Finance Minister Hassab Zareer has denied ordering State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to terminate employees based on their political affiliations as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the workforce.
On July 13, the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) directed SOEs to reduce their staff by 33 percent within a three-month period. Following this directive, numerous employees are currently being dismissed from their positions.
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has alleged that the government is targeting employees who do not support the current administration. During today's parliamentary session, the Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudoo) questioned the Finance Minister regarding these allegations.
"Terminating an employee based on their political party, their political ideology, or the opinions they express is not a principle accepted by this government. This Ministry has not issued any instructions to any state-owned enterprise to act in such a manner," he said in response to the question.
Zareer further explained that companies have been instructed to take measures to ensure they can cover their expenses through their own revenue. He noted that when combining the civil service and state-owned enterprises, the number of people in the public sector exceeds 50 percent of the total working population.
Leading up to this year’s council elections and the referendum, the government distributed jobs to hundreds of individuals. However, many of these individuals received only appointment letters without actual placement. The government ultimately faced defeat in both elections.
According to government data released in April, there were over 42,000 employees working across state-owned companies. A 33 percent reduction in this workforce would result in more than 13,800 employees losing their jobs.
