Four receive the Order of Izzuddin as the republic turns 61

The Maldives marked 61 years of independence on Sunday with a 6am flag-hoisting at Republic Square, attended by President Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed, according to the President's Office.

At the official ceremony the president conferred the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin — the state's highest honour — on four recipients: Mohamed Latheef, the former education minister and UN permanent representative who now serves as chancellor of the national university; the Islamic scholar Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa, author of more than fifty works; tourism pioneer and MATI chairman Hussain Afeef, developer of the country's first solar-powered resort; and Mohamed Moosa, the Champa Wholesale owner who founded DhiFM and DhiTV. Sixty-six others received the National Award for Public Service.

The evening brought the ceremony's full apparatus to Republic Square: a presidential salute with 21 guns, an MNDF march-past through the capital's thoroughfares joined by cadet corps from fifteen schools, schoolchildren's performances, the Heyvalla Cultural Troupe, and fireworks over the harbour.

The guest of honour was Saudi Arabia's Prince Dr Mansour bin Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, attending on behalf of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and received at Izzuddin Jetty by the president and first lady.

The sea kept its own schedule. Swell surges pushed through Malé the same weekend — flooding the Industrial Village hard enough to knock motorcycles into the water, strewing the newly reopened Boduthakurufaanu Magu with sand and rock, and putting the Met Office on alert from Kaafu to Addu — a reminder, on the anniversary itself, of the condition the republic celebrates against.