RaajjeMV has learnt that although the government said 228 political employees would be dismissed within 15 days and this would be announced, these employees have been given jobs in other ministries, and in some ministries, employees are being rehired by the same ministry the day after their dismissal.
Additionally, some of those dismissed are also being given jobs in government companies.
On October 15, Muizzu took to social media platform ‘X’, announcing that he has instructed to remove 228 political appointees from various government ministries as a direct measure to cut down government expenditure, under the Economic Reform Agenda.
In response to this announcement, some social media users suggested that the dismissals implied that those affected were hired without a clear purpose.
The president said that this will be done within the next 15 days.
These include seven state ministers, 43 deputy ministers, 109 senior political directors and 69 political directors.
Muizzu said that this would save MVR 5.714 million every month from the government budget. This amounts to MVR 68.568 million annually.
The administration had also stated that the president decided to make such a big change as part of his vision to boost the capability to manage expenses and strengthen government operations.
However, despite previously opposing the number of political positions and the state's expenditure on them, the incumbent administration failed to disclose that information even after 15 days had passed. The information was provided on the 16th day.
The President's Office spokesperson took to social media platform ‘X’ on Friday afternoon, without any details, stating that as part of the measures being taken to reduce expenses under the government's Economic Reform Agenda, 248 political employees have been reduced as of 31 October 2024.
Further, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to establish a system to evaluate the performance of political employees to assess their work quality and increase efficiency, which will be implemented very soon.
Heena Waleed said that employees were dismissed from their jobs, however, senior employees at some ministries, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RaajjeMV that political employees have been dismissed from their jobs and then hired by another ministry the very next day.
Anonymous sources indicated that if employees were dismissed, it would be documented accordingly. The government reportedly took this approach to create a façade of dismissing political staff.
Further, it has been revealed that while the dismissed employees have been transferred to other ministries, there have been no changes to the positions as well.
On Wednesday, marking the 14th day since the president announced the decision to dismiss political employees, Heena stated at a press conference at the President's Office that the president had confirmed the dismissal of 228 political employees.
She added that this would be done within 15 days and that the information would be disclosed to the media when the time came. She further noted that the number of political employees would also be revealed.
RaajjeMV has learned from a reliable source that there is growing unease within the government concerning the transfer of ministries under the pretext of employee dismissals.
