Madhanee Abdulla appointed as Maldives Gas’ new MD

Former deputy economic minister Abdulla Mohamed (Madhanee Abdulla) has been appointed as the new managing director of Maldive Gas.

He met with the company’s executive team and staff on Saturday.

The company shared pictures of the meeting in a post on X.

“With his able guidance and assistance, we're excited about moving forward on our successful journey,” wrote the company.

Prior to entering politics, Abdulla had been a school teacher, working as a Dhivehi language teacher in Iskandhar School, and later, Arabiyya School.

His first brush with politics was during Teachers Association protests during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration. He made headlines with his open criticism of Nasheed’s administration during the protests.

Abdulla later represented the ‘Madhanee Ithihad’ – an alliance of over 100 civic organization that advocated against a regulation introduced during Nasheed’s administration to legalize the sale of alcohol in inhabited islands. He began getting called Madhanee Abdulla after a mass protest organized by the alliance on December 23, 2011.

He served as a state minister at the Home Ministry during the administration of former President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who served as the caretaker president following Nasheed’s resignation in 2012.

Abdulla was recently detained at the Malaysia airport and deported back to Maldives. The reason for the decision wasn’t disclosed by him nor the government.