Mohamed Nasheed 'Anni' created history on 11 November, when he was sworn in to office as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. He had just been swept into power in the country's first-ever multiparty poll, ending the 30-year reign of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Onetime journalist, human-rights activist turned politician, the 41-year-old former parliamentarian for Male is now keen to concentrate all of his energies on building the country's economy and infrastructure, combating climate change and restoring – or building anew – his country's democratic system.
Jailed and kept under house arrest at regular intervals for more than a decade, President Nasheed now offers the people what he calls an "extra serving of freedom and democracy" as the first steps to development. The "jackboots of yesteryear" had tried to break the resilience and will of the people, he has warned. Now, "they need to enjoy freedom to heal." A founder member of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), President Nasheed says that the recent election was all about the peoples' dignity and freedom. He also adds that he never aspired to the highest office in the islands. "I was thinking about how to become a free man, not president," was his wry comment at a post-election interview. "Change came at a great cost … but the sense of relief we feel today cannot be measured or explained."
Voted into power on promises of good governance, media freedom and economic growth, President Nasheed says the Maldives is a country in transition, and that there can be no development without a solid foundation of honest, forward-looking governance. "The people require sewerage, harbours, health and education," he says. "But above all, they are looking for democracy, freedom and human rights." Indeed, the new head of state and government faces a host of dramatic challenges. The Maldivian economy, once one of the most stable in Southasia, is today grappling with the impact of the global financial crisis, rising inflation and the growing disparity between the rich and poor. With education another top priority, President Nasheed says that he intends to transform the erstwhile Presidential Palace into the country's first university.
Meanwhile, the challenge of rising oceans is also crying out for attention. Climate change, and the threat of complete submergence, stares each of the more than 300,000 citizens of the Maldives in the face. Such a massive issue inevitably requires unusual planning. President Nasheed says that his recent proposal to invest in real estate in India and Sri Lanka, and even Australia, where uninhabited land is in plenty, is about survival, not a matter of choice. "We love our country, but that does not mean we would want to risk our people," he says. "We refuse to wait until our population ends up as ecological refugees."