Ibrahim Mohamed Solih born 1 March 1962, better known as Ibu, is a Maldivian politician and the current President of the Maldives and assumed office on 17 November 2018. Solih was first elected to parliament in 1994, aged 30, as the MP from his home atoll of Faadhippolhu. Solih played a leading role in the formation of the Maldivian Democratic Party and the Maldives Political Reform Movement from 2003 until 2008, which led to the country adopting a new modern constitution and multiparty democracy for the first time in its history. Solih was also a senior member of parliament and the Special Majlis. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party, Solih was elected as President of Maldives on 23 September 2018 following the 2018 Maldives presidential election.
Early and personal life
Solih was born on Hinnavaru Island but moved to the Maldives' capital, Malé at a young age for education, and he has been a resident since. He is one of 13 children. Solih completed his secondary education at Majeedhiyya School, Malé. During his school days, he was a popular student and took part in several school activities, which especially applied to sports. He is married to Fazna Ahmed and they have a daughter named Sarah and a son named Yaman. Solih is one of the closest friends of former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is also the first cousin of Solih's wife Fazna. Solih and President Nasheed played an instrumental role in establishing multiparty democracy in the Maldives. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been a senior figure in the party and leads the first Parliamentary Group of the Maldivian Democratic Party in 2009.
Political career
Solih has been the parliamentary group leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party since 2011.He has also served as the leader of the jointparliamentary group since the opposition coalition was formed in March 2017. Solih was selected as the new presidential candidate for the coalition of opposition parties in the 2018 election, when former president Mohamed Nasheed, due to his prior conviction was not able to contest as a candidate for presidential election. Solih went on to claim an upset victory over Yameen, winning the election with 58.4% of the vote and receiving nearly 38,500 votes more than his opponent. In the run-up to the election, many foreign observers had asserted that the election could be rigged in Yameen's favor and that he was thus likely to win a second term. However, when the counting of ballots was nearing completion on election night, President Yameen addressed the nation and conceded the election to Solih, this being a few hours after the latter had claimed victory and urged the president for a peaceful transition of power. The main issue of the campaign has widely been recognized as the question of whether the Maldives should continue to pursue closer relations with the People's Republic of China, as it has done under the Yameen presidency, or whether it should instead turn to India and the countries of the Western world , which is a direction more favoured by the MDP-led opposition coalition.
Presidency
Solih assumed office on 17 November 2018, when the five-year term of Abdulla Yameen expired. Solih became the 7th President of the Maldives and the country's third democratically elected president since Nasheed unseated Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the 2008 election, thus ending the latter's 30-year long, six-term incumbency. Solih is the first Maldivian president to be born in the country's northern atolls, as well as the second-oldest person to assume the presidency, at the age of 54. On 19 November, Solih announced that the Maldives is to return to the Commonwealth of Nations, a decision recommended by his Cabinet, considering that the Maldives was a Commonwealth republic from 1982 to 2016. President Solih became a Commonwealth head of government when the Maldives returned to the Commonwealth on 1 February 2020.
