Timeline Maldives
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History: http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_romero_history.shtml
A republic of a 500-mile chain of islands about 400 miles south of India and about 300 miles southwest of Sri Lanka. It has a population of 278,000. The people are Sunni Muslims. Only 200 of the republic’s 1,192 coral islands are inhabited.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.T14)(AP, 11/11/03)
Male, the capital of the Maldives, lies 3 feet above sea level.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
1153 A wandering Arab holy man converted the king of the Buddhist Maldive islanders.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
1552 Jan 14, Maldive King Siri Dhrikusa Loka (Hassan IX) was baptized in Cochin, India.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_romero_history.shtml)
1600-1700 Grass mats called kunai were made on the island of Gadu and sent by the Maldivian sultan as part of an annual tribute to the kingdom of Sri Lanka. The “Fine Mat Industry of the Suvadiva Atoll" by Andrew Forbes was publ. by the British Museum.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
1887 The Maldives became a protectorate of Great Britain.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1932 The Maldives adopted its 1st constitution.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1947 Aug 12, The People’s Majlis passed Bill No. 2/66 on the Maldivian monetary system. The committee consisted of Government Ministers and Members of the People’s Majlis.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/index.html)
1952 The Maldives' National Museum opened. In 2012 some of its most valuable exhibits from the pre-Islamic era were smashed by religious extremists.
(AP, 2/14/12)
1953 The Maldives, formerly a Sultanate, was declared a republic. The Sultanate was restored after 15 months.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1957 Ibrahim Nasir (31) became prime minister of the Maldives, a British protectorate.
(AP, 11/23/08)
1959-1962 The government of Maldives was challenged by a local secessionist movement in the southern atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan. This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state with Abdulla Afif Didi as president. The short-lived state, called the United Suvadivan Republic, had a combined population of 20,000 inhabitants scattered in the atolls then named Suvadiva.
(www.findmaldives.com/Maldives-Independence.html)
1965 Jul 26, Republic of Maldives gained independence from Britain.
(www.findmaldives.com/Maldives-Independence.html)
1968 Nov 11, The Maldives became a republic for a 2nd time with Ibrahim Naseer (Nasir) as President.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)(AP, 11/11/08)
1978 Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan (1926-2008) relinquished the position of the President of the Maldives Republic. He was accused of ruling the country as a dictator and fled amid public resentment and unproven allegations of corruption in handling public funds. For the first time in recorded Maldive history, the head of state of the Maldives ceased to be either a King-sultan (Queen-sultana) or a descendant of a King-sultan.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_commonwealth.shtml)(AP, 11/23/08)
1978 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom became president of the Maldives.
(WSJ, 1/3/05, p.A7)
1982 The Maldives applied for and was granted membership in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_commonwealth.shtml)
1985 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the aim of promoting economic cooperation and alleviating poverty in South Asia. Members included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(AP, 11/13/05)
1997 Jun 24, Maldives Pres. Abdul Gayoom said that the survival of the island nation was dependent on halting the process of global warming.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A2)
1997 The Maldives adopted a new constitution, which enshrined Pres. Gayoom as head of state, government, judiciary and the security forces.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)
1999 Dec 3, In the Maldives a helicopter crashed enroute to Male and killed all 10 people onboard.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A14)
2003 Sep 19, In the Maldives unrest erupted at the Maafushi prison after a young man named Evan Naseem was tortured to death. Police opened fire and 3 people were killed. Violent riots followed as did a state of emergency.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)
2003 Sep 21, The leader of the Maldives appealed for calm after two days of rioting killed 3 people and sent shock waves through this tiny Indian Ocean island nation.
(AP, 9/21/03)
2003 Nov 11, Maldives Pres. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (65) was sworn in for a record sixth term, becoming the longest-serving head of state in Asia.
(AP, 11/11/03)
2004 Mar 17, The Maldives ferry Enamaa was carrying far more than its capacity of up to 100 when a wave overturned it. At least 18 people were killed. More than 50 others were missing.
(AP, 3/18/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to some 230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 temblor hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean. In Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths: thousands were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed on Sumatra island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1 killed. Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were killed. Sri Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and rebel controlled areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands and a tiny population of 280,000, at least 82 people were killed and missing. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll nation. Somalia: At least 298 were killed. Tanzania: At least 10 killed. Thailand: The confirmed death toll for Thailand reached 5,322, but many suspected Myanmar migrants were not counted. Some 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)(AP, 11/12/13)
2004 Dec 26, In the Maldives at least 117 people were killed and missing, among them two British tourists. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll nation.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2005 Jan 2, Some 1,500 people inhabited the artificial Maldive island of Hulhumale. Some $60 million had already been spent on its creation and completion was expected in 2040.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2005 Jan 22, Maldivians cast votes to elect a parliament, three weeks after the election was postponed because of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Police arrested 20 opposition backers.
(AP, 1/22/05)(WSJ, 1/24/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 2, The Maldives ushered in a new political era when parliament voted to allow parties to form for the first time in the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, a move that ended centuries of autocratic rule. The law passed in July.
(Reuters, 6/2/05)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.55)
2005 Nov 12, In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a 2-day summit aimed to alleviate poverty and boost trade and cooperation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Leaders called for greater cooperation within the region to deal with the aftermath of disasters like the Kashmir earthquake and last year's devastating tsunami.
(AFP, 11/12/05)
2005 An estimated 80,000 people lived in the Maldives on less than 1.2 square miles.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2006 The population of the Maldives numbered about 300,000. Some 100,000 were packed into the 2 square kilometers of the capital, Male, the most densely populated town in the world.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.53)
2007 Aug 19, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom won an overwhelming victory in a referendum on the Maldives' future form of government, a poll seen as an informal vote of confidence in his three-decade rule of the tiny Indian Ocean nation.
(AP, 8/19/07)
2007 Sep 29, A bomb exploded at the entrance to a recreation park in the Maldives, wounding at least 12 foreign tourists.
(AP, 9/29/07)
2008 Jan 8, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (70), the Maldives president, survived an assassination attempt when boy scout Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim (15) grabbed the knife of an attacker who jumped out of a crowd of people greeting the president.
(AP, 1/9/08)(AP, 1/10/08)
2008 Aug 2, In Sri Lanka a two-day summit of leaders of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), opened amid extraordinary security. Leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the summit. Government troops captured rebel-held Vellankulam village in Mannar, the last rebel stronghold in the area. Fresh fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger separatists killed 14 rebels and two soldiers across the embattled northern region.
(AP, 8/2/08)(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 7, Maldives Pres. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom signed and adopted a new constitution that allows multiparty elections and other democratic reforms after decades of authoritarian rule. Under the constitution Islam is the only religion its people can legally practice.
(AP, 8/7/08)(AFP, 6/5/12)
2008 Oct 8, Maldives islanders in the cramped city of Male and scores of far-flung atolls began voting in the first democratic presidential election in their tiny nation's history.
(AP, 10/8/08)
2008 Oct 9, Poll results in the Maldives indicated President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to be headed for a runoff against Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner who leads the main opposition.
(AP, 10/9/08)
2008 Oct 28, Voters turned out in strength to choose the Maldives' first democratically-elected president in a run-off between Asia's longest serving leader and a former political prisoner. Nasheed won 54% of the vote to Gayoom's 46%, according to provisional results from the nation's elections commission.
(AP, 10/28/08)(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 11, Mohamed Nasheed took the oath of office as the Maldives' first democratically elected president. He now leads the flattest nation on Earth, with an average height of 2.3 meters (7 feet) above sea level, and one considered particularly vulnerable to the perils of global climate change and rising sea levels.
(AP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 22, Ibrahim Nasir (b.1926), who led the Maldives' independence movement from the British and became the island nation's first president, died in Singapore.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2008 The population of the Maldives stood at about 370,000 people.
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.52)
2009 Oct 17, Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.
(AP, 10/17/09)
2010 May 20, In the Maldives 15 representatives of the Afghan government met with 7 Taliban members for talks, which would continue over the weekend. A Taliban statement the next day said those at the talks claiming to be from the Taliban are no longer active members and have "surrendered" to President Hamid Karzai's government.
(SFC, 5/21/10, p.A2)(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 Jun 29, The Maldivian cabinet resigned en masse after a threat by the opposition to bring a vote of no confidence in parliament against every minister. Pres. Mohammed Nasheed remained in office.
(AFP, 6/29/10)
2010 The 42-member Alliance of Small Island States called on the industrial nations in 1997 to cut emissions 20% from 1990 levels by this time.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A2)
2011 May 1, Maldives police used tear gas and batons to break up a protest demanding that President Mohamad Nasheed step down. Dozens of people were injured and many were arrested.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 Nov 24, The UN human rights chief urged the Maldives to end the "degrading" practice of flogging women found to have had sex outside marriage. The country of 300,000 people forbids practicing religions other than Islam.
(AP, 11/24/11)
2011 Dec 30, The Maldives government said it has decided to close massage parlors and spas, following an opposition-led religious protest last week calling for their closure. Sunni Islam is the official religion in the Maldives and practicing any other faith is forbidden.
(AP, 12/30/11)
2011 In the Maldives Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom founded the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.34)
2012 Jan 16, The Maldives' military arrested the chief justice of the country's criminal court after he released an opposition leader who had been detained without a warrant for allegedly defaming the government. A day later the arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed prompted all courts to boycott sessions.
(AP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 19, The Maldives Journalists' Association said the government is threatening and harassing the media over their reporting of a political crisis and the military's arrest of the nation's top criminal court judge.
(AP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, In the Maldives dozens of anti-government activists were arrested in the capital Male, as the government accused them of whipping up religious extremism.
(AFP, 1/21/12)
2012 Feb 7, The Maldives' first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed (44), resigned after a police mutiny described by his office as an attempted coup, capping weeks of political upheaval in the holiday paradise. Nasheed has faced three weeks of street protests stemming from the arrest of a senior judge. Vice President Mohamed Waheed, who had clashed with Nasheed over the chief justice's detention, was sworn in as the new head of state and he urged the population of 300,000 Sunni Muslims to remain calm.
(AFP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 8, Supporters of the Maldives former president rioted through the streets and seized some police stations to demand his reinstatement as the country's new leader appealed for an end to the political turmoil roiling this Indian Ocean nation. Former leader Mohamed Nasheed and other top party officials were beaten by police in the street chaos.
(AP, 2/8/12)
2012 Feb 9, A Maldives court issued an arrest warrant for former President Mohamed Nasheed, one day after his supporters rampaged in the capital and his claim of being ousted by a coup left unclear the stability of the fledging Indian Ocean democracy.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 12, Ousted Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed rejected a US call for compromise and rejected a unity government to end political unrest as fresh clashes erupted in the Indian Ocean nation.
(AFP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 13, The United Nations backed the Maldives' new leader's proposal for a national unity government though the ousted leader called for a snap poll to resolve a political crisis.
(AP, 2/13/12)
2012 Feb 16, Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed agreed to demands for early elections, after taking power last week in what his ousted predecessor described as a coup d'etat.
(AFP, 2/16/12)
2012 Mar 26, Somali pirates seized an Iranian-owned cargo ship and its 23-strong crew in the first hijacking within Maldivian territory. The MV. Eglantine was seized off the north-western Hoarafush island in the Indian Ocean atoll nation. The Bolivian-flagged vessel was freed on April 2, and continued on to Iran with its sugar shipment.
(AFP, 3/27/12)(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 14, Maldives President Mohamed Waheed, accused of seizing power in a military-backed coup, faced his first popularity test when voting was held in two key by-elections.
(AFP, 4/14/12)
2012 Jun 5, Maldivian police said Ismail Rasheed (37), a blogger known for his liberal views on religion, is in intensive care after being stabbed by an attacker outside his home in the capital Male.
(AFP, 6/5/12)
2012 Jul 13, Maldives police arrested at least 55 anti-government protesters following violent clashes with security forces in the capital Male.
(AFP, 7/13/12)
2012 Aug 30, The Maldives Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI), consisting of four nationals named by political parties and a Singaporean judge nominated by the Commonwealth, found the February change of president was "legal and constitutional." The judgment promptly rejected by Mohamed Nasheed’s party, which vowed to keep up protests to press for early elections.
(AFP, 8/30/12)
2012 Oct 1, In the Maldives the trial of former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed was postponed after he defied a court order and left the capital by boat.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19797538)(Economist, 10/6/12, p.48)
2012 Oct 2, In the Maldives Dr. Afrasheen Ali, a member of parliament, was murdered in a frenzied stabbing attack.
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.48)(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19797538)
2012 The population of the Maldives archipelago was about 330,000.
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.46)
2013 Feb 13, In the Maldives former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed took refuge at the Indian Embassy after a court ordered his arrest for not attending a hearing on charges that he illegally ordered the detention of a senior judge, a move that led to his ouster last year.
(SFC, 2/15/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 7, The Maldives held elections. Mohamed Nasheed, ousted from power last year, emerged as the clear leader with 45% of the vote, short of the 50% needed to avoid a Sep 28 runoff against Yaamin Abdul Qayyoom.
(SFC, 9/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Oct 7, The Maldives Supreme Court annulled the results of the September 7 presidential election and scheduled a fresh vote for October 20 after a candidate challenged the outcome, citing irregularities. Earlier in the day masked men burst into the Raajje TV studio in Male, stabbed a security guard and set the place ablaze. Raajje was alligned with the oppposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
(Reuters, 10/7/13)(Econ, 10/12/13, p.52)
2013 Oct 8, The Maldives government urged all parties to support fresh elections after the Supreme Court annulled last month's results, even though international observers had said those polls were free and fair.
(AFP, 10/8/13)
2013 Oct 19, The Maldives sank further into political disarray when police blocked officials from conducting a presidential revote, saying that holding the election would violate a Supreme Court order.
(AP, 10/19/13)
2013 Oct 20, Mohamed Nasheed, the leading candidate in the Maldives' troubled presidential election, demanded that Pres. Mohamed Waheed Hassan resign and allow the parliamentary speaker to take over the government and oversee a fresh poll.
(AP, 10/20/13)
2013 Nov 9, The Maldives voted to elect a new leader for their budding democracy. Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader who first came to power in 2008 after 30 years of one-man rule, won the first round of voting but failed to win a clear majority.
(AP, 11/9/13)(Reuters, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 10, The Maldives' top court again delayed holding the second round of the country's presidential poll. The Supreme Court delayed it until Nov 16, in line with demands from Mohamed Nasheed's two biggest rivals.
(Reuters, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 16, The Maldives held runoff elections. Abdulla Yameen, the half brother of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, defeated former president Mohamed Nasheed, securing 51.3% of the popular vote.
(AFP, 11/16/13)(Econ, 11/23/13, p.41)
2013 The population of the Maldives archipelago was about 400,000.
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.38)
2014 Apr, The Maldives introduced new regulations for the implementation of the death penalty by lethal injection.
(AP, 4/30/14)
2014 May 21, Transparency International said South Asia is the most corrupt region of the world and governments must strengthen their anti-graft agencies to prevent political interference and protect whistleblowers. The watchdog group found serious problems with anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(AP, 5/21/14)
2014 Jul 5, The US Secret Service arrested Roman Valerevich Seleznev (30), a Russian national, in an airport in the Maldives for hacking into US retailers' computer systems to steal credit card data from 2009 to 2011. Federal agents found 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers on his laptop computer.
(Reuters, 7/8/14)(AP, 8/16/16)
2014 Sep 14, Maldives former president Mohamed Nasheed told Britain's Independent on Sunday paper that up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. The entire population of the Maldives is only around 330,000 Sunni Muslims.
(AFP, 9/15/14)
2014 Sep 15, China's President Xi Jinping enlisted the Maldives' backing for a "21st century maritime silk road" as he began a tour of South Asia in the strategically located Indian Ocean island chain.
(AFP, 9/15/14)
2014 Dec 5, The government of Maldives declared a state of emergency and has appealed for aid from India, Sri Lanka, the United States and China. Mohamed Shareef, a government minister, said: "We have declared a state of crisis and also informed the shopkeepers to issue bottle water free of charge."
(Reuters, 12/5/14)
2014 Dec 10, A Maldives government official said water supply in the capital, cut by a fire last week in its only treatment plant, won't be fully restored until next week.
(AP, 12/10/14)
2015 Feb 22, Maldives’ police arrested former president Mohamed Nasheed after a court said he might flee the country to avoid hearings on terrorism charges, leading to clashes between his supporters and authorities.
(Reuters, 2/22/15)
2015 Mar 13, In the Maldives a three-judge panel ruled that Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, issued an illegal order to detain a senior judge in 2012 while in office.
(AP, 3/14/15)
2015 Mar 30, The Maldives' Parliament passed a law that strips people serving prison sentences of their political party memberships, a rule critics say is designed to oust jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed from politics.
(AP, 3/30/15)
2015 Apr 10, A court in the Maldives sentenced former defense minister Tholath Ibrahim to 10 years in prison on charges of detaining a senior judge. The sentencing came nearly a month after former President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison for ordering the arrest and detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed.
(AP, 4/11/15)
2015 May 1, Maldives police used tear gas against opposition protesters who broke into a restricted military zone demanding President Yameen Abdul Gayoom resign and a jailed ex-president be freed. Police baton-charged a night protest on the main island of Male and arrested 193 people including three opposition leaders.
(AP, 5/1/15)(AFP, 5/2/15)
2015 Jul 22, Maldives’ President Yameen Abdul Gayoom appointed Ahmed Adeeb, his trusted tourism minister, as vice president. Parliament ousted his former deputy on negligence charges a day earlier.
(AP, 7/22/15)
2015 Aug 10, Authorities in the Maldives intercepted a boat carrying seven foreign tourists and a local crew that was apparently heading to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, where the United States maintains a military base.
(AP, 8/12/15)
2015 Aug 23, Maldives police took former President Mohamed Nasheed back to jail even though his 13-year sentence was commuted to house arrest last month.
(AP, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 28, In the Maldives an explosion took place aboard the president's boat. Authorities called it an assassination attempt. President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured in the blast.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 11, India said that the Maldives leader has committed to an "India first" policy in talks with its external affairs minister.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 14, Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen fired his defense minister with immediate effect, the latest move in a defense shake-up following an explosion targeting the leader.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 24, Maldives VP Ahmed Adeeb was arrested in connection with the Sep 28 explosion aboard the president's boat that authorities have called an assassination attempt. Adeeb will be charged with high treason. Three soldiers, including a former member of Adeeb's security detail and a member of the army's bomb squad, were also arrested in connection with the blast. Authorities also arrested a Sri Lankan man believed to be a sniper who was targeting President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/24/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Maldives adopted new anti-terror legislation. Opposition politicians claimed one purpose of it was to intimidate government critics.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.40)
2015 Oct 28, Hamid Ismail, suspected of involvement in the Sep 28 attempted assassination of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur with four other Maldives residents.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Nov 4, The Maldives declared a state of emergency for 30 days citing a threat to national security.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 5, Maldives' Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach VP Ahmed Adeeb and said he will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 28, Police in the Maldives dispersed opposition protesters for a second straight day, using tear gas and pepper spray and arresting more than a dozen demonstrators demanding the release of a former president and other jailed political leaders.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 J.J. Robinson authored “The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy."
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.76)
2016 Jan 23, British PM David Cameron urged the Maldives to open up its politics and release all remaining political prisoners after meeting former president Mohamed Nasheed.
(AFP, 1/23/16)
2016 Feb 7, Maldives police arrested a judge and a former prosecutor general for issuing an arrest warrant for the country's president without the police requesting one.
(AP, 2/8/16)
2016 Feb 17, In the Maldives Imran Abdullah, head of an Islamist party, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was charged with terrorism for a speech last May in support of Mohamed Nasheed.
(Econ, 2/20/15, p.33)
2016 Apr 3, Police in the Maldives used pepper spray to break up a protest by journalists and activists accusing the government of stifling press freedom, arresting 11 of the demonstrators.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Jun 1, Mohamed Nasheed, a former president of the Maldives now in exile in Britain after being ousted from office and jailed in his country, formed an opposition group aimed at toppling the government of President Abdulla Yameen.
(Reuters, 6/1/16)
2016 Jun 10, A Maldives court convicted the country's former vice president of masterminding a plot to kill the president by exploding a bomb on his speedboat last year and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Ahmed Adeeb must serve a total of 25 years after the same criminal court sentenced him earlier this week to 10 years for possessing firearms.
(AP, 6/10/16)
2016 Jul 3, A court in the Maldives barred a group of journalists from working for their newly formed media organization for two years, threatening its closure in a move they criticized as an assault on media freedom in the archipelago nation. The journalists had launched Mihaaru news two months ago after the country's oldest and most reputed news organization, Haveeru Media Group, was shut down as a result of court arbitration of an ownership dispute.
(AP, 7/4/16)
2016 Jul 13, In the Maldives senior diplomat Mohamed Asim became foreign minister after his predecessor resigned last week to protest the resumption of the death penalty.
(AP, 7/13/16)
2016 Aug 9, The Maldives' parliament passed a law that criminalizes defamation and allows for jail terms and steep fines for journalists, despite local and international concern that it will be a setback for freedom of speech in the country.
(AP, 8/9/16)
2016 Aug 11, In the Maldives a law that criminalizes defamation and allows for jail terms and steep fines for journalists took effect.
(AP, 8/11/16)
2016 Sep 7, Police in the Maldives raided the office of one of the country's leading news websites shortly after the broadcast of a television documentary that accused the country's president of corruption, money laundering and misrule.
(AP, 9/8/16)
2016 Oct 13, The Maldives government said it has decided to leave the 53-member British Commonwealth because the grouping of former British colonies has treated it "unjustly and unfairly" and sought to interfere in its politics.
(AP, 10/13/16)
2016 Oct 28, In the Maldives six ruling party lawmakers defected to work with the opposition in the party's first open split and a major challenge to President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's rule.
(AP, 10/28/16)
2017 Mar 25, Maldives’ former President Mohamed Nasheed said that he has signed an agreement with his one-time archrival and former strongman to try to restore democracy in the archipelago state.
(AP, 3/25/17)
2017 Apr 23, In the Maldives Yameen Rasheed, prominent blogger and human rights advocate, was found with multiple stab wounds in a house in the capital, Male. He died at a hospital.
(AP, 4/23/17)
2017 Jun 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, the Maldives and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, the world's top seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), stoking concern over any supply disruptions to neighboring countries spilling over into global gas markets. They accused Qatar of supporting extremism.
(Reuters, 6/5/17)
2017 Jul 24, The Maldivian opposition said that the military has locked down parliament on the orders of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a bid to prevent lawmakers from taking part in a vote to impeach the parliamentary speaker.
(AP, 7/24/17)
2017 Aug 25, A Maldives court jailed opposition politician Qasim Ibrahim for just over 38 months on a charge of bribery in connection with a bid to undermine the government. Opposition colleagues said the conviction was a politically motivated bid to strip Ibrahim of his parliamentary seat.
(Reuters, 8/25/17)
2018 Jan 28, An opposition alliance in the Maldives petitioned the Supreme Court to temporarily remove the president and appoint investigators to look into allegations of corruption and misrule.
(AP, 1/29/18)
2018 Feb 1, In the Maldives a Supreme Court decision to free nine political prisoners led to unrest in the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 2, Maldives police arrested two opposition supporters as protesters clashed with police for a second night. Mohammed Nasheed, the exiled former president of the Maldives, said he will run again for office.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 3, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen fired his second police chief in three days and the opposition said it feared violence, as the island nation was pitched deeper into a crisis caused by Yameen's failure to obey a court order to free jailed opponents. The president said he was open to holding an election several months before his term ends next November.
(Reuters, 2/3/18)(AP, 2/3/18)
2018 Feb 4, The Maldives Supreme Court said there should be "no legal barrier" preventing the enforcement of its ruling earlier this week to release nine opposition leaders and re-try them in court, in an indication it expected its ruling to be enforced.
(Reuters, 2/4/18)
2018 Feb 5, Maldives declared a state of emergency for 15 days after the government defied a Supreme Court ruling to release nine jailed opposition leaders.
(Reuters, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 6, The Maldives' top judge was arrested as security forces stormed the Supreme Court at dawn, after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency in the honeymoon islands. Three Supreme Court judges annulled their own order to free a group of imprisoned opposition politicians after two of the court’s judges were arrested.
(AFP, 2/6/18)(SFC, 2/7/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 7, Embattled Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency.
(Reuters, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 7, The United Nations top human rights official called on the Maldives government to immediately lift the state of emergency imposed two days ago, calling it to "an all-out assault on democracy".
(Reuters, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 8, China dismissed accusations from the former leader of the Maldives that it is attempting to effectively buy up the Indian Ocean island state. China is already the Maldives' primary source of tourists and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in an airport expansion, housing development and other projects.
(AP, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 9, In the Maldives privately owned television station Rajje TV, which highlights the views of the political opposition, said it has gone off the air because of threats during the country's current state of emergency.
(AP, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 16, In the Maldives dozens of pro-opposition supporters were injured and many were arrested after police broke up countrywide protests demanding the resignation of Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the release of his political opponents from prison.
(AP, 2/17/18)
2018 Feb 19, Maldives Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom asked Parliament to extend the state of emergency that has helped him reinforce his power. Yameen has had two Supreme Court judges arrested, accusing them of corruption.
(AP, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 20, Maldives' parliament approved a 30-day extension of a state of emergency declared by the president to strengthen his power after the Supreme Court ordered the release of his imprisoned political opponents.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 27, Maldives State Health Minister Dunya Maumoon resigned, grieved by the arrest of her father, the island nation's longest-serving leader. She called upon the international community to support the Maldivian people to help overcome the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/27/18)
2018 Feb 28, Maldives denied a Japanese foreign ministry statement that said a Maldives-flagged vessel was used to illegally transfer goods from a North Korean-flagged tanker in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
(Reuters, 2/28/18)
2018 Mar 17, Maldivian authorities arrested more than 140 activists who defied a ban on rallies and demonstrated against a state of emergency imposed by Pres. Abdulla Yameen.
(AFP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 22, Maldives Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom lifted a 45-day state of emergency he declared during an unprecedented court-triggered challenge to his political control in the archipelago nation.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 May 10, A court in the Maldives sentenced two Supreme Court justices to more than 19 months in prison on charges of influencing lower court decisions.
(AP, 5/10/18)
2018 Jun 13, A Maldives court sentenced Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former president (1978-2008) accused of plotting to overthrow the government, to 19 months in prison for failing to cooperate with the police investigation.
(AP, 6/13/18)
2018 Jun 29, Mohamed Nasheed, the exiled former president of the Maldives, said he has abandoned plans to contest an upcoming presidential election because of legal obstacles.
(AP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jun 30, In the Maldives the opposition alliance named Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, an opposition law maker, as a backup candidate for the presidential election later this year, in the event the exiled former president is unable to contest due to legal obstacles.
(AP, 7/1/18)
2018 Sep 7, Speaking in Thailand on the sidelines of a six-day climate conference Amjad Abdulla, the head negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), warned that island nations like Fiji and the Maldives are almost at the "point of no return" because of rising sea levels.
(AFP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 6, President Donald Trump's administration warned the Maldives of possible sanctions if it doesn't reverse democratic backsliding and ensure free presidential elections on Sept. 23.
(AP, 9/8/18)
2018 Sep 7, The Maldives hit out at the United States after the US warned of possible sanctions against key officials of the island nation if upcoming elections are not free and fair.
(AP, 9/8/18)
2018 Sep 22, Police in the Maldives raided the main campaign office of the opposition presidential candidate on the eve of an election viewed as a referendum on whether democracy will survive in the country.
(AP, 9/22/18)
2018 Sep 23, The Maldives held its third multiparty presidential election. Strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom lost the election to his challenger, longtime lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (56).
(AP, 9/23/18)(AP, 9/24/18)
2018 Oct 3, The Maldives Elections Commission restored 12 lawmakers who were earlier deemed to have lost their seats. The restoration of the lawmakers in line with a Supreme Court order is a sign that president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is consolidating his victory over outgoing strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/3/18)
2018 Oct 4, Qasim Ibrahim, a Maldives opposition leader, returned home after being exiled in Germany for months to escape a prison sentence on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
(AP, 10/4/18)
2018 Oct 10, It was reported that four of the five members of Maldives' Elections Commission have fled the country because of threats from supporters of outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who accused them of rigging last month's presidential election in favor of the opposition candidate.
(AP, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 11, The Maldives Supreme Court said it would examine President Abdulla Yameen's petition to annul his September election defeat despite international pressure on the strongman leader to go quietly.
(AFP, 10/11/18)
2018 Oct 18, A high court in the Maldives overturned a prison sentence for the country's ex-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been jailed for not cooperating with a police investigation into allegations he was trying to overthrow the government. Maumoon still faced a separate case under the terrorism law over the same alleged plot to overthrow his half-brother, outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 21, The Maldives' top court dismissed the outgoing president's petition seeking an annulment of last month's presidential election result. The five-member Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the election was conducted within the law.
(AP, 10/21/18)
2018 Oct 22, A court in the Maldives freed opposition leader Qasim Ibrahim, setting aside a lower court's conviction for bribery.
(AP, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 30, The Maldives Supreme Court suspended a 13-year jail sentence given to Mohamed Nasheed, the country's exiled former president, until it reviews his conviction as requested by the prosecutor general.
(AP, 10/30/18)
2018 Nov 1, Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives, returned home after more than two years in exile to escape a long prison term.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 17, New Maldives Pres. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (54) took office, declaring the state coffers to have been looted and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders in an infrastructure boom.
(Reuters, 11/17/18)
2018 Nov 23, One week after taking power, the new government of the Maldives says it has no idea how much it owes China, which has led a construction spree in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, but fears the debts run up in the past five years could be unsustainable.
(Reuters, 11/23/18)
2018 Nov 26, The Maldives Supreme Court canceled former president Mohamed Nasheed’s 13-year jail sentence after a review of the controversial terrorism conviction.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 26, Maldives' new finance minister said that China is executing infrastructure projects at vastly higher prices than originally proposed but the island nation cannot get out of its commitments now.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Dec 14, In Poland a group of small islands and countries, particularly vulnerable to global warming threatened to block agreement at UN climate talks unless their demands are met. Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, head of the Alliance of Small Island States, said "we are deeply unhappy with the way the talks are going".
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 15, Police in the Maldives questioned Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the country's defeated former strongman president, over complaints of alleged illegal financial transactions, a day after they froze bank accounts with millions of dollars.
(AP, 12/15/18)
2018 Dec 17, PM Narendra Modi said India will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, the biggest aid yet to the Indian Ocean island nation that is grappling with debt from a Chinese building spree.
(Reuters, 12/17/18)
2019 Feb 13, The Maldives' top prosecutor charged former Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom with money laundering. The charges are linked to $1 million allegedly found in Yameen's bank account from a shady government deal to lease islands for tourist development in the Maldives, which is famous for its luxury resorts.
(AP, 2/14/19)
2019 Feb 18, Maldives authorities detained former strongman president Abdulla Yameen after he was accused of trying to bribe witnesses in his money laundering trial.
(AFP, 2/18/19)
2019 Mar 28, A court in the Maldives ordered the release of former president Abdulla Yameen, saying there was not enough reason to hold him beyond a month under the law.
(Reuters, 3/28/19)
2019 Apr 6, People in the Maldives voted in a crucial parliamentary election that many hope will help President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 7, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's party declared a sweeping parliamentary election victory that could give him a free hand in efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 May 20, A Maldives court set aside the conviction and 15-year prison term given the former vice president on allegations he conspired to assassinate former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 Jun 8, Indian PM Narendra Modi arrived in the Maldives on his first official overseas trip since being elected to a second term.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Aug 1, Indian authorities questioning the former vice president of the Maldives, Ahmed Adeeb (37), for illegally entering the country after he arrived on a tugboat in the southern Indian port city of Thoothukudi.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Sep 1, A Maldives commission of inquiry has concluded that journalist Ahmed Rilwan, reported missing since 2014, has been killed possibly by those linked to fighters in Syria at the time. Maldives, which hosts hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists every year, was known to have the most number of fighters per capita in Syria.
(AP, 9/1/19)
2019 Nov 28, Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering, as dozens of his supporters gathered outside the courtroom saying his was innocent.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2020 Feb 4, In the Maldives three foreigners were stabbed in a suburb of Male. Muslim militants claimed responsibility.
(Econ, 3/21/20, p.36)
2020 Mar 8, The Maldives reported its first case of coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/8/20)
2020 Apr 17, The Maldives locked down its capital due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 4/17/20)
2020 Apr 18, The Maldives has reported 34 coronavirus cases and no deaths.
(Reuters, 4/18/20)
2020 May 10, It was reported that the Maldives has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Three deaths have been reported so far.
(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.A6)
2020 May 29, The Maldives reported 1,513 coronavirus cases and five deaths as it began relaxing of restrictions imposed since mid-April.
(SFC, 5/30/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 8, The WHO said Sri Lanka and Maldives have become the first two countries in the World Health Organization's South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of a 2023 target.
(AP, 7/8/20)
2021 May 6, In the Maldives an explosion critically wounded former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed (53) and wounded four others. Islamic extremists were blamed. Nasheed was soon flown to Germany for care. Over the next two weeks four suspects were arrested.
(SSFC, 5/9/21, p.A9)(SFC, 5/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 7, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives won election as the next president of the UN General Assembly.
(AP, 6/8/21)
2040 The artificial Maldives island of Hulhumale was expected to be completed with a population of around 150,000. The total population of the Maldives in 2020 was 350,000.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)(Econ, 3/21/20, p.36)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Maldives
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History: http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_romero_history.shtml
A republic of a 500-mile chain of islands about 400 miles south of India and about 300 miles southwest of Sri Lanka. It has a population of 278,000. The people are Sunni Muslims. Only 200 of the republic’s 1,192 coral islands are inhabited.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.T14)(AP, 11/11/03)
Male, the capital of the Maldives, lies 3 feet above sea level.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
1153 A wandering Arab holy man converted the king of the Buddhist Maldive islanders.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
1552 Jan 14, Maldive King Siri Dhrikusa Loka (Hassan IX) was baptized in Cochin, India.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_romero_history.shtml)
1600-1700 Grass mats called kunai were made on the island of Gadu and sent by the Maldivian sultan as part of an annual tribute to the kingdom of Sri Lanka. The “Fine Mat Industry of the Suvadiva Atoll" by Andrew Forbes was publ. by the British Museum.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
1887 The Maldives became a protectorate of Great Britain.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1932 The Maldives adopted its 1st constitution.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1947 Aug 12, The People’s Majlis passed Bill No. 2/66 on the Maldivian monetary system. The committee consisted of Government Ministers and Members of the People’s Majlis.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/index.html)
1952 The Maldives' National Museum opened. In 2012 some of its most valuable exhibits from the pre-Islamic era were smashed by religious extremists.
(AP, 2/14/12)
1953 The Maldives, formerly a Sultanate, was declared a republic. The Sultanate was restored after 15 months.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)
1957 Ibrahim Nasir (31) became prime minister of the Maldives, a British protectorate.
(AP, 11/23/08)
1959-1962 The government of Maldives was challenged by a local secessionist movement in the southern atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan. This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state with Abdulla Afif Didi as president. The short-lived state, called the United Suvadivan Republic, had a combined population of 20,000 inhabitants scattered in the atolls then named Suvadiva.
(www.findmaldives.com/Maldives-Independence.html)
1965 Jul 26, Republic of Maldives gained independence from Britain.
(www.findmaldives.com/Maldives-Independence.html)
1968 Nov 11, The Maldives became a republic for a 2nd time with Ibrahim Naseer (Nasir) as President.
(www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/Maldives(article).htm)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)(AP, 11/11/08)
1978 Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan (1926-2008) relinquished the position of the President of the Maldives Republic. He was accused of ruling the country as a dictator and fled amid public resentment and unproven allegations of corruption in handling public funds. For the first time in recorded Maldive history, the head of state of the Maldives ceased to be either a King-sultan (Queen-sultana) or a descendant of a King-sultan.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_commonwealth.shtml)(AP, 11/23/08)
1978 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom became president of the Maldives.
(WSJ, 1/3/05, p.A7)
1982 The Maldives applied for and was granted membership in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
(www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/maldives_commonwealth.shtml)
1985 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the aim of promoting economic cooperation and alleviating poverty in South Asia. Members included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(AP, 11/13/05)
1997 Jun 24, Maldives Pres. Abdul Gayoom said that the survival of the island nation was dependent on halting the process of global warming.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A2)
1997 The Maldives adopted a new constitution, which enshrined Pres. Gayoom as head of state, government, judiciary and the security forces.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)
1999 Dec 3, In the Maldives a helicopter crashed enroute to Male and killed all 10 people onboard.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A14)
2003 Sep 19, In the Maldives unrest erupted at the Maafushi prison after a young man named Evan Naseem was tortured to death. Police opened fire and 3 people were killed. Violent riots followed as did a state of emergency.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.54)
2003 Sep 21, The leader of the Maldives appealed for calm after two days of rioting killed 3 people and sent shock waves through this tiny Indian Ocean island nation.
(AP, 9/21/03)
2003 Nov 11, Maldives Pres. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (65) was sworn in for a record sixth term, becoming the longest-serving head of state in Asia.
(AP, 11/11/03)
2004 Mar 17, The Maldives ferry Enamaa was carrying far more than its capacity of up to 100 when a wave overturned it. At least 18 people were killed. More than 50 others were missing.
(AP, 3/18/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to some 230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 temblor hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was located 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean. In Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths: thousands were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed on Sumatra island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1 killed. Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were killed. Sri Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and rebel controlled areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands and a tiny population of 280,000, at least 82 people were killed and missing. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll nation. Somalia: At least 298 were killed. Tanzania: At least 10 killed. Thailand: The confirmed death toll for Thailand reached 5,322, but many suspected Myanmar migrants were not counted. Some 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)(AP, 11/12/13)
2004 Dec 26, In the Maldives at least 117 people were killed and missing, among them two British tourists. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll nation.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2005 Jan 2, Some 1,500 people inhabited the artificial Maldive island of Hulhumale. Some $60 million had already been spent on its creation and completion was expected in 2040.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2005 Jan 22, Maldivians cast votes to elect a parliament, three weeks after the election was postponed because of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Police arrested 20 opposition backers.
(AP, 1/22/05)(WSJ, 1/24/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 2, The Maldives ushered in a new political era when parliament voted to allow parties to form for the first time in the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, a move that ended centuries of autocratic rule. The law passed in July.
(Reuters, 6/2/05)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.55)
2005 Nov 12, In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a 2-day summit aimed to alleviate poverty and boost trade and cooperation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Leaders called for greater cooperation within the region to deal with the aftermath of disasters like the Kashmir earthquake and last year's devastating tsunami.
(AFP, 11/12/05)
2005 An estimated 80,000 people lived in the Maldives on less than 1.2 square miles.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)
2006 The population of the Maldives numbered about 300,000. Some 100,000 were packed into the 2 square kilometers of the capital, Male, the most densely populated town in the world.
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.53)
2007 Aug 19, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom won an overwhelming victory in a referendum on the Maldives' future form of government, a poll seen as an informal vote of confidence in his three-decade rule of the tiny Indian Ocean nation.
(AP, 8/19/07)
2007 Sep 29, A bomb exploded at the entrance to a recreation park in the Maldives, wounding at least 12 foreign tourists.
(AP, 9/29/07)
2008 Jan 8, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (70), the Maldives president, survived an assassination attempt when boy scout Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim (15) grabbed the knife of an attacker who jumped out of a crowd of people greeting the president.
(AP, 1/9/08)(AP, 1/10/08)
2008 Aug 2, In Sri Lanka a two-day summit of leaders of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), opened amid extraordinary security. Leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the summit. Government troops captured rebel-held Vellankulam village in Mannar, the last rebel stronghold in the area. Fresh fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger separatists killed 14 rebels and two soldiers across the embattled northern region.
(AP, 8/2/08)(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 7, Maldives Pres. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom signed and adopted a new constitution that allows multiparty elections and other democratic reforms after decades of authoritarian rule. Under the constitution Islam is the only religion its people can legally practice.
(AP, 8/7/08)(AFP, 6/5/12)
2008 Oct 8, Maldives islanders in the cramped city of Male and scores of far-flung atolls began voting in the first democratic presidential election in their tiny nation's history.
(AP, 10/8/08)
2008 Oct 9, Poll results in the Maldives indicated President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to be headed for a runoff against Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner who leads the main opposition.
(AP, 10/9/08)
2008 Oct 28, Voters turned out in strength to choose the Maldives' first democratically-elected president in a run-off between Asia's longest serving leader and a former political prisoner. Nasheed won 54% of the vote to Gayoom's 46%, according to provisional results from the nation's elections commission.
(AP, 10/28/08)(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 11, Mohamed Nasheed took the oath of office as the Maldives' first democratically elected president. He now leads the flattest nation on Earth, with an average height of 2.3 meters (7 feet) above sea level, and one considered particularly vulnerable to the perils of global climate change and rising sea levels.
(AP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 22, Ibrahim Nasir (b.1926), who led the Maldives' independence movement from the British and became the island nation's first president, died in Singapore.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2008 The population of the Maldives stood at about 370,000 people.
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.52)
2009 Oct 17, Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.
(AP, 10/17/09)
2010 May 20, In the Maldives 15 representatives of the Afghan government met with 7 Taliban members for talks, which would continue over the weekend. A Taliban statement the next day said those at the talks claiming to be from the Taliban are no longer active members and have "surrendered" to President Hamid Karzai's government.
(SFC, 5/21/10, p.A2)(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 Jun 29, The Maldivian cabinet resigned en masse after a threat by the opposition to bring a vote of no confidence in parliament against every minister. Pres. Mohammed Nasheed remained in office.
(AFP, 6/29/10)
2010 The 42-member Alliance of Small Island States called on the industrial nations in 1997 to cut emissions 20% from 1990 levels by this time.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.A2)
2011 May 1, Maldives police used tear gas and batons to break up a protest demanding that President Mohamad Nasheed step down. Dozens of people were injured and many were arrested.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 Nov 24, The UN human rights chief urged the Maldives to end the "degrading" practice of flogging women found to have had sex outside marriage. The country of 300,000 people forbids practicing religions other than Islam.
(AP, 11/24/11)
2011 Dec 30, The Maldives government said it has decided to close massage parlors and spas, following an opposition-led religious protest last week calling for their closure. Sunni Islam is the official religion in the Maldives and practicing any other faith is forbidden.
(AP, 12/30/11)
2011 In the Maldives Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom founded the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).
(Econ, 10/29/16, p.34)
2012 Jan 16, The Maldives' military arrested the chief justice of the country's criminal court after he released an opposition leader who had been detained without a warrant for allegedly defaming the government. A day later the arrest of Judge Abdulla Mohamed prompted all courts to boycott sessions.
(AP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 19, The Maldives Journalists' Association said the government is threatening and harassing the media over their reporting of a political crisis and the military's arrest of the nation's top criminal court judge.
(AP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, In the Maldives dozens of anti-government activists were arrested in the capital Male, as the government accused them of whipping up religious extremism.
(AFP, 1/21/12)
2012 Feb 7, The Maldives' first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed (44), resigned after a police mutiny described by his office as an attempted coup, capping weeks of political upheaval in the holiday paradise. Nasheed has faced three weeks of street protests stemming from the arrest of a senior judge. Vice President Mohamed Waheed, who had clashed with Nasheed over the chief justice's detention, was sworn in as the new head of state and he urged the population of 300,000 Sunni Muslims to remain calm.
(AFP, 2/7/12)
2012 Feb 8, Supporters of the Maldives former president rioted through the streets and seized some police stations to demand his reinstatement as the country's new leader appealed for an end to the political turmoil roiling this Indian Ocean nation. Former leader Mohamed Nasheed and other top party officials were beaten by police in the street chaos.
(AP, 2/8/12)
2012 Feb 9, A Maldives court issued an arrest warrant for former President Mohamed Nasheed, one day after his supporters rampaged in the capital and his claim of being ousted by a coup left unclear the stability of the fledging Indian Ocean democracy.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 12, Ousted Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed rejected a US call for compromise and rejected a unity government to end political unrest as fresh clashes erupted in the Indian Ocean nation.
(AFP, 2/12/12)
2012 Feb 13, The United Nations backed the Maldives' new leader's proposal for a national unity government though the ousted leader called for a snap poll to resolve a political crisis.
(AP, 2/13/12)
2012 Feb 16, Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed agreed to demands for early elections, after taking power last week in what his ousted predecessor described as a coup d'etat.
(AFP, 2/16/12)
2012 Mar 26, Somali pirates seized an Iranian-owned cargo ship and its 23-strong crew in the first hijacking within Maldivian territory. The MV. Eglantine was seized off the north-western Hoarafush island in the Indian Ocean atoll nation. The Bolivian-flagged vessel was freed on April 2, and continued on to Iran with its sugar shipment.
(AFP, 3/27/12)(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 14, Maldives President Mohamed Waheed, accused of seizing power in a military-backed coup, faced his first popularity test when voting was held in two key by-elections.
(AFP, 4/14/12)
2012 Jun 5, Maldivian police said Ismail Rasheed (37), a blogger known for his liberal views on religion, is in intensive care after being stabbed by an attacker outside his home in the capital Male.
(AFP, 6/5/12)
2012 Jul 13, Maldives police arrested at least 55 anti-government protesters following violent clashes with security forces in the capital Male.
(AFP, 7/13/12)
2012 Aug 30, The Maldives Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI), consisting of four nationals named by political parties and a Singaporean judge nominated by the Commonwealth, found the February change of president was "legal and constitutional." The judgment promptly rejected by Mohamed Nasheed’s party, which vowed to keep up protests to press for early elections.
(AFP, 8/30/12)
2012 Oct 1, In the Maldives the trial of former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed was postponed after he defied a court order and left the capital by boat.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19797538)(Economist, 10/6/12, p.48)
2012 Oct 2, In the Maldives Dr. Afrasheen Ali, a member of parliament, was murdered in a frenzied stabbing attack.
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.48)(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19797538)
2012 The population of the Maldives archipelago was about 330,000.
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.46)
2013 Feb 13, In the Maldives former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed took refuge at the Indian Embassy after a court ordered his arrest for not attending a hearing on charges that he illegally ordered the detention of a senior judge, a move that led to his ouster last year.
(SFC, 2/15/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 7, The Maldives held elections. Mohamed Nasheed, ousted from power last year, emerged as the clear leader with 45% of the vote, short of the 50% needed to avoid a Sep 28 runoff against Yaamin Abdul Qayyoom.
(SFC, 9/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Oct 7, The Maldives Supreme Court annulled the results of the September 7 presidential election and scheduled a fresh vote for October 20 after a candidate challenged the outcome, citing irregularities. Earlier in the day masked men burst into the Raajje TV studio in Male, stabbed a security guard and set the place ablaze. Raajje was alligned with the oppposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
(Reuters, 10/7/13)(Econ, 10/12/13, p.52)
2013 Oct 8, The Maldives government urged all parties to support fresh elections after the Supreme Court annulled last month's results, even though international observers had said those polls were free and fair.
(AFP, 10/8/13)
2013 Oct 19, The Maldives sank further into political disarray when police blocked officials from conducting a presidential revote, saying that holding the election would violate a Supreme Court order.
(AP, 10/19/13)
2013 Oct 20, Mohamed Nasheed, the leading candidate in the Maldives' troubled presidential election, demanded that Pres. Mohamed Waheed Hassan resign and allow the parliamentary speaker to take over the government and oversee a fresh poll.
(AP, 10/20/13)
2013 Nov 9, The Maldives voted to elect a new leader for their budding democracy. Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader who first came to power in 2008 after 30 years of one-man rule, won the first round of voting but failed to win a clear majority.
(AP, 11/9/13)(Reuters, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 10, The Maldives' top court again delayed holding the second round of the country's presidential poll. The Supreme Court delayed it until Nov 16, in line with demands from Mohamed Nasheed's two biggest rivals.
(Reuters, 11/10/13)
2013 Nov 16, The Maldives held runoff elections. Abdulla Yameen, the half brother of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, defeated former president Mohamed Nasheed, securing 51.3% of the popular vote.
(AFP, 11/16/13)(Econ, 11/23/13, p.41)
2013 The population of the Maldives archipelago was about 400,000.
(Econ, 2/23/13, p.38)
2014 Apr, The Maldives introduced new regulations for the implementation of the death penalty by lethal injection.
(AP, 4/30/14)
2014 May 21, Transparency International said South Asia is the most corrupt region of the world and governments must strengthen their anti-graft agencies to prevent political interference and protect whistleblowers. The watchdog group found serious problems with anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(AP, 5/21/14)
2014 Jul 5, The US Secret Service arrested Roman Valerevich Seleznev (30), a Russian national, in an airport in the Maldives for hacking into US retailers' computer systems to steal credit card data from 2009 to 2011. Federal agents found 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers on his laptop computer.
(Reuters, 7/8/14)(AP, 8/16/16)
2014 Sep 14, Maldives former president Mohamed Nasheed told Britain's Independent on Sunday paper that up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. The entire population of the Maldives is only around 330,000 Sunni Muslims.
(AFP, 9/15/14)
2014 Sep 15, China's President Xi Jinping enlisted the Maldives' backing for a "21st century maritime silk road" as he began a tour of South Asia in the strategically located Indian Ocean island chain.
(AFP, 9/15/14)
2014 Dec 5, The government of Maldives declared a state of emergency and has appealed for aid from India, Sri Lanka, the United States and China. Mohamed Shareef, a government minister, said: "We have declared a state of crisis and also informed the shopkeepers to issue bottle water free of charge."
(Reuters, 12/5/14)
2014 Dec 10, A Maldives government official said water supply in the capital, cut by a fire last week in its only treatment plant, won't be fully restored until next week.
(AP, 12/10/14)
2015 Feb 22, Maldives’ police arrested former president Mohamed Nasheed after a court said he might flee the country to avoid hearings on terrorism charges, leading to clashes between his supporters and authorities.
(Reuters, 2/22/15)
2015 Mar 13, In the Maldives a three-judge panel ruled that Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, issued an illegal order to detain a senior judge in 2012 while in office.
(AP, 3/14/15)
2015 Mar 30, The Maldives' Parliament passed a law that strips people serving prison sentences of their political party memberships, a rule critics say is designed to oust jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed from politics.
(AP, 3/30/15)
2015 Apr 10, A court in the Maldives sentenced former defense minister Tholath Ibrahim to 10 years in prison on charges of detaining a senior judge. The sentencing came nearly a month after former President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison for ordering the arrest and detention of Judge Abdulla Mohamed.
(AP, 4/11/15)
2015 May 1, Maldives police used tear gas against opposition protesters who broke into a restricted military zone demanding President Yameen Abdul Gayoom resign and a jailed ex-president be freed. Police baton-charged a night protest on the main island of Male and arrested 193 people including three opposition leaders.
(AP, 5/1/15)(AFP, 5/2/15)
2015 Jul 22, Maldives’ President Yameen Abdul Gayoom appointed Ahmed Adeeb, his trusted tourism minister, as vice president. Parliament ousted his former deputy on negligence charges a day earlier.
(AP, 7/22/15)
2015 Aug 10, Authorities in the Maldives intercepted a boat carrying seven foreign tourists and a local crew that was apparently heading to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, where the United States maintains a military base.
(AP, 8/12/15)
2015 Aug 23, Maldives police took former President Mohamed Nasheed back to jail even though his 13-year sentence was commuted to house arrest last month.
(AP, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 28, In the Maldives an explosion took place aboard the president's boat. Authorities called it an assassination attempt. President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured in the blast.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 11, India said that the Maldives leader has committed to an "India first" policy in talks with its external affairs minister.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 14, Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen fired his defense minister with immediate effect, the latest move in a defense shake-up following an explosion targeting the leader.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 24, Maldives VP Ahmed Adeeb was arrested in connection with the Sep 28 explosion aboard the president's boat that authorities have called an assassination attempt. Adeeb will be charged with high treason. Three soldiers, including a former member of Adeeb's security detail and a member of the army's bomb squad, were also arrested in connection with the blast. Authorities also arrested a Sri Lankan man believed to be a sniper who was targeting President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/24/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Maldives adopted new anti-terror legislation. Opposition politicians claimed one purpose of it was to intimidate government critics.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.40)
2015 Oct 28, Hamid Ismail, suspected of involvement in the Sep 28 attempted assassination of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur with four other Maldives residents.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Nov 4, The Maldives declared a state of emergency for 30 days citing a threat to national security.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 5, Maldives' Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach VP Ahmed Adeeb and said he will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 28, Police in the Maldives dispersed opposition protesters for a second straight day, using tear gas and pepper spray and arresting more than a dozen demonstrators demanding the release of a former president and other jailed political leaders.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 J.J. Robinson authored “The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy."
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.76)
2016 Jan 23, British PM David Cameron urged the Maldives to open up its politics and release all remaining political prisoners after meeting former president Mohamed Nasheed.
(AFP, 1/23/16)
2016 Feb 7, Maldives police arrested a judge and a former prosecutor general for issuing an arrest warrant for the country's president without the police requesting one.
(AP, 2/8/16)
2016 Feb 17, In the Maldives Imran Abdullah, head of an Islamist party, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was charged with terrorism for a speech last May in support of Mohamed Nasheed.
(Econ, 2/20/15, p.33)
2016 Apr 3, Police in the Maldives used pepper spray to break up a protest by journalists and activists accusing the government of stifling press freedom, arresting 11 of the demonstrators.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Jun 1, Mohamed Nasheed, a former president of the Maldives now in exile in Britain after being ousted from office and jailed in his country, formed an opposition group aimed at toppling the government of President Abdulla Yameen.
(Reuters, 6/1/16)
2016 Jun 10, A Maldives court convicted the country's former vice president of masterminding a plot to kill the president by exploding a bomb on his speedboat last year and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Ahmed Adeeb must serve a total of 25 years after the same criminal court sentenced him earlier this week to 10 years for possessing firearms.
(AP, 6/10/16)
2016 Jul 3, A court in the Maldives barred a group of journalists from working for their newly formed media organization for two years, threatening its closure in a move they criticized as an assault on media freedom in the archipelago nation. The journalists had launched Mihaaru news two months ago after the country's oldest and most reputed news organization, Haveeru Media Group, was shut down as a result of court arbitration of an ownership dispute.
(AP, 7/4/16)
2016 Jul 13, In the Maldives senior diplomat Mohamed Asim became foreign minister after his predecessor resigned last week to protest the resumption of the death penalty.
(AP, 7/13/16)
2016 Aug 9, The Maldives' parliament passed a law that criminalizes defamation and allows for jail terms and steep fines for journalists, despite local and international concern that it will be a setback for freedom of speech in the country.
(AP, 8/9/16)
2016 Aug 11, In the Maldives a law that criminalizes defamation and allows for jail terms and steep fines for journalists took effect.
(AP, 8/11/16)
2016 Sep 7, Police in the Maldives raided the office of one of the country's leading news websites shortly after the broadcast of a television documentary that accused the country's president of corruption, money laundering and misrule.
(AP, 9/8/16)
2016 Oct 13, The Maldives government said it has decided to leave the 53-member British Commonwealth because the grouping of former British colonies has treated it "unjustly and unfairly" and sought to interfere in its politics.
(AP, 10/13/16)
2016 Oct 28, In the Maldives six ruling party lawmakers defected to work with the opposition in the party's first open split and a major challenge to President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's rule.
(AP, 10/28/16)
2017 Mar 25, Maldives’ former President Mohamed Nasheed said that he has signed an agreement with his one-time archrival and former strongman to try to restore democracy in the archipelago state.
(AP, 3/25/17)
2017 Apr 23, In the Maldives Yameen Rasheed, prominent blogger and human rights advocate, was found with multiple stab wounds in a house in the capital, Male. He died at a hospital.
(AP, 4/23/17)
2017 Jun 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, the Maldives and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, the world's top seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), stoking concern over any supply disruptions to neighboring countries spilling over into global gas markets. They accused Qatar of supporting extremism.
(Reuters, 6/5/17)
2017 Jul 24, The Maldivian opposition said that the military has locked down parliament on the orders of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom in a bid to prevent lawmakers from taking part in a vote to impeach the parliamentary speaker.
(AP, 7/24/17)
2017 Aug 25, A Maldives court jailed opposition politician Qasim Ibrahim for just over 38 months on a charge of bribery in connection with a bid to undermine the government. Opposition colleagues said the conviction was a politically motivated bid to strip Ibrahim of his parliamentary seat.
(Reuters, 8/25/17)
2018 Jan 28, An opposition alliance in the Maldives petitioned the Supreme Court to temporarily remove the president and appoint investigators to look into allegations of corruption and misrule.
(AP, 1/29/18)
2018 Feb 1, In the Maldives a Supreme Court decision to free nine political prisoners led to unrest in the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 2, Maldives police arrested two opposition supporters as protesters clashed with police for a second night. Mohammed Nasheed, the exiled former president of the Maldives, said he will run again for office.
(AP, 2/2/18)
2018 Feb 3, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen fired his second police chief in three days and the opposition said it feared violence, as the island nation was pitched deeper into a crisis caused by Yameen's failure to obey a court order to free jailed opponents. The president said he was open to holding an election several months before his term ends next November.
(Reuters, 2/3/18)(AP, 2/3/18)
2018 Feb 4, The Maldives Supreme Court said there should be "no legal barrier" preventing the enforcement of its ruling earlier this week to release nine opposition leaders and re-try them in court, in an indication it expected its ruling to be enforced.
(Reuters, 2/4/18)
2018 Feb 5, Maldives declared a state of emergency for 15 days after the government defied a Supreme Court ruling to release nine jailed opposition leaders.
(Reuters, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 6, The Maldives' top judge was arrested as security forces stormed the Supreme Court at dawn, after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency in the honeymoon islands. Three Supreme Court judges annulled their own order to free a group of imprisoned opposition politicians after two of the court’s judges were arrested.
(AFP, 2/6/18)(SFC, 2/7/18, p.A2)
2018 Feb 7, Embattled Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency.
(Reuters, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 7, The United Nations top human rights official called on the Maldives government to immediately lift the state of emergency imposed two days ago, calling it to "an all-out assault on democracy".
(Reuters, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 8, China dismissed accusations from the former leader of the Maldives that it is attempting to effectively buy up the Indian Ocean island state. China is already the Maldives' primary source of tourists and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in an airport expansion, housing development and other projects.
(AP, 2/8/18)
2018 Feb 9, In the Maldives privately owned television station Rajje TV, which highlights the views of the political opposition, said it has gone off the air because of threats during the country's current state of emergency.
(AP, 2/9/18)
2018 Feb 16, In the Maldives dozens of pro-opposition supporters were injured and many were arrested after police broke up countrywide protests demanding the resignation of Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom and the release of his political opponents from prison.
(AP, 2/17/18)
2018 Feb 19, Maldives Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom asked Parliament to extend the state of emergency that has helped him reinforce his power. Yameen has had two Supreme Court judges arrested, accusing them of corruption.
(AP, 2/19/18)
2018 Feb 20, Maldives' parliament approved a 30-day extension of a state of emergency declared by the president to strengthen his power after the Supreme Court ordered the release of his imprisoned political opponents.
(AP, 2/20/18)
2018 Feb 27, Maldives State Health Minister Dunya Maumoon resigned, grieved by the arrest of her father, the island nation's longest-serving leader. She called upon the international community to support the Maldivian people to help overcome the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/27/18)
2018 Feb 28, Maldives denied a Japanese foreign ministry statement that said a Maldives-flagged vessel was used to illegally transfer goods from a North Korean-flagged tanker in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
(Reuters, 2/28/18)
2018 Mar 17, Maldivian authorities arrested more than 140 activists who defied a ban on rallies and demonstrated against a state of emergency imposed by Pres. Abdulla Yameen.
(AFP, 3/17/18)
2018 Mar 22, Maldives Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom lifted a 45-day state of emergency he declared during an unprecedented court-triggered challenge to his political control in the archipelago nation.
(AP, 3/22/18)
2018 May 10, A court in the Maldives sentenced two Supreme Court justices to more than 19 months in prison on charges of influencing lower court decisions.
(AP, 5/10/18)
2018 Jun 13, A Maldives court sentenced Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former president (1978-2008) accused of plotting to overthrow the government, to 19 months in prison for failing to cooperate with the police investigation.
(AP, 6/13/18)
2018 Jun 29, Mohamed Nasheed, the exiled former president of the Maldives, said he has abandoned plans to contest an upcoming presidential election because of legal obstacles.
(AP, 6/29/18)
2018 Jun 30, In the Maldives the opposition alliance named Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, an opposition law maker, as a backup candidate for the presidential election later this year, in the event the exiled former president is unable to contest due to legal obstacles.
(AP, 7/1/18)
2018 Sep 7, Speaking in Thailand on the sidelines of a six-day climate conference Amjad Abdulla, the head negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), warned that island nations like Fiji and the Maldives are almost at the "point of no return" because of rising sea levels.
(AFP, 9/7/18)
2018 Sep 6, President Donald Trump's administration warned the Maldives of possible sanctions if it doesn't reverse democratic backsliding and ensure free presidential elections on Sept. 23.
(AP, 9/8/18)
2018 Sep 7, The Maldives hit out at the United States after the US warned of possible sanctions against key officials of the island nation if upcoming elections are not free and fair.
(AP, 9/8/18)
2018 Sep 22, Police in the Maldives raided the main campaign office of the opposition presidential candidate on the eve of an election viewed as a referendum on whether democracy will survive in the country.
(AP, 9/22/18)
2018 Sep 23, The Maldives held its third multiparty presidential election. Strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom lost the election to his challenger, longtime lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (56).
(AP, 9/23/18)(AP, 9/24/18)
2018 Oct 3, The Maldives Elections Commission restored 12 lawmakers who were earlier deemed to have lost their seats. The restoration of the lawmakers in line with a Supreme Court order is a sign that president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is consolidating his victory over outgoing strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/3/18)
2018 Oct 4, Qasim Ibrahim, a Maldives opposition leader, returned home after being exiled in Germany for months to escape a prison sentence on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
(AP, 10/4/18)
2018 Oct 10, It was reported that four of the five members of Maldives' Elections Commission have fled the country because of threats from supporters of outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who accused them of rigging last month's presidential election in favor of the opposition candidate.
(AP, 10/10/18)
2018 Oct 11, The Maldives Supreme Court said it would examine President Abdulla Yameen's petition to annul his September election defeat despite international pressure on the strongman leader to go quietly.
(AFP, 10/11/18)
2018 Oct 18, A high court in the Maldives overturned a prison sentence for the country's ex-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been jailed for not cooperating with a police investigation into allegations he was trying to overthrow the government. Maumoon still faced a separate case under the terrorism law over the same alleged plot to overthrow his half-brother, outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/18/18)
2018 Oct 21, The Maldives' top court dismissed the outgoing president's petition seeking an annulment of last month's presidential election result. The five-member Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the election was conducted within the law.
(AP, 10/21/18)
2018 Oct 22, A court in the Maldives freed opposition leader Qasim Ibrahim, setting aside a lower court's conviction for bribery.
(AP, 10/22/18)
2018 Oct 30, The Maldives Supreme Court suspended a 13-year jail sentence given to Mohamed Nasheed, the country's exiled former president, until it reviews his conviction as requested by the prosecutor general.
(AP, 10/30/18)
2018 Nov 1, Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives, returned home after more than two years in exile to escape a long prison term.
(AP, 11/1/18)
2018 Nov 17, New Maldives Pres. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (54) took office, declaring the state coffers to have been looted and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders in an infrastructure boom.
(Reuters, 11/17/18)
2018 Nov 23, One week after taking power, the new government of the Maldives says it has no idea how much it owes China, which has led a construction spree in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, but fears the debts run up in the past five years could be unsustainable.
(Reuters, 11/23/18)
2018 Nov 26, The Maldives Supreme Court canceled former president Mohamed Nasheed’s 13-year jail sentence after a review of the controversial terrorism conviction.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Nov 26, Maldives' new finance minister said that China is executing infrastructure projects at vastly higher prices than originally proposed but the island nation cannot get out of its commitments now.
(Reuters, 11/26/18)
2018 Dec 14, In Poland a group of small islands and countries, particularly vulnerable to global warming threatened to block agreement at UN climate talks unless their demands are met. Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, head of the Alliance of Small Island States, said "we are deeply unhappy with the way the talks are going".
(AP, 12/14/18)
2018 Dec 15, Police in the Maldives questioned Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the country's defeated former strongman president, over complaints of alleged illegal financial transactions, a day after they froze bank accounts with millions of dollars.
(AP, 12/15/18)
2018 Dec 17, PM Narendra Modi said India will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, the biggest aid yet to the Indian Ocean island nation that is grappling with debt from a Chinese building spree.
(Reuters, 12/17/18)
2019 Feb 13, The Maldives' top prosecutor charged former Pres. Yameen Abdul Gayoom with money laundering. The charges are linked to $1 million allegedly found in Yameen's bank account from a shady government deal to lease islands for tourist development in the Maldives, which is famous for its luxury resorts.
(AP, 2/14/19)
2019 Feb 18, Maldives authorities detained former strongman president Abdulla Yameen after he was accused of trying to bribe witnesses in his money laundering trial.
(AFP, 2/18/19)
2019 Mar 28, A court in the Maldives ordered the release of former president Abdulla Yameen, saying there was not enough reason to hold him beyond a month under the law.
(Reuters, 3/28/19)
2019 Apr 6, People in the Maldives voted in a crucial parliamentary election that many hope will help President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 7, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's party declared a sweeping parliamentary election victory that could give him a free hand in efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 May 20, A Maldives court set aside the conviction and 15-year prison term given the former vice president on allegations he conspired to assassinate former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 Jun 8, Indian PM Narendra Modi arrived in the Maldives on his first official overseas trip since being elected to a second term.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Aug 1, Indian authorities questioning the former vice president of the Maldives, Ahmed Adeeb (37), for illegally entering the country after he arrived on a tugboat in the southern Indian port city of Thoothukudi.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Sep 1, A Maldives commission of inquiry has concluded that journalist Ahmed Rilwan, reported missing since 2014, has been killed possibly by those linked to fighters in Syria at the time. Maldives, which hosts hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists every year, was known to have the most number of fighters per capita in Syria.
(AP, 9/1/19)
2019 Nov 28, Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering, as dozens of his supporters gathered outside the courtroom saying his was innocent.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2020 Feb 4, In the Maldives three foreigners were stabbed in a suburb of Male. Muslim militants claimed responsibility.
(Econ, 3/21/20, p.36)
2020 Mar 8, The Maldives reported its first case of coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/8/20)
2020 Apr 17, The Maldives locked down its capital due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 4/17/20)
2020 Apr 18, The Maldives has reported 34 coronavirus cases and no deaths.
(Reuters, 4/18/20)
2020 May 10, It was reported that the Maldives has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Three deaths have been reported so far.
(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.A6)
2020 May 29, The Maldives reported 1,513 coronavirus cases and five deaths as it began relaxing of restrictions imposed since mid-April.
(SFC, 5/30/20, p.A5)
2020 Jul 8, The WHO said Sri Lanka and Maldives have become the first two countries in the World Health Organization's South-East Asia region to eliminate both measles and rubella ahead of a 2023 target.
(AP, 7/8/20)
2021 May 6, In the Maldives an explosion critically wounded former Pres. Mohamed Nasheed (53) and wounded four others. Islamic extremists were blamed. Nasheed was soon flown to Germany for care. Over the next two weeks four suspects were arrested.
(SSFC, 5/9/21, p.A9)(SFC, 5/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 7, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives won election as the next president of the UN General Assembly.
(AP, 6/8/21)
2040 The artificial Maldives island of Hulhumale was expected to be completed with a population of around 150,000. The total population of the Maldives in 2020 was 350,000.
(SSFC, 1/2/05, p.A10)(Econ, 3/21/20, p.36)
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