Mohammed Waheed Hassan

During his short tenure in office he was one of the most unpopular presidents the Maldives has had. When he stood for re-election to a full 5-year term in the 2013 election, he was defeated by a wide margin and finished as the least voted of the four candidates running, having received only a little over 5% of the vote. The results of that election were later annulled, however, and a re-run was held, but Waheed chose not to stand for election again.

On 7 September 2013, Waheed stood as a candidate for the presidency of the Maldives. In his first independent bid for elected office, Waheed was routed in the four-way race which pitted him against three other candidates, amongst them, frontrunner and former president Mohamed Nasheed. Nasheed finished in first place with 45.45% of all valid ballots cast (95,224 votes). Nasheed was trailed by Abdullah Yameen who received 25.40% of the vote share (53,099), Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party who received 24.02% of all votes (50,422), and Waheed with only 5.13% of the votes (10,750).

The fairness of the results of the 2013 elections has been challenged in the Supreme Court. Various reports suggest duplicates, names of deceased and underaged in the official voter list. Political leaders are insisting on a thorough investigation so as to prevent any vote rigging in the run off. On 24 September 2013 the Supreme Court injunction signed by the majority of four judges of the seven-judge bench asked the commission and relevant state institutions to delay the runoff until the court rules on the case filed by Jumhoory Party (JP) seeking annulment of the first round results alleging vote rigging.

Waheed announced his withdrawal from the rerun of the 2013 presidential election later scheduled for 9 November 2013, after polling held on 7 September 2013 was annulled by the Supreme Court.

On 7 February 2012, he assumed the office of president following the resignation of the incumbent, Mohamed Nasheed, which took place under circumstances which have not been fully clarified. Waheed is alleged to have collaborated with the opposition in order to force Nasheed's resignation. Waheed was the first Maldivian Vice President to have fully succeeded to presidency, and he was to serve for the remainder of the presidential term until November 2013.

On 7 February 2012, Waheed assumed the presidency following the disputed resignation of President Nasheed, who asserted that he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a coup d'état. A week later, protesters led by Waheed's own brother, Naushad Waheed, accused Mohammed Waheed of complicity in the alleged coup. Waheed was also criticised both by Nasheeds party and several Human Rights organizations and by the international community for several human rights violations during his term. Waheed and his supporters, however, state that the transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional, and have agreed to launch an independent review of the events surrounding Nasheed's resignation.

On 1 March 2012, Waheed was blocked from opening the Maldivian Parliament by Nasheed, who accused him of breaking a promise to set a date for a new election. On 19 March, he attempted to open parliament again and was once more blocked by Nasheed pro parliamentarians. Four opposition MPs were removed from the building when they tried to physically assault Waheed during his speech. Waheed responded with a speech calling for national unity.

Waheed was chosen as the presidential candidate of Gaumee Itthihaad Party (GIP) in the beginning of September. However, when the election date was announced in early October, GIP formed a coalition with the Maldivian Democratic Party, after being approached by the two other main opposition groups: the New Maldives Movement and the Jumhooree Party. Though Waheed was asked to become the vice presidential candidate for both the other parties, Gaumee Itthihaad chose to form an alliance with the largest opposition party, Maldivian Democratic Party, only days before the deadline for the submission of the candidates names. Mohamed Nasheed who was elected as the presidential candidate of MDP chose Waheed as his vice in the October 2008 presidential election. This was the first democratic election in the history of the country and ended Gayoom's 30-year reign.

After they won the election, Nasheed and his vice, Waheed, were sworn in on 11 November 2008, in a special session of the People's Majlis at Dharubaaruge. Waheed was inaugurated as the nation's first elected vice president, the first to serve in the post when it was reinstated after over 50 years.

After his career in the United Nations, Waheed returned to the Maldives once again to stand for the leadership of the newly formed Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Waheed lost the leadership election by a narrow margin. Waheed had given up his position in UNICEF. In 2006, after his work with MDP, he took up a consultancy position. In June 2008, Waheed returned to the Maldives and formed his own political party. Later on, most of his party members, including all the senior figures, reverted to MDP: Gaumee Itthihaad.

In 2003, long-standing President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom appointed Waheed to the Constitutional Assembly convened to amend the constitution of the country. When Waheed realized that the Members of Parliament would not be able to make dramatic reforms, he left the Maldives to complete his education in the United States where he received two Masters and a PhD from Stanford University; he was the first Maldivian to earn the latter degree.

Waheed left Maldives in 1992, and he took a job with UNICEF, working in Tanzania and then Bangladesh. He would later be transferred to the UN Headquarters in New York and made a senior advisor coordinating global policy for UNICEF. In 2001, he was transferred to UNICEF South Asia based in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he headed programs for the region. He was later made the head of UNICEF Afghanistan.

After completing his education, he returned and stood for Parliament. In 1989, Waheed ran against Gayoom's brother-in-law, Ilyas Ibrahim. Despite this opposition, Waheed won the seat.

On his return to Maldives from Addu (at the end of 1988), he became director of educational services in the Ministry of Education. He was placed in charge of the Ministry for several months as an Educational Minister was to be appointed. During this time he also served as a member of the National council for Dhivehi Language and Literature, a member of the Atolls Development Advisory board, and a member for the Maldives Youth council.

Waheed was born to Hassan Ibrahim Maniku and Aishath Moosa. He was the first of ten children. President Waheed attended the American University of Beirut for four years, studying for two of those years in the midst of the Lebanese civil war; completing a bachelor's degree in English Language as well as a diploma in teaching. By 1976, President Waheed returned home to the Maldives, and took up a post teaching the Language at Jamaaludheen School in Male’ (the capital of the Maldives). President Waheed taught many students who would become highly influential members of Maldivian society both in the Government, as well as in the private sector. Among his students is the popular television comedian Yoosuf Rafeeu (commonly known as Yoosay), along with members of the government such as the former Executive Secretary to the Parliament Abdullah Shahid. President Waheed also taught many senior civil servants such as the current Elections Commissioner and the Minister for Presidential Affairs Mohammed Hussein. During this time, President Waheed also helped develop the first English language curriculum in Maldivian schools.

By September 1976, President Waheed was granted a full scholarship to attend Stanford University in the United States. After completing his master's degree in education Planning in 1979, he returned home to the Maldives in order to begin working for the Ministry of Education. After his graduation, he remained in the United States for two more years due to the necessity of his newly born son to receive medical treatment. And although he had the opportunity to remain in the United States, he elected to return home, giving up his job as a project manager of a technology firm, in San Francisco. He went to Addu after that due to political issues.

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (Dhivehi: ޑރ. މުޙައްމަދު ވަޙީދު ޙަސަން މަނިކު ; Arabic: مُحَمَّد وَحِيد حَسَن مَانِيك; born 3 January 1953) was the 5th President of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to office following the disputed resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed, under whom Waheed had served as the Maldives' first Vice President in over half a century since 2008. He had previously worked as a news anchor, a United Nations official with UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO, and a member of the Maldivian Parliament. Waheed was the first citizen of the Maldives to receive a Ph.D., having received it at Stanford University in the U.S., and reportedly the first person to appear on Maldivian Television.