Mohamed Nasih Rasheed has been appointed as the Minister of State for Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made the appointment on Sunday.

Nasih previously served as the Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment after having been appointed to the position back in February 2020.

Prior to that, he served as the President of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Council and as a member of the council. He handed in his resignation from the post of council president prior to the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s primary elections held last weekend.

Further, Nasih is completing a Bachelor of Shariah and Law currently and presently holds a Diploma in Project Management and an Advance Certificate in Youth Development.

This comes after the State Minister for Youth, Assad ‘Adubarey’ Ali was stripped from his post on 2 February 2022, after a jail sentence was slapped on him by the Criminal Court in connection to Ali Waheed’s case.

President Solih removed Assad from his position mere hours after he was issued a jail sentence of 15 days for contempt of court, as the guarantor for Former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed who failed to appear at court for his trial on several charges of sexual assault.

Waheed traveled to UK after signing a guarantor deal with Assad and was given a four-month medical leave. He departed shortly after being granted the request to travel, on 9 February 2021. The period granted to him ended in June.

The court ordered the guarantor to present Ali Waheed to court within 72 hours and warned him of action should he fail to do so. His penalization comes at a time Assad failed to appear at a hearing held in connection to the case.