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Tuesday 18 Aug 2026
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu (R) and newly sworn-in Male' Mayor Adam Azim (L) on January 22, 2024. (Photo/Male' City Council)
Male’ City Mayor Adam Azim defended the MVR 1.15 million spent by the Male’ City Council on two town hall meetings this year, stating that it was a significant reduction from the MVR 2 million spent on these meeting back in 2023, during President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s mayorship.
The remarks come after information obtained under the Right to Information Act revealed the council spent over MVR 1.15 million on two town hall meetings this year, sparking concern over the high spending.
In a post on X on Tuesday morning, Azim said that the city council had spent MVR 2,050,520 on town hall meetings in 2023, which was back when President Muizzu served as mayor.
“We were able to significantly reduce this expense this year by implementing strong measures,” he wrote.
Azim said that some newspapers had acted irresponsibly and portrayed the MVR 1.15 million as the cost of one single meeting, instead of the total cost of all meetings this year.
“Therefore, I urge everyone against spreading such baseless false information, and to act more responsibly and verify information when disseminating news,” he wrote.
According to information obtained under the RTI Act by Ahmed Aiham, who had challenged Azim in the April elections, the council spent MVR 567,839.34 on a town hall meeting in February, and another MVR 585,137.34 on a second meeting in July.
February meeting:
July meeting:
The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) had held a supermajority in the council when the February meeting was held, while the July meeting took place after the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) took control of the council in the local council elections held on April 4.
The law requires the councils to hold townhall meetings at least twice a year, to listen to concerns of the public and discuss important matters.
