2018.
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.
Ali Naseer Mohamed is a Maldivian diplomat who was Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations and Ambassador of the Maldives to the United States and Canada from July 2017 to May 2019.
A political crisis in the Maldives intensified on after President Abdulla Yameen decided to disobey the Supreme Court order to release 9 political prisoners and reinstating 12 parliament members which will give the opposition (MDP) control of the chamber and potentially paving the way for Yameen's impeachment.
Maldives–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between the Maldives and the Turkey. The diplomatic relations were established in 1979. The Turkish Embassy in New Delhi, India is accredited to the Maldives and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Office in Geneva is accredited to Turkey. The two countries have good relations between them mostly in the areas of tourism and defence, while being in close cooperation with one another on international platforms including the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Abdulla Khaleel is a Maldivian politician who is Minister of Health. He holds a PhD in Public Policy and wrote his thesis on Decentralizing Maldives in 2015.
