Ahmed Thasmeen Ali

He holds a BA degree in economics from University of Warwick in England and a master's degree in political science of the American University in Cairo, Egypt.^[6] Thasmeen is married to Ms. Visam Ali MP for R. Maduvvari and the couple have a child.^[7] Thasmeen practices diving, snorkeling, sea sports and fishing in his free time. Besides native language Dhivehi he is fluent English and understands Arabic. Ahmed Thasmeen Ali owns resorts and other businesses, including Reethi Beach Resort and Fonaddhoo Tuna Products. He is a philanthropist.

Mr. Thasmeen was active in student association activities in England and in Cairo, Egypt.^[6]

He was the MP for Baa Atoll from 1995 and in 2009 and 2014, the MP for Kendhoo.^[8]

Thasmeen is active in politics since 1994 and was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1994. Since then he has been representing Baa Kendhoo Constituency.^[9] In addition to that he has held various posts as a civil servant at the Ministry of Youth and Sports,^[10] Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and later he served as Minister of Atolls Development and Minister of Home Affairs.

• Deputy Speaker of the Parliament from 1993 to 1998.
• Deputy Leader of DRP, elected with the highest votes in the party's first congress.
• Represented Maldives Parliament at various Commonwealth Parliamentary meetings.

In the October 2008 presidential election, he was the running mate^[11] of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was Asia's longest-serving President.

Maldives Police Service was introduced as a separate civilian agency during Mr. Thasmeen's tenure as Minister of Home Affairs.^[12] He embarked on recruiting new police personnel and introduced Jail reform activities with the help from Western Australia Police to comply with international human rights norms. He started construction of a maximum security prison with a vision to improve the living condition for inmates.^[13]

The first Police Training School, housed in Addu Atoll was opened under his patronage.

Many modern scientific methods of investigation in Maldives Police Service were introduced under his instruction, including establishing Forensic Labs and deployment of CCTV camera in strategic points in Malé. The Community Policing concept used in policing in the Maldives is introduced under his guidance.^[14]

In a leaked cable titled PROSPECTS FOR REFORM DOMINATE DISCUSSIONS IN MALDIVES the followings were noted: "Home Affairs Minister Ahmed Thasmeen Ali join a cabinet that is growing younger and more dynamic as President Gayoom continues to make changes in an effort to prompt progress in the Special Majlis (parliament) that is considering constitutional reforms.^[15]

"Thasmeen Ali was keen to continue to develop the capacity of the national police force, which was split from the National Security Service late last year. He also outlined plans to develop a separate, well-trained prison service and to construct a new prison on Maafushi, noting that the current prison there, in which prisoners are kept in large common areas rather than smaller cells, makes it almost impossible to control or remove individual prisoners. He noted that his ministry, as part of the GoRM decision to invite the ICRC in to look at prison conditions, will work from ICRC standards as it designs the new prison".^[15]

During Thasmeen's leadership he took DRP to a new height. Though DRP was defeated in the 2008 presidential election he managed to increase the party membership and made gains in the parliamentary election and local elections.

With Thasmeen at the helm DRP secured more seats in the parliament than Nasheed's ruling MDP. This is a major victory to DRP, especially since this came during the honeymoon period of the new government.^[16]

During the split of the party there was much criticism leveled to Thasmeen by Gayoom supporters accusing Thasmeen of the 2008 defeat. However, DRP issued a statement reflecting of the past success in elections under Thasmeen saying "we note with regret that the party was unable to win a single election under President Maumoon’s leadership when it was in the government".

"One of the main reasons for DRP having to face one of its biggest defeats (2008 Presidential Election) and MDP coming to power and causing despair for most citizens was the fact that the whole presidential campaign was run by Gayoom’s eldest son Faris Maumoon as a family matter", said a DRP statement.^[17] However, the gains DRP made in the parliamentary election^[18] did not last long.^[19] With the internal conflict^[20] it took a toll on party in terms on numbers in the parliament^[21] and Gayoom formed a new political party.^[22]

With the formation of PPM, DRP accused PPM of poaching members^[23] and later in the parliament it paved way for President Nasheed's MDP to gain majority on the floor.^[24]