High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The politics of the Maldives take place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is the Head of Government. Executive power is exercised by the government. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the Cabinet; Like many presidential democracies, each member of the cabinet need to be approved by the Parliament. The President, along with the vice President, is directly elected by the people to a five-year term by a secret ballot. He could be re-elected to second 5 year term, the limit allowed by the Constitution. The current President of the Maldives is former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Mohamed Nasheed, who defeated President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, who had ruled the country for 30 years, in the county`s first multiparty Presidential election.