The government has nominated Abdullah Saeed, the Managing Director of the Maldives State Shipping (MSS), to the recently vacated post of Managing Director of the State Trading Organization (STO).
According to a source, his nomination has already been forwarded to the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB), which is currently evaluating the paperwork for his appointment to STO. However, PCB has yet to confirm this. An official from the board said that it is not their policy to reveal nominations until the processes are complete and a decision has been finalized.
The post of STO's Managing Director became vacant after Hussain Amr was dismissed on Sunday.
Saeed served as the Cabinet Secretary at the President's Office during former President Mohamed Nasheed's administration. He resigned from the post in 2011 and was appointed as the Director of the Maldives National Shipping Limited (MNSL), based in Singapore. He was entrusted with the management of MNSL until it was closed. He also served as the Chairman of the Maldives National Oil Company (MNOC), also based in Singapore.
He was a close associate of the former president and current Speaker of Parliament, Nasheed, during his presidency, as well as a valuable member of the Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) leadership at that time.
Regarding Amr's dismissal, the Spokesperson at the President's Office, Mohamed Miuwan, said that the government makes changes from time to time and that his dismissal was part of this shuffle to strengthen the operations of state-run companies.
The administration received backlash for keeping Amr in his position after he defied President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and backed Nasheed in the MDP primary election held in January.
Since then, he has been actively involved in initiatives led by Nasheed faction within MDP, called "Fikkurege Dhirun" (meaning "Reviving an Ideology" in Dhivehi). Just last week, he was seen meeting with the Jumhoree Party (JP) leaders along with West-Henveiru MP Hassan Latheef on behalf of Nasheed at the party's main hub, "Kunooz," in Malé.
Amr has not made an official comment regarding his dismissal. He had been STO's Managing Director since late 2018 when the administration came to power. He was a key player in MDP's campaign leading up to the presidential election held that year.