Siyam: Many embassies ineffective; must be downsized by 50%

Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, the president of Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), says that embassies must be downsized by 50 percent, arguing that many of the Maldivian embassies in foreign nations aren’t producing any benefits.

The 2025 budget of MVR 56.6 billion was presented to the Parliament by Finance Minister Moosa Zameer on October 31.

During the debate on the budget on Tuesday morning, Siyam, the parliamentary representative for the Dh. Meedhoo constituency, criticized the budget allocation for embassies.

He said that the 2025 budget allocation for foreign service is 40 percent higher than 2024.

“Hundreds of millions of Rufiyaa to spend on the embassy in Singapore. Hundreds of millions of Rufiyaa to spend on the embassy in Bangkok. Hundreds of millions of Rufiyaa for the embassy in Dubai. There is nothing being achieved by opening embassies in different countries,” he said.

“What’s the point of all this money? The proposed spending on foreign embassies in each country is 40 percent higher than the previous year. How is this right? What is the purpose of this? Honorable Speaker, explain to be a single benefit or service this country gets from Singapore.  Show me a single thing we got from Thailand.”

Siyam said that there should be some reservation on spending taxpayers’ money on embassies.

He called for spending on embassies to be cut by 50 percent.

“Why are we opening these embassies? So that we can benefit from it. I call for embassies to be downsized by 50 percent immediately. Instead of increasing [spending] by 40 percent, we need to cut expenses by 50 percent,” he said.

Siyam said that the Maldives generates enough revenue – solely from its tourism sector. He said that the revenue must be spent fairly.

“We need to stop theft. Stop corruption. And stop wastage,” he said.

Siyam said that engaging in discussion before making decisions is one of the key principles of Islam. He said that he finds the lack of consultation when making decisions regarding the budget regrettable.

“Why aren’t they discussing it with us? Why not discuss it with us? Honorable Speaker, I would know something in all my years [at the Parliament] wouldn’t I? We weren’t consulted on anything this time. We should be consulted. Our opinion should also be sought. The members of this Parliament aren’t mere figureheads,” he said.

Siyam also expressed concern over the lack of details provided in the 2025 budget. He said that he refused to vote on a budget while remaining uninformed about how exactly the money will be spent.