Former tourism minister Ibrahim Faisal is set to move back to his home island of L. Fonadhoo following his dismissal from President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s cabinet last week – a decision that he said had been “startling” and caught him completely unawares.
Faisal, the son of Abdul Raheem Abdulla, the speaker of Parliament and chairperson of the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), had been among the original appointees to President Muizzu’s cabinet on November 17, 2023.
He was dismissed on January 28, for reasons that the President’s Office has yet to disclose.
Faisal previously told Sun that the dismissal came out of the blue.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu (R) presents Ibrahim Faisal (L) with his letter of appointment as tourism minister on November 17, 2023. (Photo/President's Office)
Faisal said that he had not been consulted beforehand, and found the letter of termination waiting for him when he went to the office in the morning.
He told Sun on Sunday afternoon that he plans to move back to Fonadhoo this month.
Faisal said that he believes that he and his father Abdul Raheem played “some role” in getting President Muizzu elected to office.
“Following my startling dismissal for which I was not given a reason, my father, who was in Malaysia, immediately returned back to Maldives. And following extensive discussions between us, we decided that it is best for me to move back to my island at this time,” he said.
Faisal said that he is burdened with the added responsibility of caring for a five-month baby. And that another reason that contributed to his decision to move back to Fonadhoo is because it had become harder to manage expenses following his unexpected dismissal.
Abdul Raheem Abdulla (L) and Ibrahim Faisal (R). (Photo/Ibrahim Faisal)
He said that “it is important to remain in the government in a presidential system”, and that his father Abdul Raheem remains in the government and is “with the president.”
Faisal said that his father advised him to face political affairs with courage.
Faisal had remained a member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – PNC’s coalition partner – serving as a member of the party’s senate up until the party was dissolved last week.
He is therefore currently not a member of any political party.
However, in a previous interview, Faisal said that he plans on playing a bigger role in politics in the future.
Faisal’s dismissal followed monthslong rumors of friction between the top leaders of the party – President Muizzu and Abdul Raheem – once seen as his most powerful ally, having played an instrumental role in his successful 2023 presidential campaign.
Abdul Raheem previously described his efforts to get President Muizzu to office as “the hardest but most successful” work of his long political career.
After President Muizzu took office in November 2023, he appointed Abdul Raheem as his special advisor. But Abdul Raheem later resigned from the role to successfully contest the 2024 parliamentary elections, in which the PNC won a supermajority of seats in the Parliament. It had been President Muizzu himself who recommended him to the role of Speaker of Parliament.
But the powerful role is now rumored to be at risk.