President denies responsibility for selective media invitations

President Mohamed Muizzu said on Monday that he was not responsible for deciding which media outlets were invited to his press meetings.

The President was responding to questions about a meeting with journalists held at the President’s Office on Monday afternoon. Unlike usual practice, the meeting was not announced in the office’s official media WhatsApp group. Selected outlets were invited through individual messages.

Dhauru was among the outlets that did not receive an invitation.

Asked why some media organisations had been excluded and whether the decision was fair, Muizzu said invitations were handled by administrative staff according to procedures set by the President’s Office.

“I am not the person who invites journalists, nor am I the person who decides who should be invited,” Muizzu said.

He described the invitation process as an administrative matter and said it was being carried out under the rules established for press conferences at the President’s Office.

The President did not directly answer whether all media outlets should have been invited or explain why Monday’s meeting was not announced through the official WhatsApp group.

The meeting followed a dispute between the President’s Office and Dhauru. Government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef had made remarks at a press conference on Saturday which Dhauru later examined by speaking to other people and reporting that some of the claims were inaccurate.

The President’s Office issued a statement on Sunday describing Dhauru’s report as contrary to the facts.