Emergency motion calling to disclose details of political appointees rejected

An emergency motion submitted to the Parliament on Thursday calling for the disclosure of the number of political appointees in their government and their capacity was rejected.

The emergency motion submitted by opposition MDP’s South Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem at Thursday’s parliamentary sitting called for the disclosure of the details of individuals appointed by the President for political posts in the government.

In this regard, the motion stressed that the details of political appointees across various government offices have yet to be disclosed despite the announcement of stringent measures to cut state expenditure by reducing the salaries of all political appointees.

The motion called to disclose the number of political appointees, their posts and their responsibilities at this particular time of significance.

A total of 68 MPs were in attendance during Thursday’s parliamentary sitting. The emergency motion was dismissed with the votes of 59 MPs with just eight, voting to accept the motion.

Opposition MDP has expressed concern over the current administration’s failure to disclose the details of political appointees while making severe allegations against the current administration.

In this regard, MDP has alleged that the number of political appointees exceed 2,000; an allegation which has been denied by the government without disclosing the exact number of political appointees.

Notably, President Muizzu, last week, announced the decision to dismiss 228 political appointees as part of efforts to reduce state expenditure.

Additional cost-cutting efforts were announced last night which include a 10 percent pay reduction for political appointees, employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and senior officials of independent institutions and committees. The President also decided to forgo 50 percent of his salary.