The number of political appointees at the Ministry of Social and Family Development was 66 as of May 1, the ministry has said.

The disclosure came after the ministry told Adhadhu in response to a request under the Right to Information (RTI) law that the number of political staff was unknown due to missing documents. Adhadhu had requested information on political appointees at the ministry from November 12, 2023, to May 1, 2024.

After Adhadhu reported the response, the ministry said its answer had been given by mistake. The reply was based on a different RTI filed by Adhadhu for information from 2013, the Gender Ministry said.

The ministry has now shared a list of political staff with Adhadhu.

Number of political posts and remuneration at the Gender Ministry

• One minister - MVR 58,500
• Six state ministers - MVR 43,500
• 11 deputy minister - MVR 31,500
• 27 senior political directors - MVR 25,500
• 21 political directors - MVR 20,500

Based on the information, the state spends MVR 1,785,000 a month to pay salaries for the ministry's political staff. This is MVR 21,420,000 a year.

The amount will exceed MVR 107 million during President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's five-year term.

President Muizzu promised not to appoint more than 700 political employees when he assumed office. However, the opposition accuses the government of creating a record number of political posts.

Some ministries have been responding to RTI requests and disclosing the number of political posts, but the total number cannot be confirmed as all the ministries have not been complying with the RTI requests.