The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and The Democrats have decided to propose legal and constitutional changes to limit the number of political appointments to top government posts.
At a joint press briefing by the MDP and Democrats yesterday, the parties said the number of political appointees in President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s government is becoming extremely high.
Democrats President Hassan Latheef said at the press conference that the increasing number of political appointees in the government, especially state ministers, deputy ministers and other officials in both ranks, is a serious problem for the Maldivian economy.
Therefore, the number of political appointees should be capped even if it requires constitutional amendments or changes to laws, Hassan Latheef said.
The changes should be brought as agreed upon by the two parties, he said.
Medhu Henveiru MP Ali Azim, parliamentary group leader of The Democrats, said the proposal for limiting political posts has now been drafted.
“Now as you know, how to limit the number of political posts in government and the number of ministries has been discussed, it has been drafted and work is ongoing on submitting it to the People’s Majlis,” Azim said.
The number of political appointees in top government posts is 296, including 163 deputy ministers and 90 state ministers. There are 22 ministers and 20 appointees at ministerial rank.
In addition, one person was appointed as a senior minister, a new post created by the current government.
