Ministry of Transport and Aviation spends MVR 6.3 million per year on political appointees

The Ministry of Transport and Aviation has been spending almost half a million Rufiyaa on political appointees, according to information revealed by the ministry to an RTI submitted by The Maldives Journal. The ministry has 18 political appointees, including the minister, and the government is spending MVR 520,500 per month on them, which translates to MVR 6.3 million per year.

The political appointees in the ministry include two state ministers, three deputy ministers, ten senior executive directors, one executive director, and one personal assistant to the minister. Some of these appointments were made during MDP's internal elections.

President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih has appointed more than 2000 political appointees since assuming office, and his government has the most number of political appointments to date. However, the spending on political appointees has raised concerns among the public and opposition parties.

The opposition parties have criticized the government's appointment policy, stating that it is only serving their political interests rather than the public's.

The government, on the other hand, has defended its policy, stating that political appointments are necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the government and that the appointments are made based on merit. However most of the political appointees lack a higher secondary certificate.