President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has appointed Leela Ibrahim Manik to the position of Senior Political Director at the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy.

Leela is a person who, after contesting for the Guraidhoo constituency through ‘The Democrats’ in the recent parliamentary elections, withdrew from the election at a certain point in the campaign and decided to support the candidate contesting on the ticket of the People's National Congress (PNC), which is the ruling party for that constituency.

As the government does not disclose information about those appointed to political positions, it is unclear when exactly Leela was given the position. However, information has been received that she was appointed to the position during the ongoing month and is now reporting to work at the ministry.

The government has faced intense criticism for the dramatic increase in political appointments. Although the incumbent assured during the campaign that the number of his administration’s political positions would not exceed 700, some media reports have highlighted that the number of political positions has gone above 2,000. The government has so far been reluctant to disclose the exact figure.

On the other hand, reports published by the Ministry of Finance reveal that the largest portion of government operational expenses is spent on employee salaries.

While the government has talked about reducing the number of people in political positions, an additional political position has been filled at the environment ministry, where many people have already been appointed to political positions.

Some media reports state that many politically appointed individuals in various government ministries have no work to do, and some don't even have a chair or desk to carry out their duties.