Former Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik says he longer harbors any aspirations to return to office, adding that "those days are behind me".
Waheed, 72, served as the caretaker Maldivian president from 2012 to 2013, and made an unsuccessful run at office in the 2013 presidential election.
He was recently appointed by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu as a special envoy, tasked chiefly with using his extensive experience as a statesman to advance Maldives’ diplomatic interests.
In an appearance on SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ show on Wednesday night, Waheed said that he no longer has presidential aspirations of his own, but hopes to serve the incumbent administration as well as future ones.
“I have no intention of contesting the [presidential] election. I believe that those days are now behind me,” he said.
Waheed was appointed to his new role as a special presidential envoy on May 26.
He described this appointment as a huge honor and an indication that President Muizzu holds him in good standing.
Waheed said that his contributions in his new capacity is free from any politics, and motivated solely by the desire to serve the nation and the Maldivian people to his full ability.
Waheed has a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and a Diploma in Teaching from the American University of Beirut, a Master’s Degree in Education Planning and a PhD from the Stanford University.
He previously worked as a news anchor, a teacher, a principle, a United Nations international civil servant with UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO, and as member of the Parliament.
Waheed’s political career began in 1989, when he won the parliamentary election, defeating Ilyas Ibrahim, the brother-in-law of then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
In 2008, Waheed, who led Gaumee Itthihaad, joined the MDP and ran in the 2008 presidential election as the running mate of former President Mohamed Nasheed, who went on to win the historic election.
Waheed served as the Vice President from 2008 to 2012, and then as the caretaker President from 2012 to 2013, following Nasheed’s resignation.
He contested unsuccessfully in the 2013 presidential election, and chose to bow out when the Supreme Court invalidated the results and ordered for the first round of voting to be re-held.
In the wake of the election, Waheed joined the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which won the election. He served for years as a special advisor, before leaving the party in 2023, ahead of that year’s presidential election.
Back then, Waheed said he had hoped to run in the election in the event that former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was unable to do so, and had decided to leave PPM after the PPM-PNC leadership decided to produce a presidential candidate from the People’s National Congress (PNC).
It was President Muizzu who won the coalition’s ticket and went on to win the election.
After his exit from PPM, Waheed joined the Jumhoory Party (JP), and endorsed the party’s leader Qasim Ibrahim for the 2023 presidential election, who failed to pass the first round of voting.
Neither Qasim nor Waheed endorsed either of the two candidates – then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih or President Muizzu – in the runoff.
While Waheed has said that he no longer harbors any ambitions to return to office, Nasheed recently announced that he is considering contesting the upcoming 2028 presidential election. Another former Maldivian leader, Yameen has also announced plans to contest the election, while Solih is also rumored to be gathering support from within the MDP in a bid to return to office.