Vice President of the Maldives
| Vice President of the Republic of Maldives | |
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| Residence | Hilaaleege, Malé |
| Appointer | President of Maldives |
| Term length | Five years, renewable |
| Inaugural holder | Ibrahim Muhammad Didi |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of the Maldives |
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Vice President of the Maldives is the holder of a public office created by the Constitution of the Maldives. The current office-holder is Faisal Naseem, since 17 November 2018.
Ibrahim Muhammad Didi was the first Vice President, and was an appointee, while Mohammed Waheed Hassan was the first elected Vice President.
The Vice President is the first in the line of succession to the Presidency in the event of the President's death, resignation, or removal from office.
The Office of the Vice President
The post of the Vice President are described in article 112 of the constitution as follows:[1]
- There shall be a Vice President of the Maldives who shall assist the President in the discharge of his duties and responsibilities
- Every candidate for President shall publicly declare the name of the Vice President who will serve with him.
- The qualifications of office for the Vice President shall be the same as those for the President.
- If the office of the President becomes vacant for any reason, the Vice President shall succeed to the office of the President.
Articles 117 and 122 then goes on to describe the Responsibilities of the Vice President.[1]
- The Vice President shall exercise such responsibilities and powers of the President as are delegated to him by the President.
- The Vice President shall perform the responsibilities of the President if the President is absent or temporarily unable to perform the responsibilities of office.
- If the office of Vice President becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, permanent incapacity, or succession to the office of the President, the President shall appoint a new Vice President to serve the remainder of the term. The appointment shall be approved by the People’s Majlis.
As a result of these responsibilities, the Office of the Vice President and its duties are determined by the President. Under the current government, President Nasheed has charged the Vice President's office with implementing a plan to become Carbon Neutral by 2020, as well as to tackle a drug problem which affects more than half of the youth population.
The First Vice President
The first Vice President of the Maldives was Ibrahim Muhammad Didi of Rayyithunge Muthagaddim Party, who was appointed to the position by President Mohamed Amin Didi (1 January 1953 to 2 September 1953). On the terms that the vacancy of the office of the President leads to the succession of the Vice President to presidency, Ibraahim Didi also served as acting president from 2 September 1953 to 7 March 1954 after the banishment of Mohamed Amin Didi.
Ibrahim Nasir appointed several of his cabinet ministers as Vice Presidents following the dismissal of Prime Minister Ahmed Zaki.
The Maldives did not have Vice Presidents during the rule of Muhammad Fareed Didi and the Presidency of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The First Elected Vice President
Under the new constitution created the constitutional assembly and ratified by President Gayoom on 7 August 2008, the post of Vice President was once again created with the duties described above.[2]
Under the new constitution, Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan of the Gaumee Itthihaad Party became the first elected Vice President of Maldives and was sworn into office on November 11, 2008. Mohamed Nasheed was elected into office as the President of the Maldives and together they effectively ended the 30 year rule of then Asia's longest serving ruler President Gayoom.[3]
Dr. Waheed was the senior most Maldivian in the United Nations when he retired from it in June 2008, in order to return to the Maldives and become politically active. While in the UN, Dr. Waheed was the head of UNICEF for South Asia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkmenistan. Dr. Waheed was the Third Maldivian to receive a PhD having done so from the prestigious Stanford University, having specialized in International Development.[4]
He has been involved in politics in Maldives since 1989 when we won a Parliamentary seat with the highest number of votes recorded up to that point. However, he was forced out of the country after having pursued a bill on human rights that was not looked favored upon by the administration at the time. Dr. Waheed then spent 16 years working for UNICEF.[4]
Dr. Waheed is currently married to Ilham Hussain and has three children. Their eldest daughter Widhadh (32) is an architect and owns an IT firm in California. Their second daughter Fidha (29)is a PhD student in East West psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and their son Salim Waheed (23) is in his final year at Stanford University, studying Political Science.[5]
Oath of Office of the Vice President
The oath of office of the Vice President is described verbtim in the Maldives constitution.
I, …(name of person)…, do swear in the name of Almighty Allah that I will respect the religion of Islam, that I will uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives and the fundamental rights of the Maldivian citizens, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic of Maldives, and will discharge the duties and responsibilities of the office of Vice President honestly and faithfully in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Maldives.
List of vice presidents
| Vice President | Inaugurated | Left office | President |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ibrahim Muhammad Didi | 1 January 1953 | 2 September 1953 | Mohamed Amin Didi |
| Abdul Sattar Moosa Didi, Ahmad Hilmy Didi, Ibrahim Shihab, Ali Maniku,[6][7][8] Hassan Zareer[9] | October 1975[10] | May 1977[11] | Ibrahim Nasir |
| Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik[12] | 11 November 2008 | 7 February 2012 | Mohamed Nasheed |
| Mohammed Waheed Deen[12] | 25 April 2012 | 10 November 2013 | Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik |
| Mohamed Jameel Ahmed[12] | 17 November 2013 | 21 July 2015 | Abdulla Yameen |
| Ahmed Adeeb[12] | 22 July 2015 | 5 November 2015 | Abdulla Yameen |
| Abdulla Jihad[12] | 22 June 2016 | 16 November 2018 | Abdulla Yameen |
| Faisal Naseem | 17 November 2018 | Incumbent | Ibrahim Mohamed Solih |
| Hussain Mohamed Latheef | 17 November 2023 | Mohamed Muizzu |
References
- ^ a b Dheena Hussain. 2008 Functional Translation of the Constitution of the Maldives, Male' Maldives.
- ^ New Constitution approved
- ^ www.miadhu.com.mv, Nasheed sworn in as Maldives new President[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b www.drwaheed.com, Official Biography of the Vice President Archived May 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Biography of the Vice President from the President's Office
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP86T00608R000100240039-4.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "The President's Office - Press Releases". Archived from the original on 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ "vnews - Abdul Sattar Moosa Didi passes away". April 15, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15.
- ^ "Asia Yearbook". 1978.
- ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1975July-Dec. 2003. hdl:2027/osu.32435024020034 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1977Jan-June. 2003. hdl:2027/osu.32435024019994 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ a b c d e "Former Vice Presidents - the President's Office".