The Maldives declared a republic for the first time in 1953, but that experiment lasted only months before the sultanate was restored under pressure. The republic commemorated here is technically the second, proclaimed in 1968 after a referendum ended the sultanate permanently — making 2018 the genuine half-century mark of stable republican governance.
The Maldives declared a republic for the first time in 1953, but that experiment lasted only months before the sultanate was restored under pressure. The republic commemorated here is technically the second, proclaimed in 1968 after a referendum ended the sultanate permanently — making 2018 the genuine half-century mark of stable republican governance.