Sultanate and First Republic

The first written constitution of the Maldives was brought to effect in 1932 by Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen III. This constitution was largely based on customs, conventions and other traditional administrative practices that had been followed for many centuries. This constitution was written on the advice on the then acting governor of Ceylon, Bernard H. Bourdill in 1930.

Soon afterwards in 1934, a second constitution was written and brought into effect. In that same year, Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen III was deposed for violating his own constitution.

Under the rule of Sultan Hassan Nooraddeen II, a third constitution was written and brought into effect. on 30 January 1940, the constitutional system was deemed unnecessary and was abolished; only to be reinitiated in 1942. (5th constitution) After another constitution change in 1951, the Maldives was declared a republic in 1953.

Under the rule of President Mohamed Ameen Didi, a new constitution (7th) was brought into effect. This constitution lasted only 8 months, when the republic was abolished and the country went back to a sultanate, under the rule of Sultan Muhammad Fareed Didi. This change introduced yet another constitution brought to effect on 7 March 1954. This was followed by a 9th constitution in 1964 and another in 1967.

Second Republic

After the second republic was declared, new president Ibrahim Nasir ratified a new constitution on 11 November 1968. This constitution was amended thrice, in 1970, 1972 and 1975 respectively.

Under the rule of President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, a 12th constitution was introduced in 1998. The government proclaimed that this change was brought to encourage the people of the country to live in friendship, amity and co-operation, and to encourage good deeds and respect among one another and being just, and to live in equality and fraternity.

In June 2008, an assembly, called the "Special Majlis", completed a new constitution. It was ratified by the president on 7 August 2008. This constitution was written over a period of 4 years, started in 2003 when President Gayyoom promised a new 'modern, multi-party and democratic system' in the country following the 2003 Maldives civil unrest and others that followed.

This new constitution includes a judiciary run by an independent commission, and independent commissions to oversee elections and fight corruption. It also reduces the executive powers vested under the president and strengthens the parliament. Among other changes, it states that "a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives" and therefore it removed citizenship from around 3,000 Maldivians (0.85% of the population).

Chapters

• Chapter 1 - State, Sovereignty and Citizens
• Chapter 2 - Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
• Chapter 3 - The People's Majlis
• Chapter 4 - The President
• Chapter 5 - The Cabinet of Ministries
• Chapter 6 - The Judiciary
• Chapter 7 - Independent Commissions and Offices
• Chapter 8 - Decentralized Administration
• Chapter 9 - Security Services
• Chapter 10 - Properties, Liabilities and Legal Actions of the State
• Chapter 11 - State of Emergency
• Chapter 12 - Amendment of the Constitution
• Chapter 13 - Application and Construction of the Constitution
• Chapter 14 - Transitional Matters

Schedules

• Schedule 1 - Oaths of Office
• Schedule 2 - Administrative Divisions
• Schedule 3 - National Flag

British military presence and Suvadive secession

1920 British map of the Maldives

Beginning in the 1950s, political history in the Maldives was largely influenced by the British military presence in the islands. In 1954 the restoration of the sultanate perpetuated the rule of the past. Two years later, the United Kingdom obtained permission to reestablish its wartime RAF Gan airfield in the southernmost Addu Atoll, employing hundreds of locals. Maldives granted the British a 100-year lease on Gan that required them to pay £2,000 a year, as well as some 440,000 square metres on Hitaddu for radio installations. This served as a staging post for British military flights to the Far East and Australia, replacing RAF Mauripur in Pakistan which had been relinquished in 1956.

In 1957, however, the new prime minister, Ibrahim Nasir, called for a review of the agreement in the interest of shortening the lease and increasing the annual payment, and announced a new tax on boats. But Nasir was challenged in 1959 by a local secessionist movement in the three southernmost atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on Gan. This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state, the United Suvadive Republic with Abdullah Afif as president and Hithadhoo as capital. The short-lived state (1959–63) had a combined population of 20,000 inhabitants scattered over Huvadu, Addu and Fua Mulaku. Afeef pleaded for support and recognition from Britain.

Instead the initial British measure of lukewarm support for the small breakaway nation was withdrawn in 1961, when the British signed a treaty with the Maldive Islands without involving Afeef. Following that treaty the Suvadives had to endure an economic embargo. In 1962, Nasir sent gunboats from Malé with government police on board to eliminate elements opposed to his rule. One year later the Suvadive republic was scrapped and Abdullah Afif went into exile to the Seychelles, where he died in 1993.

Meanwhile, in 1960 the Maldives had allowed the United Kingdom to continue to use both the Gan and the Hitaddu facilities for a thirty-year period, with the payment of £750,000 over the period of 1960 to 1965 for the purpose of Maldives' economic development.

The base was closed in 1976 as part of the larger British withdrawal of permanently stationed forces 'East of Suez' initiated by Labour government of Harold Wilson.

Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF619.jpg|RAF camp on Addu Atoll established in 1944 as a base for flying boats operating in the Indian Ocean Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF620.jpg|RAF Short Sunderland moored in the lagoon at Addu Atoll, during WWII File:Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF632.jpg|A wind break constructed from ration boxes protects the small RAF camp at Kelai, Maldive Islands, which serves as a refuelling base for flying boats operating in the Indian Ocean. Abdullah Afeef.png|Abdullah Afif, leader of the secessionist United Suvadive Republic (1959-1963) SuvadiveCOA.png|Coat of arms of the secessionist United Suvadive Republic

Nasir Presidency

The Second Republic was proclaimed in November 1968 under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir, who had increasingly dominated the political scene. Under the new constitution, Nasir was elected indirectly to a four-year presidential term by the Majlis (legislature) and his candidacy later ratified by referendum. He appointed Ahmed Zaki as the new prime minister.

In 1973, Nasir was elected to a second term under the constitution as amended in 1972, which extended the presidential term to five years and which also provided for the election of the prime minister by the Majlis. In March 1975, newly elected prime minister Zaki was arrested in a bloodless coup and was banished to a remote atoll. Observers suggested that Zaki was becoming too popular and hence posed a threat to the Nasir faction.

During the 1970s, the economic situation in the Maldives suffered a setback when the Sri Lankan market for Maldives' main export of dried fish collapsed. Adding to the problems was the British decision in 1975 to close its airfield on Gan. A steep commercial decline followed the evacuation of Gan in March 1976. As a result, the popularity of Nasir's government suffered. Maldives' 20-year period of authoritarian rule under Nasir abruptly ended in 1978 when he fled to Singapore. A subsequent investigation claimed that he had absconded with millions of dollars from the state treasury. However, there has been no evidence so far and as a result it was believed that this was a propaganda act of the new government to get popularity and support among the citizens.

Nasir was widely credited with modernising the long-isolated and nearly unknown Maldives and opening them up to the rest of the world, including by building the first international airport (Malé International Airport, 1966) and bringing the Maldives to United Nations membership. He laid the foundations of the nation by modernising the fisheries industry with mechanized vessels and starting the tourism industry – the two prime drivers of today's Maldivian economy.

He was credited with many other improvements such as introducing an English-based modern curriculum to government-run schools and granting vote to Maldivian women in 1964. He brought television and radio to the country with formation of Television Maldives and Radio Maldives for broadcasting radio signals nationwide. He abolished Vaaru, a tax on the people living on islands outside Malé.

Tourism in the Maldives began to be developed by the beginning of the 1970s. The first resort in the Maldives was Kurumba Maldives which welcomed the first guests on 3 October 1972. The first accurate census was held in December 1977 and showed 142,832 persons residing in Maldives.

When Nasir relinquished power Maldives was debt-free and the national shipping line with more than 40 ships remained a source of national pride.

Nasir was criticized for his authoritarian methods against opponents and for his iron-fisted methods in handling an insurrection by the Addu islanders who formed a short-lived breakaway government – United Suvadives Republic – with closer ties to the British.

Nasir's hasty introduction of the Latin alphabet (Malé Latin) in 1976 instead of local Thaana script – reportedly to allow for the use of telex machines in the local administration – was widely criticised. Clarence Maloney, a Maldives-based U.S. anthropologist, lamented the inconsistencies of the "Dhivehi Latin" which ignored all previous linguistic research on the Maldivian language and did not follow the modern Standard Indic transliteration.Clarence Maloney. People of the Maldive Islands At the time of the romanization every island's officials were required to use only one script and they became illiterate overnight. Officials were relieved when the Tāna script was reinstated by President Gayoom shortly after he took power in 1978. However, Malé Latin continues to be widely used.

Maumoon Presidency

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives (1978–2008).

As Ibrahim Nasir's second term was coming to an end, he decided not to seek re-election and, in June 1978, the Majlis was called upon to nominate a presidential candidate. Nasir received 45 votes (despite his stated intention not to seek re-election), with the remaining 3 votes for Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a former university lecturer and Maldivian ambassador to the United Nations. Another ballot was called on 16 June. Maumoon received 27 votes, allowing his name to be put forward as the sole candidate. Five months later, he was elected the new President of the Maldives, with 92.96% of the votes (he would be later re-elected five times as the sole candidate). The peaceful election was seen as ushering in a period of political stability and economic development in view of Maumoon's priority to develop the poorer islands. In 1978 Maldives joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Tourism also gained in importance to the local economy, reaching more than 120,000 visitors in 1985. The local populace appeared to benefit from increased tourism and the corresponding increase in foreign contacts involving various development projects.

A demonstration (Muzhaahira) in Fua Mulaku in support of the government, 1981.

There were three attempts by Nasir supporters and business interests to overthrow Maumoon's government during the 1980s – in 1980, 1983 and 1988.

Whereas the 1980 and 1983 coup attempts against Maumoon's presidency were not considered serious, the third coup attempt in November 1988 alarmed the international community, as about 80 armed mercenaries of the PLOTE Tamil militant group landed on Malé before dawn aboard used cargo vessels which had taken almost 2 days to arrive Male' and failed in controlling the capital city. The plan was ill-prepared and by noon the PLOTE militants and the Maldivian allies fled the country realising they had already lost. soon after the militants had left the Indian Military arrived on the request of President Gayyoom, and their gun ships chased the ships that were being used as get away boats by the PLOTE militants. Nineteen people died in the fighting, and several taken hostage also died when the Indian Gunships fired on the Vessel carrying the hostages. Mercenaries, and later also the mastermind of the attempted coup, were tried and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison. Some were later pardoned.

Despite coup attempts, Maumoon served three more presidential terms. In the 1983, 1988, and 1993 elections, Maumoon received more than 90% of the vote. Although the government did not allow any legal opposition, Maumoon was opposed in the early 1990s by the growth of Islamist radicalisation and by some powerful local business leaders.

Maumoon's tenure was marked by several allegations of corruption as well as allegations of autocratic rule, human rights abuses and corruption.

Maumoon's opponents and international human rights groups had accused him of employing terror tactics against dissidents, such as arbitrary arrests, detention without trial,employing torture, forced confessions, and politically motivated killings.