Minister Aslam receives backing of parliamentary committee

Parliament’s Government Oversight Committee has voted in favor of approving the appointment of Mohamed Aslam as the Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.

The committee gave its approval in a unanimous vote last week.

Mohamed Aslam was appointed as Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure on June 14.

Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Ministry was established on June 11, following the decision to dissolve Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and transfer its mandate to Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Mohamed Aslam had been serving as Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure.

His appointment was sent to the Parliament for approval on June 15, under Article 129 (d) of the Constitution, which establishes that all ministerial appointments need to be approved by the Parliament.

The decision to dissolve Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had followed the resignation of former Housing Minister Aminath Athifa. She tendered her resignation on June 10 citing health reasons.

During the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s predecessor, former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, work pertaining to housing and other infrastructure development projects had been run under one ministry – the Housing and Infrastructure Ministry. However, President Solih, when he came to power in 2018, opted to separate the work into two ministries – the Housing and Urban Development Ministry, and the National Planning and Infrastructure Ministry.

The move had been criticized by some as wasteful, citing the overlap of some of the work of the two ministries.

Mohamed Aslam, who heads the newly renamed National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, had also served as the Housing Ministry during Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s first administration which came to power in 2008.