Ahmed Naseem appointed Maldives new health minister

Ahmed Naseem has been appointed Maldives’ new Minister of Health.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made the appointment on Thursday, following the resignation of Abdulla Ameen as health minister, late Tuesday.

The new appointee served as a Minister at the President’s Office prior to his appointment and had also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the administration of former president and Speaker of the People’s Majlis, Mohamed Nasheed.

Naseem is a known senior figure representing the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and has years of experience in foreign relations, having served for the government as a diplomat.

Back in the 70s, when tourism was initially introduced to the Maldives, Naseem played a leading role in the introduction of the sector.

Ameen resigned after discussions with the president after reaching the conclusion that his resignation would be the best thing to do. His resignation came at a time a no-confidence petition against him was submitted to the People’s Majlis, signed by 24 parliamentarians.

The main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Parliamentary Group backed Ameen during a confidence vote taken during an emergency meeting earlier this week, which led several MPs from MDP to sign a petition regarding the no confidence motion.

Ameen’s resignation came at a time he had been summoned to the People’s Majlis for questioning regarding accusations of misconduct which began surfacing after irregularities were identified in an audit report on the government’s Covid-19 related-spending.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had looked into the ventilator scandal where 75 ventilators were to be procured from Executors General Trading based in Dubai, and forwarded the case for prosecution, seeking charges against 11 ministry officials including the minister.

On Tuesday, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) decided against pressing charges and declined the case citing insufficient evidence.