The Speaker of the People's Majlis is the presiding officer of the People's Majlis, the unicameral legislature of the Maldives. The Speaker is directly elected by the members of the People's Majlis during the first session after each parliamentary election. Until then, the longest consecutively serving member will be presiding over the legislature.

The Speaker or any other person presiding may not vote on any question unless if there is a tie, otherwise he can vote. However, the Speaker can vote if there is a question that must be decided be two-thirds or three-quarters majority of the members.

King Muhammad Shamsuddeen III set up a council which was tasked to create the first constitution of the Maldives. After the constitution was approved, Muhammad Fareed Didi who was part of the council, assumed as the inaugural holder of the Speaker of the Majlis.

During the First Republic of the Maldives, a bicameral legislature was added in the 1953 constitution which included an upper house as the Senate and a lower house as the People's Assembly. The First Republic was later dissolved along with that year's constitution. Fathimath Ibrahim Didi served as the President of the Senate from 1953 to 1954.

After the first multi-party parliamentary election, the Majlis elected Abdulla Shahid as the Speaker of the People's Majlis on 28 May 2009.

On 27 May 2014, Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed was elected as the Majlis speaker. In 2017, a no confidence motion was brought up against him for alleged unfair conduct, disregard of the rule of law and parliamentary procedures as well as his role in eroding checks and balances and “subverting Maldivian democracy”. During the voting of the no confidence motion, the electronic voting system wasn't working which caused many opposition MPs to walk out or get evicted. They accused the government of tampering with the system to circumvent the vote. Thirteen opposition MPs were evicted for "disorderly conduct", according to Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nihan. The U.S. government and the British Embassy to the Maldives echoed concerns about the irregularities in the vote. A motion of no confidence was scheduled against Mohamed again in 2018, but he resigned before the motion could take place. Qasim Ibrahim was elected the Speaker following Mohamed's resignation.

On 28 May 2019, former President Mohamed Nasheed was elected the new Speaker of the People's Majlis. In June 2023, the Maldivian Democratic Party MPs filed a no confidence motion against him, with members being concerned about how he has been conducting the parliamentary session. They later withdrew the motion. In October 2023, a new no confidence motion was filed against him, alleging repeated irregular conduct of meetings. The no confidence vote was later stalled as then-Deputy Speaker of the Majlis and Nasheed's cousin, Eva Abdulla, called in sick. The MDP accused Nasheed and Abdulla of stalling the vote. The MDP later filed a case at the Supreme Court of the Maldives, where they ruled that the motion was halted in violation of law. Nasheed later resigned before the vote took place. Mohamed Aslam was elected as the Speaker following Nasheed's resignation.

The incumbent Speaker is Abdul Raheem Abdulla, assuming office on 28 May 2024.

List +Speakers of the People's MajlisPortraitNamePartyTerm of officeDeputy SpeakerTook officeLeft office1Independent21 October 193325 June 1942Unknown2Independent27 June 194229 October 19443Independent30 October 19447 November 19454Independent8 November 19453 March 19485Independent12 April 194812 April 19526Independent13 April 195221 October 19537Independent1 March 19543 October 19598Independent3 October 19591 August 19729Independent1 August 197211 November 198210Independent11 November 198215 January 198811Independent14 February 198822 February 199012Independent22 February 199011 November 199313Independent11 November 199313 September 2004Abdul Rasheed Hussain (2000–2005)14Independent13 September 20046 August 200815Republican12 August 200828 May 2009Aneesa Ahmed16 Rayyithunge Democratic28 May 200928 May 2014Ahmed Nazim17Progressive28 May 20141 November 2018Moosa Manik18Republican1 November 201927 May 201919 Democratic Democrats28 May 201913 November 2023Eva Abdulla20Democratic14 November 202328 May 2024Ahmed Saleem21Congress28 May 2024IncumbentAhmed Nazim (2024–2026)Ahmed Saleem (2026–present)

See also

Politics of the Maldives People's Majlis Speaker of the People's Majlis President of the Maldives List of presidents of the Maldives Vice President of the Maldives List of vice presidents of the Maldives

References