Mohamed Nasheed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mohamed Nasheed މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު
President of the Maldives
Incumbent
Assumed office  11 November 2008
Vice President	Mohammed Waheed Hassan
Preceded by	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Born	17 May 1967 (1967-05-17) (age 42) Malé, Maldives
Political party	Maldivian Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Laila Ali Abdulla
Children	two daughters
Residence	Muliaa ge' (Official) G.Canaryge (Private)
Alma mater	Liverpool John Moores University
Religion	Islam

Mohamed Nasheed (Dhivehi: މުހައްމަދު ނަޝީދު) or Anni (Dhivehi: އަންނި) (born May 17, 1967) is the current President of the Maldives. He is the founder of 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^[1] 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.

Contents 1 Education 2 1990-2003 3 Maldivian Democratic party 4 2008 presidential election 5 Policies 6 Awards and Honors 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Education

As a boy Mohamed Nasheed attended Majeediyya School in the Maldives, between 1971 and 1981. He continued his secondary school education overseas at the Overseas School of Colombo, from 1981 to 1982 until he completed his GCSE Ordinary Level Certificate. In August 1982 he moved to the United Kingdom where he completed his Higher Secondary Education at the Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire. Straight after his A'levels, Mohamed Nasheed moved north to Liverpool where he spent the next three years reading for a Bachelor of Arts in Maritime Studies at Liverpool's John Moores University.

[edit] 1990-2003

He was made an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience in 1991 when he was being held in prison for a 1990 article in the political magazine Sangu in which he alleged the Maldivian government had rigged the 1989 general election. After being held in solitary confinement and reportedly tortured, he was accused of withholding information about a bombing plot. On April 8, 1992, he was sentenced to three years in prison on that charge.^[2] He was released in June 1993, then re-arrested in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for an article he had written about the 1993 and 1994 Maldivian elections.^[3]

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 (later the 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."

[edit] 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.

[edit] 2008 presidential election

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 were backed by the unsuccessful first round candidates and won 54.25% of the vote against 45.75% for Gayoom.

Following the election, Nasheed and Dr. Waheed also known as "Fili Waheed" were sworn in as the President and Vice President of the Maldives on November 11, 2008^[4] in a special session of the People's Majlis at Dharubaaruge. ^[5][6]

[edit] Policies

With regard to the assumed threat posed to the very low-lying islands by changes in sea level caused in theory by global warming, in March 2009, President Nasheed pledged to set an example by making the Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade by moving to wind and solar power. He argued that the cost of the change would be no higher than what the Maldives already spends on energy.^[7] As part of a wider campaign by international environmental NGO 350.org's campaign publicizing the threats of climate change and its effects on the Maldives, Nasheed presided over the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting on Oct. 17, 2009, off the island of Girifushi with the meeting participants underwater in Scuba diving gear.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

[edit] Awards and Honors

In May 2009, Nasheed was presented with Coral Cultivation Initiative Award by Huvafen Fushi Resort and Underwater Spa, Maldives in recognition of his active participation in cultivating coral in the resort’s nursery as well as for his efforts in creating greater awareness on the impact of climate change in the Maldives.^[13]

In June 2009, the Anna Lindh Memorial Fund awarded Nasheed, the 2009 Anna Lindh Award^[14] for the instrumental role he played in bringing democracy to the Maldives and in recognition of his efforts on the world stage to highlight the dangers of climate change by bringing people and their human rights at the heart of the debate.^[15]

In the September of 2009, at the global premier of the "Age of Stupid" Nasheed was presented with a "Not Stupid" Award for his efforts to tackle climate change and for the Maldives' announcement to become the first carbon neutral country in the world.^[16] In the same month, Time magazine named Nasheed #1 in the "Leaders & Visionaries" category within its annual list of "Heroes of the Environment (2009)".^[17]

[edit] See also

• Individual and political action on climate change

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mohamed Nasheed's presidential campaign website
• Official website of the President of the Maldives
• 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

Political offices
Preceded by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom	President of Maldives 2008 – Present	Incumbent

v • d • e Heads of state of the Maldives since 1952 First Republic, 1952–1954: Mohamed Amin Didi • Ibrahim Muhammad Didi Sultanate, 1954–1968: Muhammad Fareed Didi Second Republic, 1968–: Ibrahim Nasir • Maumoon Abdul Gayoom • Mohamed Nasheed

v • d • e SAARC leaders Karzai · Hasina · Thinley · Singh · Nasheed Nepal Zardari Rajapaksa