After 18 Months of Silence, President’s Office Finally Discloses 922 Political Appointments

Following sustained public pressure and more than a year of refusals, the President’s Office has finally revealed that President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s administration has made 922 political appointments so far.

The disclosure comes more than 18 months into President Muizzu’s term, after repeated Right to Information (RTI) requests and an order by the Information Commissioner failed to obtain the figures until now.

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The question of political appointments had become a major point of public scrutiny this year on Press Freedom Day, when reporters directly questioned President Muizzu about the exact number during a marathon 14-hour live press conference. At the time, President Muizzu avoided providing a figure, claiming he did not have the information and publicly requested that his ministers release it. Despite this pledge, authorities remained silent on the matter until the figures were finally disclosed last night.

The newly released breakdown shows a wide spread of appointments:

•⁠ ⁠Ministerial posts: 20

•⁠ ⁠Ministerial rank posts: 14

•⁠ ⁠State Minister posts: 93

•⁠ ⁠State Ministerial rank posts: 7

•⁠ ⁠Deputy Minister posts: 216

•⁠ ⁠Deputy Ministerial rank posts: 20

•⁠ ⁠Senior Political Director posts: 318

•⁠ ⁠Senior Political Director rank posts: 8

•⁠ ⁠Political Director posts: 169

•⁠ ⁠Political Director rank posts: 4

•⁠ ⁠Assistant Political Director posts: 4

•⁠ ⁠Other political posts: 49

The President’s Office also noted that the number of political appointees is subject to change due to resignations, dismissals, and new appointments.

In October last year, President Muizzu publicly announced plans to dismiss 228 political appointees, including 109 senior political directors, 69 political directors, 43 deputy ministers and seven state ministers. Later that month, presidential spokesperson Heena Waleed confirmed the dismissal of 248 political staff, but declined to provide further details. Despite this, many new appointments were made in the following months, keeping the total number of political posts high.

During the transition period after the 2023 presidential election, then-government spokesperson Mohamed Firuzul had pledged that the administration would cap political appointments below 700. By contrast, official figures had shown that the previous administration had appointed over 1,400 political staff.

The delayed disclosure marks the first time the Muizzu administration has publicly shared a figure of its political appointees since taking office.