Colombo: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has set a new world record for the longest press conference by a sitting head of state, lasting nearly 15 continuous hours, according to a statement from his office on Sunday.
Starting at 10:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Saturday, the session ran for 14 hours and 54 minutes, only pausing briefly for prayers. Muizzu, 46, answered questions throughout the day and past midnight, surpassing the previous record of 14 hours set by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019. Zelensky had then broken Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s earlier 7-hour benchmark.
The Maldivian government stated that this event was aligned with World Press Freedom Day, held the same day, to honor the role of journalism. President Muizzu highlighted the press’s role in shaping democratic societies and called for truthful and unbiased reporting.
In a bid to include the public, the president also responded to citizen-submitted queries relayed through journalists. Approximately 24 reporters attended the event, with meals provided during the long session.
Muizzu, who assumed office in 2023, also took the opportunity to celebrate the Maldives’ improvement in press freedom, moving up two spots to 104th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Interestingly, the Maldives holds another unique record: in 2009, former President Mohamed Nasheed and his ministers conducted the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting, drawing global attention to the country’s vulnerability to climate change and rising sea levels.
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