President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has submitted the names of former Ministers Thoriq Ibrahim and Adam Shareef Umar to Parliament for approval as Ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar respectively.

Following the President’s request, both nominations were referred to Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee for review.

Thoriq and Adam Shareef are currently serving as Ambassadors-At-Large at the Foreign Ministry.

The post of UAE Ambassador became vacant after the removal of former envoy Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), who now serves as Chief Spokesperson at the President’s Office. He was dismissed from his role on 6 April.

If approved, Adam Shareef will become the Maldives’ first Ambassador to Qatar. The Maldivian embassy in Doha was established on 29 June last year, though no Ambassador has yet been appointed to the mission.

The Maldives and Qatar established diplomatic relations on 26 May 1984. However, ties were severed during the administration of former president Abdulla Yameen amid the Gulf conflict.

Relations were restored on 15 March 2021 under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Thoriq served as Environment Minister during the administrations of former presidents Mohamed Waheed Hassan and Abdulla Yameen. He was also appointed Environment Minister when President Dr Mohamed Muizzu first formed his cabinet, before being assigned to head the merged Tourism and Environment ministries on 1 February last year. He resigned from the cabinet last month.

Adam Shareef previously served as Defence Minister under Yameen’s administration and later represented Madduvari in the 19th Parliament. Under President Muizzu’s government, he was appointed Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works before resigning during the recent cabinet reshuffle following the local council elections.