President Yameen Abdul Gayoom has reappointed four incumbent ministers to his cabinet and his niece Dunya Maumoon as Minister of Foreign Affairs, at a ceremony held at the President’s Office at 8:30pm last night.
Retired Colonel Mohamed Nazim was reappointed to the post of Minister of Defense and National Security, Abdulla Jihad as Minister of Finance and Treasury, Ahmed Adheeb as Minister of Tourism and Ameen Ibrahim as Minister of Transport and Communication.
Nazim was a key figure in the ousting of former President Mohamed Nasheed. In the last months of Dr Waheed’s presidency, Nazim dealt with dissent within the military ranks, suspending several officers for petitions expressing concern over presidential poll delays. Nazim also amended the Military Act adding a clause punishing incitement of chaos and upheaval in the military.
Dunya Maumoon is the daughter of former president of 30 years Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and niece to President Yameen. She served as the State Minister for Foreign Affairs under former President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.
Dunya was a key figure in defending the legitimacy of Dr Waheed’s cabinet in the international community following Nasheed’s allegations of coup d’état. She had previously served as the Assistant Representative of the Maldives Office of the UNFPA and held the post of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007-2008 during her father’s tenure.
Abdulla Jihad also served in President Gayoom’s cabinet in 2008 and went on to become a Civil Service Commission (CSC) member in 2010. When Dr Waheed assumed the presidency, Jihad was sworn in as Minister of Finance in March 2012.
Before Adheeb was appointed as Tourism Minister in Dr Waheed’s cabinet, he held the post of the President of the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) and was a well known critic of Nasheed’s economic policies. Under his leadership, the MNCCI made a failed attempt in court to halt the enactment of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, citing worse economic ramifications and violations of law.
During his tenure in Dr Waheed’s cabinet, Adheeb was embroiled in a controversy involving the infamous pair of Armenian brothers linked with drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya.
Transport Minister Ameen has also served in key political positions in Gayoom’s presidency including Deputy Minister of Gender and Family and went on to become the Chief Executive Office of Villa TV. He is a member of presidential candidate Qasim Ibrahim’s Jumhooree Party (JP).
After Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz administered the oath of office, Yameen asked his ministers to serve the state with sincerity and hard work to the best of their ability
Following the oath ceremony, Yameen met with the senior officers of the Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) and pledged to strengthen the military. The MNDF greeted the commander in chief with a guard of honour and the national anthem at Bandaara Koshi.
Yameen also met with senior Maldives Police Services (MPS) officers including Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Deputy Police Commissioner Hussein Waheed at the Iskandhar Building.
According to the police, Yameen noted that the MPS is a noble service, but police officers faced public resentment and anger as they worked in the frontline of law enforcement. However, Yameen said he believed the public took pride in the MPS.
The President requested individual police officers to work within the law and uphold good behavior and assured the MPS he would develop the police service during his tenure. He also asked the police to expedite investigations and the process of issuing criminal record reports for youth when they apply for jobs.
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Incompetents and crooks the whole lot of them. Jihad is trying to print more money and Adeeb and Nazim are ever busy burning the money. Print pocket and burn is going to be the monetary policy of this regime. May you get no peace for the evil you wrought.
Same old vicious circle. History repeating itself.
So...they are back. For the time-being.
There are a few problems with these appointments;
(1) All of them served in the Waheed-regime and their reappointment is bound to excite negative feelings among the ordinary members of MDP and their supporters.
(2) Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim has been accused of playing a key role in unseating Ex-President Nasheed and even with the detente offered by MDP (wonder how long that will last), Nazim's appointment will irritate ordinary MDP supporters once again.
(3) Dunya Maumoon is highly qualified but her direct relationship to Qayyoom is bound to invite accusations of nepotism from the general public.
(4) Ameen Ibrahim lacks any real technical qualification or experience in the sector he has been appointed to oversee. He might however fade into the background because the public has always regarded him a non-entity. However for those who look deeper than the average taxpayer, Ameen's appointment is especially problematic given the fact that he was selected by Qasim Ibrahim who has crucial interests in the transport/aviation sectors and designs to establish a clawhold therein.
(5) Adeeb who was once considered a young charismatic figure, destroyed his image by accepting a Cabinet appointment in the Waheed-regime. After his elevation he ignored his supporters among the young, especially in social media networks and pranced around town flaunting just how unqualified he is to fill the post he fills. Therefore there is precious few who doubts that he is a puppet. His puppetmaster whom everyone knows to be the President himself must make sure his proxy is kept in line or else anything Adeeb does will instantly reflect on Yameen and his popularity.
All-in-all, Yameen's first choices are either lackluster or controversial even among the supporters of PPM barring the die-hard cheerleaders. As for Jihad I don't think anyone would mind his appointment. The Minister of Finance has never really been the face of any administration anyway.
My humble hope is that the President would consider improving PR by making some appointments which would be widely accepted and loved by the people. One public statement quoted in Haveeru (sadly the entire article is a quote) cites Yameen saying just that. However without practice the preaching will fall on deaf ears.
These people will get the country back on track in no time, just wait and see!
The brutal dictatorship is back!!
So while there are people who have worked in the foreign ministry for years and years, are educated, trained and a zillion times over more appropriate and able to undertake on the huge job of the foreign minister, the post has been given to Dunya who has in the last two years shown how absolutely ridiculously incompetent she is to hold any position of responsibility, just because she is Maumoon's child. Yameen has clearly violated his oath as the president by failing to do the best for the country by appointing that blundering air head for the post that requires so much more than having maumoon's blood to carry out its duties. The same with Jihad. How many mistakes does he have to make before even Maumoon and co would realize its high time he was given a calculator and some papers in a dark cell?
And Adeeb. Funding violence in this country just because you don't know where to put all the money you come in to everyday by illegal means is the worst of your choices. If you don't know what to do with them, why don't you stop taking the bribes and "presents"? Or do something like buy 15000 bicycles for Male' public use? If you open up your mind beyond crime and power, maybe you will do some good for the ppl, as is required of you.