Gov’t ordered to disclose information on 248 dismissed political staff

Information Commissioner Ahmed Ahid Rasheed has ordered the disclosure of information on the 248 political staff members, whom the government claims to have dismissed from various ministries as part of efforts to reduce state expenditure, within five days.

While President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on 15 October 2024 announced that 228 political staff from several ministries would be dismissed under the state's cost-cutting policy, Presidential Spokesperson Heena Waleed has stated that 248 political staff have been dismissed within the stipulated period.

Referring to this, Heena took to social media platform ‘X’ highlighting that as part of the measures being taken to reduce expenses under the government's economic reform agenda, 248 political staff were dismissed from October 15 – 31 this year.

On 15 October 2024 President Muizzu announced that 228 political staff would be dismissed within 15 days under his economic reform agenda.

Shedding light on the details, the president highlighted that 109 Senior Political Directors, 69 Political Directors, 43 Deputy Ministers, and seven State Ministers would be dismissed. With the decision, the president said that more than MVR 5.7 million would be saved from the state budget monthly. However, it was not disclosed which ministries the political staff were dismissed from and who they were.

After reviewing the decision at the Information Commissioner's Office, a hearing was held on Wednesday, and after giving an opportunity to speak about it, the Commissioner's Office has made a decision on the matter.

In his decision, the information commissioner said that the permanent address of the dismissed political staff is personal information and need not be disclosed. However, the commissioner determined that political staff are employees appointed by the president under the Constitution of Maldives and that their information cannot be withheld under public interest.

The commissioner's decision states that the names, positions, salaries received, and dates of dismissal of the political staff dismissed under the president's reform agenda must be disclosed and that this is not a matter of public interest. Therefore, the commissioner has ordered the President's Office to disclose the information within five official days.

The reason given by the President's Office for not providing information on political staff is that the names of the dismissed employees are “personal” information guaranteed under Article 24 of the Constitution of Maldives, as stated in a Supreme Court ruling. Therefore, the President's Office has stated that it is information that cannot be released.

The President's Office said that if the names of the ministries where the dismissed employees worked, their positions, and qualifications were disclosed, it could reveal their personal information. The office said that the personal information of a third party cannot be disclosed without their consent as stated in the law, so that information cannot be provided either.

Article 24 of the Constitution of Maldives states that everyone's private and family life, home, and private communications are inviolable places and matters. It states that everyone must respect these rights of others.

Referring to the article, the President's Office noted that the Supreme Court ruling was made in a case where details of the positions and salaries of some Bank of Maldives (BML) employees were sought under the Right to Information Act, when the country’s national bank went to court. The court ruling determined that the information of BML employees is personal information and need not be disclosed.

According to the Right to Information Act, if it is deemed important to maintain public interest, personal information of a third party may be disclosed to that extent for that reason without the consent of that third party.

While the number of political staff employed in various government institutions has increased significantly, Muizzu earlier asserted that the number of political staff in his administration will not exceed 700.