Vice President of the Maldives

Vice President of the Republic of Maldives
ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ރައީސުލްޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާގެ ނާއިބު
State Emblem of Maldives
Flag of Maldives
since 17 November 2023
ResidenceHilaaleege Malé
AppointerPresident of Maldives
Term lengthFive years, renewable
Inaugural holderIbrahim Muhammad Didi
SalaryMVR 93,000/US$6059 monthly[1]
This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the
Maldives
Government
Executive
President of the Maldives
Mohamed Muizzu

Vice President of the Maldives
Hussain Mohamed Latheef

Legislature

People's Majlis
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla
Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim

Parliament Members
Judiciary
Chief Justice
Ahmed Muthasim Adnan
Elections
National Elections

Presidential elections

Parliamentary Elections

Referendums

Political parties
Government

Others

Administrative divisions
Administrative divisions of the Maldives
Foreign relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister Moosa Zameer

The vice president of the Republic of Maldives (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ރައީސުލްޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާގެ ނާއިބު, romanized: dhivehiraajjeyge raeesuljumhooriyyaage naaibu) is the second-highest official in the executive branch of the government of the Maldives, after the president of the Maldives, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is directly elected together with the president to a five-year term of office.

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 current office-holder is Hussain Mohamed Latheef who was sworn in on 17 November 2023.

The Office of the Vice President

The post of the Vice President are described in article 112 of the constitution as follows:[2]

  • 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.[2]

  • 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, Ibrahim 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.[3]

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.[4]

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 First Maldivian to receive a PhD having done so from the prestigious Stanford University, having specialized in International Development.[5]

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.[5]

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.[6]

Oath of Office of the Vice President

The oath of office of the Vice President is described verbatim 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

Main article: List of vice presidents of the Maldives
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 Umar Maniku,[7][8][9] Hassan Zareer[10] October 1975[11] May 1977[12] Ibrahim Nasir
Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik[13] 11 November 2008 7 February 2012 Mohamed Nasheed
Mohammed Waheed Deen[14] 25 April 2012 10 November 2013 Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik
Mohamed Jameel Ahmed[15] 17 November 2013 21 July 2015 Abdulla Yameen
Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor[16] 22 July 2015 5 November 2015 Abdulla Yameen
Abdulla Jihad[17] 22 June 2016 16 November 2018 Abdulla Yameen
Faisal Naseem 17 November 2018 17 November 2023 Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Hussain Mohamed Latheef 17 November 2023 Incumbent Mohamed Muizzu

References

  1. ^ "Committee OKs pay hike for president, ministers". Sun. 19 December 2023. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Constitution of Maldives" (PDF). The President's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ^ Buerk, Roland (7 August 2008). "Maldives adopt new constitution". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ www.miadhu.com.mv, Nasheed sworn in as Maldives new President[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b "About President Waheed - President Mohamed Waheed". President Mohamed Waheed. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan - The President's Office". The President's Office. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  7. ^ "CHIEFS OF STATE AND CABINET MEMBERS OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency - US. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  8. ^ "The President's Office - Press Releases". Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Abdul Sattar Moosa Didi passes away: National Flag to be flown at half-mast". vnews. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Asia Yearbook". 1978.
  11. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1975July-Dec. 2003. hdl:2027/osu.32435024020034 – via HathiTrust.
  12. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. 1977Jan-June. 2003. hdl:2027/osu.32435024019994 – via HathiTrust.
  13. ^ "Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan - The President's Office". The President's Office. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Mohamed Waheeduddeen - The President's Office". The President's Office. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Dr. Mohammed Jameel Ahmed - The President's Office". The President's Office. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor". The President's Office. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Abdulla Jihad - The President's Office". The President's Office. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.