President to hold weekly meetings with journalists from March
In addition, the President said one Cabinet minister will also meet journalists once a week for one hour starting next month.
President Mohamed Muizzu on Thursday announced that he will begin meeting journalists on a weekly basis from next month.
The President made the announcement in his presidential address at the opening sitting of Parliament this year. He said the meetings will be held every Monday from 10am to 11am, starting in March, and will last for one hour.
President Muizzu last held a formal meeting with journalists in May last year, around nine months ago.
He said the purpose of the weekly meetings is to provide information directly to the media and maintain regular engagement. The meetings will continue unless they coincide with official travel, public holidays or other scheduling constraints.
In addition, the President said one Cabinet minister will also meet journalists once a week for one hour starting next month. The President’s Office will announce the schedule for these meetings.
Referring to the government’s engagement with the media last year, President Muizzu said ministers met local and foreign media on 424 occasions. He said officials from ministries shared information with the public through the media on 493 occasions.
He also said more than 1,300 Right to Information (RTI) requests were submitted to the President’s Office and ministries, of which 1,251 were answered, accounting for 93 per cent of requests. Outstanding responses are currently being processed, he said.
According to the President, the government published more than 40,000 posts across various social media platforms last year to disseminate information to the public.
Based on these figures, President Muizzu said there was no barrier to obtaining information from the government.
