Maldives president ratifies new constitution

MALE (Reuters) - The Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ratified the country's new constitution on Thursday, aiming to pursue a "modern, multi-party, democratic system" and giving more powers to the judiciary and legislature.

Opposition parties welcomed the new constitution, but worried about the implementation stage, while some members of the public hoped the document would bring change.

The new constitution, developed over the past four years, includes a judiciary run by an independent commission, and independent commissions to oversee elections and fight corruption.

The new constitution reduces the executive powers vested under the president and strengthens the parliament, which would be chosen through an electoral system giving each 5,000 people one member, replacing a less representative system that included some seats appointed by the president.

"We are not doing this as an illusion ... but for the benefit of the country," President Gayoom said soon after announcing official ratification of the new constitution.

"The real work is bringing the constitution into effect. Democracy can bind everyone together even if we are different from one another."

Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving leader, has held the reins of the archipelago -- a major tourist destination -- since 1978.

He first pledged the reforms to the earlier constitution following a crackdown on mass protests in 2003, and criticism over his government's human rights record.

The country's constitution was last revised in 1998, putting the president at the head of all government bodies.