No threat for political appointees who support govt policies, assures President's Office

The President's Office said on Thursday that they will not dismiss any political appointee from their jobs unless they are working against implementing this administration's policies.

The Spokesperson of the President's Office, Miuwan Mohamed, said this in response to a question posed by a journalist at today's press briefing regarding political appointees from the Jumhooree Party (JP), as the party has decided to run in the presidential election with their own candidate.

Miuwan said the government has not threatened the job security of anyone. He assured that even though former President Abdulla Yameen had done this, this administration would not be doing so.

Miuwan said political appointees are given their jobs by the power granted to the president in the Constitution. The people in these positions have to implement the policies set by the president, he said.

He added that these positions are not filled by people selected after announcing the job and selecting one from the applications. Therefore, if they fail to perform or carry out the responsibilities assigned to them, the president has the power to remove them from the positions.

Miuwan said that even though people in political jobs may lose their positions, no one in the civil service will face this problem. He also added that if the political appointees wish to work as per the president's wishes, the president will give them the opportunity to fulfil the conditions set by the current coalition agreement.

Since the former Managing Director of the State Trading Organisation (STO) was removed from the position, the government has been accused of threatening people's jobs. Supporters of the government have also demanded that political appointees from the current coalition administration be removed from their positions since their parties have decided not to back President Solih and run for the election on their own.

After JP's Leader Qasim Ibrahim decided to contest the presidential election slated for September 9, the political environment in the Maldives has become high-strung. This is because JP is already a member of the ruling coalition.