Abdulla Yameen عبدالله یامین |
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6th President of the Maldives | |
Assumed office 17 November 2013 |
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Vice President |
Mohamed Jameel Ahmed Ahmed Adeeb Abdulla Jihad |
Preceded by | Mohammed Waheed Hassan |
Personal details | |
Born |
Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom 21 May 1959 Malé, Maldives |
Political party | Progressive Party |
Spouse(s) | Fathimath Ibrahim |
Residence | Muliaage |
Alma mater |
American University of Beirut Claremont Graduate University |
Religion | Islam |
Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom (Maldivian: އަބްދުﷲ ޔާމީން އަބްދުލް ގައްޔޫމް; born 21 May 1959), commonly known as Abdulla Yameen, is a Maldivian politician who has been President of the Maldives since 2013. He is the half-brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
As the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party (PPM), Yameen was elected as President in 2013, defeating Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed in the 2013 presidential elections. In addition to his political career, Yameen spent a large part of his life as a community organiser in Machchangolhi Ward, an administrative district of Malé, where he was raised. After a few years in People’s Alliance (PA), a political party he helped form, Yameen left to join the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in 2010. He served as the head of PPM's Parliamentary Group following the party’s formation and was elected to the post at the party's first Congress, held on January 17–19, 2013.
In his early life, Yameen completed his primary and secondary education at Majeediyya School in Malé, Maldives. Upon completion of his schooling he earned his bachelor's degree in business administration at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. He later completed his master's degree in public policy at Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles, California. During the presidency of his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Yameen worked as a community organiser in Manchchangolhi Ward in the capital Malé. He was appointed as Minister of Trade and Industries in November 1993. Later he was Minister of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security from 2005 to 2007 and Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation in 2008.