Mohamed Nasheed

Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު
President of the Maldives
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 November 2008
Vice President	Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan
Preceded by	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Personal details
Born	(1967-05-17) 17 May 1967 Malé, Maldives
Political party	Maldivian Democratic Party
Spouse	Laila Ali Abdulla
Residence(s)	Muliaa ge' (Official) Yaagoothu ge' (Private)

Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) (Dhivehi: މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު) (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

• Vakaruge School (January 1971 – August 1981)
• Overseas School of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka (Aug 1981 -May 1982 Secondary Education: Ordinary Level Certificate)
• Dauntsey's School, Wiltshire, United Kingdom (Aug 1982 -May 1984 Higher Secondary Education: Advance Level Certificate)
• Liverpool John Moores University – Liverpool, United Kingdom (Oct 1984 - Jul 1989 Maritime Studies (BA))

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.

2008 presidential election

Main article: Maldivian presidential election, 2008

Nasheed stood as the MDP Itthihaad's candidate together with Mohammed Waheed Hassan as the Vice Presidential Candidate in the October 2008 presidential election; this was the first time the country had held a multiparty presidential election by popular vote. In the first round, Nasheed and Dr. Waheed placed second with 44,293 votes (24.91%), placing second behind President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of the governing Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), who received 71,731 votes (40.34%). In the second round, Nasheed and Dr. Waheed was backed by the unsuccessful first round candidates, and he won by Gayoom, winning 54.25% of the vote against 45.75% for Gayoom.

Following the election, Nasheed and Dr. Waheed were sworn in as the President and Vice President of the Maldives on November 11, 2008 in a special session of the People's Majlis at Dharubaaruge.

External links

• Mohamed Nasheed's presidential campaign website
• Free expression groups protest crackdown - IFEX
• First day of Mohamed Nasheed's 2005 trial
• About the leaked letter, from Minivannews.com
• Maldivesculture.com article about Nasheed's 2001 arrest
• ZeeNews.com, Mohamed Nasheed: Profile