President Cancels Press Conference at Last Minute, Citing Work Commitments

The President’s Office has cancelled a scheduled press conference with President Mohamed Muizzu at the last minute, with the government citing work commitments as the reason for the cancellation.

The briefing had been planned for today, in line with a commitment made during the presidential address on 7 February that the president and Cabinet ministers would meet journalists once a week. However, the regular media engagements have been inconsistent in recent weeks, with several scheduled sessions either delayed or cancelled.

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A press conference scheduled yesterday morning with the Minister of Economic Development was also cancelled, with the cancellation coming late the last

Government spokesperson Ibrahim Mohamed Shareef said the cancellation was due to urgent work commitments, particularly meetings related to the ongoing diving incident.

“Just work commitments today. Especially related to the diving tragedy. Extensive meetings,” he said.

The reference relates to a recent incident in Vaavu Atoll, where five Italian divers — researchers — went missing during an underwater cave dive last week. One of the divers has since been found dead, while the remaining four are still missing.

On Friday, a member of the Maldives National Defence Force involved in the search operation died due to decompression illness sustained during diving operations.

Prior to the death, a senior MNDF official had acknowledged on state media that the organisation’s deep-diving equipment is limited and not suited for advanced underwater recovery work, noting that only standard oxygen systems are available.

Following the MNDF staff sergeant’s death, public concern has grown, with calls for an investigation into the circumstances of the incident and whether safety standards were adequate for the operation.

Meanwhile, a team of Finnish dive specialists, deployed with support from the Italian government, arrived in the Maldives on Saturday to assist search efforts. The President’s Office spokesperson said the experts are coordinating with the Coast Guard on the ongoing operation.