Maldives - Head of Government

HE Mr Mohamed Nasheed was sworn into office on 11 November 2008, after winning the run-off of the first multiparty presidential election in Maldives on 28 October. He succeeded Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who had ruled the Indian Ocean archipelago for 30 years from 1978 to 2008.

Mr Nasheed was the leader and founding member of the country’s first opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). He served in the party's General Council since the MDP's establishment in 2004 and was elected as the Chairperson of the MDP in December 2005.

Prior to the launch of the MDP, Mr Nasheed was a member of the People's Majlis (Parliament) for a brief period in 1999 before losing his seat when he was jailed as a political prisoner.

Before his entry into politics, Mr Nasheed served as Director of the Oriental Academic Centre, a research institution for history and literature, in Malé in 2001. He was a director of a local tourism company in Malé from 1994 to 1998.

Mr Nasheed was educated at the Majeediyya School in Malé before attending the Overseas School of Colombo in Sri Lanka. He completed his ‘A’ levels at the Dauntsey’s School, Wiltshire, UK, and later graduated from the Liverpool John Moores University, UK, in 1989 with a BSc in Maritime Studies.

Mr Nasheed is the author of a collection of books and novels in Dhivehi and English.

Mr Nasheed was born on 17 May 1967 in Malé.