Dr. Mohamed Muizzu entered the history books in 2021 by becoming the first ever Mayor of the capital Male’ to be elected directly by the city’s residents. In so doing, he became the first Mayor elected to office for a five-year term. After 11 years and three consecutive terms of the rival MDP’s control over the Male’ City Council, Dr. Muizzu led the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to a landslide Local Council Elections victory and assumed the responsibility of governing the capital, Male’ for the very first time.
By the time Dr. Muizzu joined politics, he was already among the most respected engineering professionals in the private sector, having overseen a number of key building projects in the country. He cut his teeth in politics with his appointment in 2012 as the country’s Minister of Housing and Environment in the Waheed administration. His efficiency and leadership had earned the trust of President Yameen, who, following his election to the presidency in 2013, retained Dr. Muizzu in the same portfolio throughout his five-year term of office, albeit with the modification to the mandate to make it the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.
After completing his Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Structural Engineering at the University of London, he earned his PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds, UK.
In 2019, Dr. Muizzu assumed the leadership portfolio of Vice President of PPM, taking charge of the crucial Elections Department.
In his five-year term as the country’s Housing Minister, Dr. Muizzu had delivered hitherto unseen large infrastructure projects in the country, catching the attention of his peers and capturing the imagination of the people as a man of delivery and efficiency.
The mega project to build the iconic China-Maldives friendship bridge that connected the capital Male’ through the international airport on Hulhule’, all the way to the planned new city of Hulhumale’ was overseen by Dr. Muizzu and his able team.
Other landmarks included the Rasfannu beach, the King Salman Grand Mosque, the remodeling of the Sultan Park bear the hallmark of his engineering and project management seal.
Numerous harbours, jetties, parks, mosques, public buildings, sporting infrastructure and new roads were completed during the five years from 2013 to 2018. He even became the very first minister to pave the streets of Male’ with asphalt as opposed to the traditional cobble stones. In a quest to make the city more livable, he introduced modern usage, building and maintenance codes.
Dr. Muizzu had also served as the Governor of Maldives to the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIDB).