Parliamentary approval sought for Thoriq’s appointment to new cabinet role

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has asked for parliamentary approval for his decision to reappoint Thoriq Ibrahim to the cabinet as the Tourism and Environment Minister.

Thoriq had been serving in President Muizzu’s cabinet as the Climate Change, Environment and Energy.

But on February 1, President Muizzu merged the Tourism Ministry with the Climate Change, Environment and Energy, and appointed Thoriq to lead the newly formed Tourism and Environment Ministry.

The letter sent by President Muizzu seeking parliamentary approval for the appointment was read at the Parliament on Monday morning.

It has been sent to the Government Oversight Committee for review.

The decision to merge the Tourism Ministry and the Environment Ministry came after President Muizzu dismissed Ibrahim Faisal as tourism minister on January 28, for undisclosed reasons.

Both Faisal and Thoriq were members of President Muizzu’s original cabinet – appointed shortly after he took office on November 17, 2023.

With the decision to merge the Tourism Ministry and the Environment Ministry, the number of government ministries is down from the original 22 to 20.

The change the third cabinet reshuffle by President Muizzu since he took office.

The first major reshuffle had been on September 30, 2024, when Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq resigned from his role as finance minister. Following the resignation, Moosa Zameer was changed from foreign minister to finance minister, Dr. Abdulla Khaleel was changed from health minister to foreign minister, and Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim was appointed as health minister.

And on December 26, 2024, President Muizzu implemented another major reshuffle that included the merger of the Housing Ministry and the Infrastructure Ministry.