Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (Dhivehi: މައުމޫނު އަބްދުލް ގައްޔޫމް), GCMG, (born December 29, 1937) was a President of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Transport, he was nominated as President by the Majlis (Parliament) of the Maldives and succeeded Ibrahim Nasir. Gayoom was defeated in the October 2008 presidential election – exactly 30 years to the day that he first came to power. Gayoom continued to serve as leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, the current opposition party, until January 2010, when Gayoom said he was retiring from active politics. However, September 2011, he returned to the Maldivian political arena leading a new political party, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).