The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned what it called mass layoffs at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the guise of reducing state expenditure.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the party reminded the Mohamed Muizzu administration that, during the last presidential election campaign, the President had pledged not to fire SOE employees—a promise he reiterated during the subsequent parliamentary election campaign. However, hundreds of employees have continued to be laid off daily since the elections wrapped in April, even as Muizzu has appointed members of his party to highly paid political positions, the statement read.
This comes on the heels of a member of the Progressive Party of the Maldives and the People’s National Congress Coalition (PPM/PNC) threatening to eject SOE employees who did not support the Muizzu administration, MDP said.
“The party will continue to intervene through the relevant authorities to defend the rights of employees who are being unfairly dismissed,” the opposition statement assured.
The MDP, which is battling an administration aligned supermajority in parliament, called on the Muizzu administration to immediately cease laying off SOE employees and to cut state expenses and wasteful spending by—out of the more than 2,000 political appointees—weeding out and laying off those “without any work to do.”
