Mohamed Fazeel, the member for Dhaandhoo constituency representing the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), opposed the appointment of Minister of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed

With the changes brought to the cabinet, a vote was taken to greenlight four ministers in the extraordinary sitting of the People’s Majlis held on Monday.

Changes were made to the Cabinet of Ministers, and the names of some ministries have been changed as well. The ministers appointed to the Cabinet were sent for parliamentary approval at an extraordinary sitting held on January 16.

The ministers submitted for approval include Moosa Zameer from Buruni island of Thaa atoll as the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed as the Minister of Higher Education, Labor and Skills Development, Dr. Mariyam Mariya as the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare and Dr. Abdulla Muththalib from Fiyoari island of Gaaf Dhaal atoll as the Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure.

During Monday’s extraordinary parliamentary sitting, a vote was taken to approve these ministers, and all four ministers were approved.

As the committee had previously approved these ministers, in Sunday’s meeting of the Government Oversight Committee, it was unanimously decided to approve them again.

Accordingly, Zameer was unanimously approved as the Minister of Planning and Finance by 67 parliamentarians.

Muththalib was also unanimously approved as the Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure by 69 parliamentarians. Mariya was unanimously approved as the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare by 70 parliamentarians.

For the position of Minister of Higher Education, Labor and Skills, Dr. Haidar was approved with 64 members in favor, while six members voted against. These were members belonging to the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and one PNC lawmaker; Fazeel.

This was the third time that approval has been sought for Haidar’s appointment at the parliament.

President Muizzu had previously made changes to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Under the changes brought by President Muizzu on 26 December 2024, the Housing Ministry was dissolved, and its planning functions were transferred to the Finance Ministry, while its housing functions were transferred to the Construction Ministry.

After this change, Dr. Ali Haidar, who was the Housing Minister, was transferred to the position of Higher Education Minister. Dr. Mariyam Mariya, who was the Higher Education Minister, was transferred to Agriculture and Animal Welfare.