President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among South Asian leaders and foreign dignitaries who attended the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed which took place at Male, today (11).
Nasheed won the run-off election for the Maldivian Presidency on October 28 with a 54% majority defeating President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who had ruled the country for 30 years. It was the first election held under new laws that widened the democratic process in the Maldives. President Rajapaksa also made a courtesy call on former President Gayoom.
Sri Lanka and the Maldives have very good relations dating back many centuries, which have been strengthened since the two countries gained independence from the British.
They are both members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which is currently chaired by Sri Lanka.
Maldivian President Mohamed 'Anni' Nasheed being congratulated by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Male after he took his oaths as the newly elected President yesterday. AFP
Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed, the winner of the country's first multi-party presidential elections formed the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) while in Sri Lanka. He was arrested and sentenced to prison several times and declared by Amnesty International as a Prisoner of Conscience in 1991 for contributing articles to a popular political magazine named Sangu.
(Courtesy : NewsLK)