Thursday 25th Apr 2024
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Government expenditure

Popular artist Fasy’s hefty paycheck as First Secretary revealed

Leaked information has shown that local artist, Ahmed Faseeh (Fasy), takes in a hefty paycheck as the First Secretary in the High Commission of Maldives in Malaysia,
The annual pay, including perks and allowances, totals to MVR 1.9 million (US$ 123,783.75).
A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the revelations, adding that Fasy really has no mandate within the office.
“He has no mandate. He has his own working hours and working days. He just lives here,” the official said, on the condition of anonymity.
  • Breakdown of Fasy’s salary, perks, and allowances
  • Basic monthly salary: MVR 15,000 (US$ 977.24)
  • Ramadan allowance: MVR 3,000 (US$ 195.45)
  • Special allowance to the post: MVR 109,544 (US$ 7,136.72)
  • Commuting allowance: MVR 99,922 (US$ 6,509.85)
  • Other allowance: 393,765 (US$ 25,653.53)
  • Total: 1,900,789 (US$ 123,835.15)
This annual breakdown translates to MVR 158,399 (US$ 10,272) a month.

A website that shows average costs for a family in Malaysia is around US$ 1.735. Fasy’s monthly paycheck far outstrips this estimate.

Fasy has close ties with ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). His father was once the Mayor of Male’ City, Maizaan Ali Manik, who had claimed the seat on an MDP ticket. He has zero diplomatic experience, especially for the position of First Secretary. Speculation is strife that he was appointed to the position solely due to nepotism and close ties to MDP.

The Maldivian Embassy in Malaysia already has 14 individuals serving in political positions. A staff at the Embassy said the Embassy is overcrowded, individuals having no place to actually work there.

The number of political appointees in Embassies and Missions across the globe had increased substantially under the administration of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The paychecks for these individuals is massive, with many of them having no real mandate in those positions.