Presidential advisor Muhthaz appointed to Foreign Ministry

Former prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin has been appointed as a state minister at the Foreign Ministry.

The appointment was confirmed to Sun by a top government official on Saturday.

Prior to his new appointment, Muhthaz had been serving as President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s advisor on criminal justice.

He was appointed to the post on January 30, within days of his defeat in the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s primaries for the parliamentary elections.

Muhthaz received 185 votes in PNC’s primaries for the Dhangethi constituency, trailing far behind Abdulla Rasheed, who received 246 votes and went on to win the parliamentary elections held in April.

Muhthaz served as the country’s prosecutor general from 2014-2015 – during former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

He was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote taken by the Parliament on November 11, 2015, following allegations of leaking confidential information, discriminating among criminal suspects, and failing to take action against his staff for political activities.

In 2016, Muhthaz, along with magistrate Ahmed Nihan, were convicted of terrorism charges over an alleged forged arrest warrant for Yameen, and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

However, the convictions were overturned by the High Court after Yameen’s defeat in the 2018 presidential elections.

Muhthaz’s appointment to the Foreign Ministry comes mere days after Hussain Shameem was dismissed from his post as prosecutor general in a no-confidence motion. He was widely believed as a potential candidate to replace Shameem.