♤ Maumoon Abdul Gauoom served as the president of Maldives from 1978 to 2008.

♤ In 2008 under pressure from the civil society democratic reforms were initiated and a new constitution was adopted

♤ Mohamed Nasheed was the first democratically-elected President of Maldives in 2008. He was made to step down after a series of events that has been described in some quarters as a coup in 2012.