A senior official from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) accused President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration of deliberately misrepresenting the actual number of political appointees they have, saying that the numbers disclosed by the President’s Office does not add up when compared to budget figures.
In a surprise statement just after 12:00 am on Wednesday, the President’s Office said that there are 922 officials currently appointed to political positions within the administration.
Following President Muizzu’s 2023 presidential election win, his spokesperson Mohamed Firuzul said the administration’s political appointments would be capped at 700. But the figure disclosed by the President’s Office on Wednesday exceeds the promised cap by 222 officials.
Wednesday’s announcement followed months of legal battle as the administration tried to block attempts to uncover the actual number of political appointees – which the MDP has long alleged exceeds 2,000.
In a post on X on Wednesday morning, Ibrahim Ameer, who served as finance minister in the last MDP administration, described this as “yet another attempt to mislead” the public.
Ameer believes that based on the standard method for budget compilation and political appointee calculations, President Muizzu’s administration had 2,280 political appointees as of October 2024. He said that even if 248 political appointees were dismissed as announced in November 2024, it still leaves 2,032 political appointees.
“They made so many appointments even after that. Based on what the government is saying now, the estimated number of employees at the President’s Office, Muliaage and Hilaaleege combined exceeds 1,100. This figure was at 409 at the end of 2023,” he said.
Anas Abdul Sattar, the spokesperson for MDP, told Sun that the party believes President Muizzu’s administration is deliberately covering up the actual number of political appointees.
Anas said that the numbers disclosed by the President’s Office does not match with the figures in the budget book.
The numbers don’t add up, he said.
He believes the list was made after excluding the number of political appointees at the President’s Office and the presidential residence, Muliaage.
“They kept this hidden for so long to misrepresent the actual numbers. They wanted to publicize a misleading figure. The government may be under the false assumption that this announcement will stop the people trying to get the actual numbers. No. I am sure they will continue to try to get the actual numbers,” said Anas.
MDP parliamentarian Mauroof Zakir, the representative for Kendhoo, told Sun that the actual political appointments can be calculated based on the numbers on the budget. He said that based on the budget, the number of political appointees exceed 2,000.
“Therefore, I am unable to believe that is the actual figure,” he said.
Mauroof said that his main concern lies in the high political appointments resulting in cash flow issues for the government, and the lack of results to justify the high spending on salaries for them.
According to the President’s Office, there are 922 officials currently appointed to political positions. This includes:
20 ministerial posts
14 ministerial rank posts
93 state minister posts
7 state ministerial rank posts
216 deputy minister posts
20 deputy ministerial rank posts
318 senior political director posts
8 senior political director rank posts
169 political director posts
4 political director rank posts
4 assistant political director posts
49 other political posts
The President’s Office added that the total number of political posts “is subject to change throughout each presidential term due to terminations, resignations, and new appointments.”
Following criticism from the opposition regarding the high number of political appointees, President Muizzu announced in October 2024 that he was dismissing 228 political appointees as a cost cutting measure. The President’s Office announced the next month that 248 political appointees had been dismissed.
However, the President’s Office refused to share details regarding the political appointees in question. The decision was appealed with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which in January instructed the President’s Office to disclose the information. But the decision was appealed by the President’s Office with the High Court.
In his first press conference in over a year on May 3, during which President Muizzu spent a record 14 hours speaking to reporters, he said he was unaware of the secrecy surrounding information regarding political appointees, and promised to disclose the information.
He also said that he was unaware of the appeal filed with the High Court to prevent the disclosure of the information, and said the information should not be withheld.
He said that he would disclose the information regarding each and every political appointee.