A former political prisoner and democracy crusader who defeated Asia's longest-serving ruler in the first multiparty election in the Maldives was sworn in as president of the Indian Ocean archipelago today.
"No other citizens in the world in modern times have changed a 30-year-old regime so peacefully. I congratulate the Maldivian citizens," Mohamed Nasheed (41) said shortly before signing his presidential oath to thundering applause and a 21-gun salute.
Mr Nasheed takes over from Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the president who ruled for three decades and repeatedly jailed him on what rights groups say were trumped-up charges. Mr Gayoom did not appear at the ceremony.
Mr Nasheed, who was just 11 when Mr Gayoom took power in 1978, defeated his former adversary in a runoff poll on October 28th with 54.2 per cent of the votes.
Mr Gayoom (71) had been accused by critics of running the islands like his personal sultanate. But he made good on his pledge to hand over power peacefully, conceding his loss swiftly and promising to become an opposition figure.
The election was the culmination of years of agitation for democratic reforms on the string of 1,192 mostly uninhabited coral atolls 800 km (500 miles) off the tip of India, peopled by 300,000 Sunni Muslims.
Mr Nasheed's victory caps a remarkable journey for an activist whose criticism of Mr Gayoom and crusading for democracy resulted in him being charged 27 times and jailed or banished to remote atolls for a total of six years.
Mr Gayoom is widely credited with overseeing the Maldives' transformation from a fishing-based economy to a tourism powerhouse with South Asia's highest per-capita income, a haven favoured by Hollywood stars and other wealthy travellers.
But Mr Nasheed argued that only a small clique around Gayoom grew rich amid corruption in his government, which Mr Gayoom denies.
Mr Nasheed will take over an economy that earns 28 percent of its GDP directly from tourism but which is under IMF pressure to cut debts and trim a huge government payroll. Tourism is also expected to suffer from the global financial crisis.
The archipelago also faces high child malnutrition, growing Islamist militancy, a major heroin problem, and rising sea levels that could leave much of its land mass underwater by 2100 if a UN climate change panel's predictions are right.
Mr Nasheed has pledged a host of reforms, including privatising state enterprises and turning the islands into a model of renewable energy through widespread use of solar power.
Reuters