Some in the senior leadership of the ruling Progressive Congress coalition, made up of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People’s National Congress (PNC), have been asking Members of Parliament (MP)s not to confirm certain cabinet ministers nominated by President Mohamed Muizzu, the opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has claimed.
The approval of the 22 members of the President’s Cabinet is currently still at the committee stage with Parliament having sent the report on the cabinet back to the committee.
There are some senior PPM and PNC leaders who are asking the MDP not to approve some of the ministers in the Muizzu cabinet to [deny them to] fulfil their ministerial aspirations. The MDP’s PG [Parliamentary] Group will decide which ministers to approve and which ministers not to approve.
Ibrahim Waheed, MDP Deputy Chairman, in a post to social media reflecting on the approval process for President Muizzu’s cabinet nominations.
According to local media reports, the MDP Parliamentary Group (PG) is considering not approving some of the proposed cabinet ministers, while also leveraging the approval process to maximise political capital for the MDP, which holds a majority in the Parliament.
According to local media, a reliable source has confirmed that, some senior administration officials do not want the current Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal, who has been one of the most criticised of President Muizzu’s Cabinet, to receive approval. Faisal is the son of Presidential Advisor and PNC Chairman Abdul Raheem Abdulla.
“If he gets approval, the damage to the administration will be huge. He has already given a speech in [broken] English,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
A senior MDP official confirmed to local media that Faisal is one cabinet member the PPM/PNC leaders are lobbying against. However, Faisal is still among the ministers the MDP wants to approve, the MDP official said.
The PPM/PNC coalition has, as of yet, not commented on the issue.
The approval of ministers was delayed after the Government Accountability Committee, which examined the matter, failed to meet the requirements of the rules of procedure in preparing the report. The report was approved by the committee, but the administration had failed to update the changes to the mandate of the ministries for approval. The administration sent the mandates to parliament on Monday, however, the committee has not convened since then.
Parliament has approved an extension of this year’s session until 28 December.
