Ex-Malé Deputy Mayor Areesh appointed Under Secretary at President’s Office
Areesh’s appointment comes as former Attorney General Azima Shakoor was also appointed Principal Secretary to the President on Sunday.
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Mohamed Areesh, a former Deputy Mayor of Malé City and a member of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), has been appointed as an Under Secretary at the President’s Office.
Areesh is now listed as an Under Secretary on the President’s Office website. It is not clear when the appointment took effect, and the President’s Office has yet to respond to requests for information on the matter.
Areesh was elected to the Malé City Council in 2021 on a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ticket, representing the Maafannu West constituency. He later served as Deputy Mayor.
Following the change of government, Areesh left the MDP and joined the PNC.
He contested the 2026 local council elections but lost his seat to the MDP candidate.
According to information published on the President’s Office website, around seven Under Secretaries currently serve at the office, including five who hold the position of Senior Under Secretary.
Areesh’s appointment comes as former Attorney General Azima Shakoor was also appointed Principal Secretary to the President on Sunday. Shakoor has also served as a lawyer for President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and his family.
The appointments come as the government is pursuing workforce reductions at state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB) has instructed SOEs to reduce employee numbers as part of measures to cut expenditure. Several state-owned companies have since begun terminating employees.
The opposition MDP has alleged that about 90 per cent of employees dismissed under the process are affiliated with the party. The government has maintained that political affiliation is not considered when deciding which employees are made redundant.
