Maldives swears in former prisoner as president

Male: A former political prisoner was sworn in as president of Maldives on Tuesday.

"No other citizens in the world in modern times have changed a 30-year-old regime so peacefully. I congratulate the Maldivian citizens," Mohamed Nasheed said shortly before signing his presidential oath in parliament.

Nasheed defeated Asia's longest-serving ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the first multiparty election on October 28 with 54.2 per cent of the votes.

Gayoom had repeatedly jailed Nasheed on what rights groups say were trumped-up charges. Critics accuse Gayoom of running the islands like his personal sultanate.

Nasheed has pledged a host of reforms, including privatising state enterprises and turning the islands into a model of renewable energy through widespread use of solar power.