PSM's MD resigns, says no political pressure behind decision

Public Service Media (PSM)'s managing director Mohamed Saeed resigned from the post on just four months after his appointment.

Saeed, who was formerly the Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, was appointed as the Head of State Media in August.

According to reports, Saeed resigned Tuesday evening a week short of four months since his appointment. Despite talks that he resigned over political pressure, Saeed denied these claims and said that he resigned due to health reasons.

"I will have to be abroad very often in the near future. I will have to travel abroad. That is something I have to do because of my current health condition. So, I cannot do that while fulfilling the responsibilities of my job," said Saeed, a longtime educator.

He said he was only able to continue as the MD of the PSM with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's assistance and cooperation.

“There is no political issue,” Saeed said.

Saeed's abrupt resignation also comes at a time when two major issues of PSM came to light.

One issue is that an event attended by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu was aired with an omitted verse of the Qur’an. The other issue was airing nude scenes during the English news aired on Tuesday evening.

In both cases, several employees were suspended citing negligence.

Former Broadcom member Zeena Zahir was the first to be appointed as the MD of PSM with the new government. However, Zeena resigned without publicly stating a reason, and Saeed was appointed shortly after she resigned.

Up until April 2019, Saeed was one of the oldest employees in the Ministry of Education. He was most recently the senior most Civil Service employee or Permanent Secretary of the ministry. Saeed was appointed to the post on 9th November, 2017 by former President Abdulla Yameen. However, from January 2019 to April of that year, Saeed was suspended from the post. He was sacked as Permanent Secretary in April.

The Civil Service Commission took action against Saeed for allegedly mistreating civil service employees of the Education Ministry during the 2018 presidential election.