Vice President of the Maldives

Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan ޑރ. މުހައްމަދު ވަހީދު ޙަސަން
Vice President of the Maldives
In office November 11, 2008 – Incumbent
President	Mohamed Nasheed
Preceded by	N/A (First Elected Vice President)
Personal details
Spouse(s)	Ilham Hussain
Residence	Hilaalige' (Official) Eureka (Private)
Website	President's Office: Vice President Website

Maldives

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Maldives

Constitution Government Executive President Mohamed Nasheed Vice President Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan Cabinet Legislative People's Majlis Speaker Abdulla Shahid Judiciary Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Courts Supreme Court High Court Magistrates' Courts Elections Presidential: 2003, 2008 Parliamentary: 2003, 2008 Local Council: 2011 Referendums: 2007 Political Parties List of political parties Major Parties: MDP DRP Divisions Provinces & Atolls Natural Atolls Local Councils Foreign Policy Foreign relations Foreign aid Other Law enforcement Evolution of Judiciary

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Vice President of the Maldives is the holder of a public office created by the Constitution of the Maldives.Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan is the first elected Vice President of the Republic of the Maldives, having been inaugurated on the 11th of November, 2008.

The Vice President is the first in the line of succession to the Presidency in the even 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 constituition 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.

From 1954 onwards, the Maldives would not have another appointed Vice President, which included the rule of Muhammad Fareed Didi and the Presidencies of Ibrahim Nasir and 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 also the first 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 constituition.

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.

External links

• President's Office: Vice President
• Official Website of Dr. Waheed
• List of current Vice Presidents

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Dheena Hussain. 2008 Functional Translation of the Constitution of the Maldives, Male' Maldives.
2. ^ New Constitution approved
3. ^ www.miadhu.com.mv, Nasheed sworn in as Maldives new President
4. ^ ^{a b} www.drwaheed.com, Official Biography of the Vice President
5. ^ Biography of the Vice President from the President's Office