The politics of the Maldives take place in the framework of a

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, whereby the President is the

Head of Government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

is exercised by the government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

; like many presidential democracies, each member of the cabinet need to be approved by the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. 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 The president of the Republic of Maldives () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Maldives and the commander-in-chief of the Maldives National Defence Force. The current president is Mohamed Muizzu, who was elect ...

Mohamed Muizzu Mohamed Muizzu (born 15 June 1978) is a Maldivian politician and engineer who has been serving as the 8th president of the Maldives and leader of the People's National Congress (Maldives), People's National Congress since 2023. He previously ...

, when his predecessor,

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (; born 4 May 1964), popularly known as Ibu, is a Maldivian politician who served as the 7th President of the Maldives from 2018 to 2023. Solih was a parliamentarian for 15 years, he represented the Hinnavaru constitue ...

lost the

2023 Maldivian presidential election 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. The

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

Majlis of the Maldives 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 93 members as of 2024. Each year on the first Mond ...

is composed of 93 members serving a five-year term. The total number of the members representing each constituency depends on the total population of that constituency. The last parliamentary election was held on 21 April 2024. The Maldivian legal system is derived mainly from the traditional Islamic law. There is a

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

with 5 judges including the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President, with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission. Parliament is required to approve the appointment before he assumes office. Excluding the

, there also exists the High Court (two branches), a Criminal Court, Civil Court, Family Court, Juvenile Court,

Drug Court Drug courts are problem-solving courts that take a public health approach to criminal offending using a specialized model in which the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment ...

and many Lower Courts in each Atoll/Island. An

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

is part of the Cabinet and also needs the approval of Parliament before taking office. Under the new 2008 constitution, the function of Local Government is devolved to an Atoll Council to administer each atoll and an Island Council to administer each inhabited island. Island councillors are elected by the people of each island, and the Atoll Councilors are in turn elected by the Island Councilors. The

Constitution of the Maldives The Constitution of the Maldives () is the supreme law of the country of Maldives. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the Republic of Maldives, sets out the rights and duties of the citizens of the Maldives, and defines the ...

requires the following for a president: be a Maldivian citizen born to parents who are Maldivian citizens, and who is not also a citizen of a foreign country; be a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam; Maldives was 2023 the 9th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices.

History

A 1968

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

approved a constitution making Maldives a republic with executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The constitution was amended in 1970, 1972, 1975, and 1997 and again in 2008.

Ibrahim Nasir Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan (; ; 2 September 1926 – 22 November 2008), , commonly known as Ibrahim Nasir, was a Maldivians, Maldivian politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Maldives from 1957 to 1968 under the monarchy, a ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

under the pre-1968

sultanate Sultan (; ', ) is a Royal and noble ranks, position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". La ...

, became president and held office from 1968 to 1978. He was succeeded by

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ( ; born Abdulla Maumoon Khairi; 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician, statesman, diplomat and scholar who served as the 3rd president of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. He previously served as the Minister of Tra ...

, who was elected president in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and re-elected in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. At the end of his presidency in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he was the longest serving leader in Asia. Since 2003, following the death in custody of a prisoner, Naseem, the Maldives experienced several anti-government demonstrations calling for political reforms, more freedoms, and an end to torture and oppression. As a result of these activities, political parties were eventually allowed in June 2005. The main parties registered in Maldives are: the

Maldivian Democratic Party The Maldivian Democratic Party (, ''Dhivehi Rayyithunge Demokretik Paati''; MDP) is the first political party formed in the Republic of Maldives. The party is supportive of the promotion of human rights and democracy in the Maldives. It won ...

(MDP), the Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP), the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and the

Adhaalath Party The Adhaalath Party (; , AP) is a political party in the Maldives. History The AP was registered as a political party in August 2005, when political parties were allowed to operate for the first time following widespread protests for democracy. ...

. The first party to register was the MDP headed by popular opposition figures such as

Mohamed Nasheed Mohamed Nasheed (; born 17 May 1967), also known as Anni (), is a Maldivians, 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 Part ...

(Anni) and

Mohamed Latheef Mohamed Latheef (; died 3 July 2022), more popularly known as Gogo Latheef (), was a Maldivian politician, a former parliamentarian and a campaigner for human rights. He is a co-founder of the MDP (Maldivian Democratic Party), a political party ...

(Gogo). The next was the

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (, , DRP) was a political party of the Maldives. On 2 June 2005, the nation's 50-member parliament voted unanimously to allow and operate political parties in Maldives. DRP subsequently submitted its registration on 2 ...

(DRP) headed by then-President Gayoom. A new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was ratified in August 2008, paving the way for the country's first multi-party presidential election two months later. The Maldives have scored poorly on some indices of freedom. The "Freedom in the World" index, a measure of political rights and civil liberties published by

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, judged Maldives as "not free" until May 1, 2009, when it was raised to "partly free". The "Worldwide

Press Freedom Index The World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) is an annual ranking of Country, countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002 based upon the non-governmental organization's own assessment of the countries' Freedom of the ...

", published by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

, ranks Maldives 106 out of 180 in terms of press freedom as of 2024. On 30 September 2023, PNC/ PPM candidate

won the 2023 Maldives

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, beating incumbent president Ibrahim Solih with 54% of the vote. On 17 October 2023, Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the eighth President of the Republic of Maldives. In April 2024, President Mohamed Muizzu’s pro-China People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 seats in the

2024 Maldivian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in the Maldives on 21 April 2024, having previously been scheduled for 17 March. The election date was changed to April after President Mohamed Muizzu ratified election postponement bill by the People's Majlis pa ...

, while its allies took nine, giving the president the backing of 75 legislators in the 93-member house, meaning a super-majority and enough to change the constitution.

Executive branch

The Cabinet of the Maldives presided by the President, contains the Vice-President and ministers. there are currently 22 ministers that lead their respective ministries, they are: * Minister of Defense *

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

* Minister of Homeland Security and Technology * Minister of Finance * Minister of Education * Minister of Health * Minister of Economic Development and Trade * Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources * Attorney General * Minister of Islamic Affairs * Minister of Tourism * Minister of Social and Family Development * Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation * Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy * Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development * Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation * Minister of Dhivehi Language, Culture and Heritage * Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development * Minister of Construction and Infrastructure * Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare * Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts * Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works

Legislative branch

The

People's Majlis 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 93 members as of 2024. Each year on the first Mon ...

has 93 members elected by the people under

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

Political parties and elections

On a national level, Maldives elects a

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

the president and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people since 2008. Until 2005 (after the election), no legal parties existed. The results of the most recent legislative elections held in 2024 are:The Maldivian parliament voted unanimously for the creation of a multiparty system on June 2, 2005. Prior to June 2005, the Maldivian political system was based on the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform. In June 2005, as part of an ongoing programme of democratic reform, new regulations were promulgated to formally recognised political parties within the framework of the electoral system. The Maldivian Democratic Party was already active. New parties created within a few years after this included those such as the

, the

Jumhooree Party The Jumhooree Party (, ) is a political party in the Maldives. The party was founded by a group of MPs on 26 May 2008, and grew quickly, rapidly overtaking the Maldivian Democratic Party to become the largest opposition party in the Majlis for ...

, and the

. There are now 10 registered political parties in the Maldives: On October 8, 2008, the country held its first ever multi-party presidential election. In the 2019 parliamentary election, MDP won 65 seats in the 87 seat parliament. This was the first time a single party was able to get such a high number of seats in the parliament in Maldivian history. In the 2024 parliamentary election, PNC won 66 seats in the 93 seat parliament, meanwhile MDP received 12.

Judicial branch

The legal system is based on

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

with admixtures of English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

primarily in commercial matters. Maldives has not accepted compulsory

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

jurisdiction.

Administrative divisions

20 atolls (''atholhu'', singular and plural): Alif Alif, Alif Dhaal, Baa, Dhaalu, Faafu, Gaafu Alifu, Gaafu Dhaalu, Gnaviyani, Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Laamu, Lhaviyani, Kaafu, Meemu, Noonu, Raa, Seenu, Shaviyani, Thaa, Vaavu, and one first-order administrative city (

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

International organisation participation

The Maldives is a member of many international organisations, some of which include: The ADB,

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, CP, ESCAP,

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, G-77,

IBRD The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States; it is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers loa ...

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

, IDA,

IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the only ...

, IFC,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, IMO,

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

(nonsignatory user),

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

IsDB Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB; Japanese: , ''Tōgō dejitaru hōsō sābisu'') is a Japanese broadcasting standard for digital television (DTV) and digital radio. ISDB supersedes both the NTSC-J analog television system and ...

ITU The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established ...

, NAM, OIC,

OPCW The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW; French language, French: ''Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques'', OIAC) is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation and the implementing b ...

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

, UN,

UNCTAD UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

UNIDO The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...

UPU The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, WCO,

WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...

, WMO, and the

WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

References

External links

Website of the Maldivian ParliamentPresident's Office's WebsiteAmnesty International reports on the MaldivesFreedom of expression in the Maldives
–

IFEX Ifosfamide, sold under the brand name Ifex among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes testicular cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer, cervic ...

Penn Law School Students Help Draft a Criminal Code for the Maldives
from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

website
Maldives Holds Cabinet Meeting Underwater to Highlight Danger of Global Warming
– video report by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' {{Asia topic, Politics of