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.
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.
The Maldivian Democratic Party is the first political party formed in the Republic of Maldives with a total membership of 51,516 individuals as of 25 April 2024.
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.
Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, leader of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party is a Maldivian MP, philanthropist and a businessman. Thasmeen started his career as a civil servant and after venturing into politics he was elected to Peoples Majlis from Baa Atoll and later he served in Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's cabinet and was his running mate in the first multiparty election held in the Maldives in 2008.
The People's Majlis is the unicameral legislative body of Maldives. It has the authority to enact, amend and revise laws, as outlined in the Constitution of the Maldives. It is composed of 87 members as of 2019. The number was reduced to 80 as of 18 December 2023 since some former members of the ruling PPM-PNC coalition are appointed to government posts. The government appealed this in the Supreme Court on 30 January 2024. On 5 February, the court ruled in favor of the government, hence reverting the number to 87 members.
Mohamed Shihab is a Maldivian politician. He was the Speaker of the People's Majlis — the parliament of the Maldives and a member of the Jumhooree Party. He is a former senior member of Maldivian Democratic Party. He became the Speaker of Majlis on 12 August 2008, succeeding former Speaker Ahmed Zahir, and he served as the speaker until 28 May 2009.
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.
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 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.
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.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, commonly known as Ibu, is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 2018 to 2023.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Maldives on 6 April 2019. The result was a landslide victory for the Maldivian Democratic Party, which won 65 of the 87 seats in the People's Majlis. This was the first time in Maldivian history that one party was able to secure a supermajority in parliament.
Eva Abdulla is a Maldivian Politician who was the Deputy Speaker of the People's Majlis until resignation in 3rd of December 2023. She was a Member of Parliament. She previously worked at the World Health Organization, the UNFPA, and was the Manager for the now-defunct local newspaper Minivan Daily. She served as a parliamentarian for three consecutive terms since 2009 for the Galolhu Uthuru constituency and was a longtime member of the Maldivian Democratic Party, up until she left the party in May 2023. She is now a member of The Democrats.
Abdul Raheem Abdulla more popularly known as Adhurey is a Maldivian politician who's currently serving the 21st speaker of the People's Majlis since 28 May 2024 and the Special Advisor to the President of Republic of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu. He is the chairman of People's National Congress.
Ahmed Musthafa Mohamed is a council member of the Progressive Party of Maldives and Peoples National Congress.
Maldivian presidential assassination attempts have been numerous, ranging from the early twentieth century since the establishment of the first republic of the Maldives. In 1980, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was first Maldivian president to experience an assassination attempt, when three attempts to overthrow Maumoon's government and assassinate the president.
Ahmed Nazim is a Maldivian politician who has served as Deputy Speaker of the People's Majlis since 2024, and previously from 2009 to 2014. He has also represented the Dhiggaru Constituency as a Member of Parliament during 17th parliament from 2009 to 2014, and again since 2024.
