15 September 2023

Maldives’ Months-Old Party Hopes to Shatter Establishment Grip

Bibek Bhandari

As a computer science graduate, Ilyas Labeeb led his family’s modest electronic repair business from a cramped room to become one of Maldives’ biggest information technology companies during the 2000s. Now, the former executive-turned-lawmaker aspires to transform his island country through politics, not business.

Known for its idyllic white sand beaches, turquoise waters, and luxury resorts, Maldives comprises nearly 1,200 islands across the Indian Ocean. Ruled for three decades by an autocratic leader, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the South Asian country, located southwest of India, elected its first democratic president in 2008.

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