Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Maldivian educator and politician, 5th President of the Maldives
Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (Dhivehi: ޑރ. މުޙައްމަދު ވަޙީދު ޙަސަން މަނިކު; Arabic: مُحَمَّد وَحِيد حَسَن مَانِيك; born 3 January 1953) is a Maldivian politician who served as President of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed, under whom Waheed had served as Vice President. He had previously worked as a news anchor, a United Nations official with UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO, and a member of the Maldivian Parliament.
On 7 February 2012, he assumed the office of president following the resignation of the incumbent, Mohamed Nasheed. Initially, Nasheed claimed that a coup d'état had occurred, however these claims were proved to be false by an independent report from the Commission of National Inquiry. Nasheed initially accepted this report "with reservations", but later refuted it in its entirety.
During his short tenure in office he was one of the most unpopular presidents the Maldives has ever had, largely due to claims from Nasheed that President Waheed had forced a takeover through instructing members of the MNDF to hold Nasheed at gunpoint to force him to resign. When he stood for re-election to a full 5-year term in the 2013 election, he was defeated by a wide margin and finished as the least voted of the four candidates running, having received only a little over 5% of the vote. The results of that election were later annulled, however, and a re-run was held, but Waheed chose not to stand for election again.
Having taken office at the age of 59 years, and having left it at the age of 60 years and ten months, he is to date the oldest person to have served as President of the Maldives.