91 state ministers and 163 deputy ministers: MVR 10 million per month for salary

Following the assumption of office on November 17, a total of 91 state ministers and 163 deputy ministers have been appointed to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration so far.

One of President Muizzu’s campaign pledges had been the formation of a government that is burdened by the amount of political appointees.

As per the information available on the President’s Office’s website, there is an individual appointed on the level of a senior minister; Abdul Raheem Abdulla who is the special advisor to the president.

Apart from the 22 cabinet ministers appointed by the president, there are an additional 20 persons appointed to the government on ministerial level. The majority of them are appointees at the President’s Office while two are appointees at the Finance Ministry.

As of Thursday, a total of 91 state ministers and 163 deputy ministers have been appointed to various ministries and the President’s Office.

The highest number of state ministers have been appointed to Local Governance Ministry, standing at eight state ministers. Gender Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the President’s Office follow in second with six state ministers at each.

Number of state ministers:

• The President’s Office – 6
• Defense Ministry – 1
• Foreign Ministry – 6
• Home Ministry – 3
• Finance Ministry – 4
• Education Ministry – 5
• Health Ministry – 4
• Economic Ministry – 5
• Fisheries Ministry – 2
• Islamic Ministry – 2
• Tourism Ministry – 2
• Gender Ministry – 6
• Sports Ministry – 3
• Environment Ministry – 2
• Dhivehi Language and Culture Ministry – 3
• Higher Education Ministry – 5
• Construction Ministry – 4
• Agriculture Ministry – 2
• Youth Ministry – 2
• Local Governance Ministry – 8
• Appointees at state ministerial level – 8

Including allowances, state ministers receive a salary of MVR 47,000 per month. With 91 state ministers, a total of MVR 4.2 million is incurred for the salaries each month.

While there are 163 deputy ministers – the highest number of deputy ministers are in Home Ministry, at 15.

Number of Deputy Ministers

• The President’s Office – 9
• Defense Ministry – 2
• Foreign Ministry – 4
• Home Ministry – 15
• Finance Ministry – 6
• Education Ministry – 6
• Health Ministry – 4
• Economic Ministry – 6
• Fisheries Ministry – 7
• Islamic Ministry – 8
• Tourism Ministry – 10
• Gender Ministry – 8
• Sports Ministry – 12
• Environment Ministry – 8
• Housing Ministry – 5
• Transport Ministry - 10
• Dhivehi Language and Culture Ministry – 7
• Higher Education Ministry – 6
• Construction Ministry – 5
• Agriculture Ministry – 3
• Youth Ministry – 9
• Local Governance Ministry – 13

Including allowances, deputy ministers receive a salary of MVR 35,000 per month. Therewith, MVR 5.7 million is incurred to pay their salaries each month.

In total, MVR 10 million is incurred per month to pay the salaries of all state ministers and deputy ministers.

The 20 additional persons appointed to various government offices on ministerial level in addition to the 22-member cabinet will further increase these expenses.

Notably, the numbers were much lower in the previous administration with just 48 deputy ministers and 28 state ministers.

The number of ministers, ministerial-level appointees, state ministers, and deputy ministers in the current administration has increased to 299. Additional political appointees are holding lower ranks in various government offices.

The current administration has said they will not exceed 700, concerning the number of political appointees.

However, opposition parties MDP and The Democrats, expressing concern over the growing number of political appointees in the administration, have decided to file amendments to laws to cap the number of political posts in the government.