Umar slams nepotism in appointment to high-paying embassy jobs

Maldivian embassies are full of people appointed through sheer nepotism, where even the most junior staff members earn a monthly salary of USD 2,000, says former home minister Umar Naseer.

While discussing the Maldives’ economic situation in an appearance on SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ show on Tuesday, Umar expressed concern over the high number of jobs at Maldivian embassies overseas.

He alleged that many of the appointments to these high-paying embassy jobs are made through nepotism.

“Look at the number of people in our embassies overseas. What do they even do? And on such high salaries. Some minister’s child. Another minister’s wife. The embassies are bursting at the seems with these people. The salary for the lowest paying job is USD 2,000,” he said.

Alleged nepotism in embassy appointments is something the now-ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) had criticized the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration over, back when it had been in the opposition.

The Maldivian Foreign Services Act stipulates that political appointments at the Foreign Ministry must be capped at 20 percent of foreign service staff.

However, both the former MDP administration and the incumbent PNC administration have made political appointments beyond this limit.

As of October 2023 – when MDP had been in power – the Foreign Ministry had 137 foreign service staff and 116 political appointees. And as of January 2025 – during the incumbent PNC administration – the ratio declined further to 139 foreign service staff and 132 political appointees.

Umar believes the “deep hole” the Maldives currently is in is a consequence of the debts incurred by consecutive administrations.

He believes the current economic crisis dates back to the introduction of the multi-party system in the Maldives in 2005. He said that the administrations that have come after have just been “digging a deeper hole”.

“We cannot manage our debt without cutting down our costs. We also have no other option but to cut costs. I said this back during the [2023] presidential election – the state needs to be downsized by 30 percent. They are engaging in unnecessary spending – spending the state or the government does not need to engage in,” he said.

Umar said that the Maldives needs to repeal outdated laws and regulations, eliminate wastage of state funds, and downsize the state by 30 percent.

He accused the incumbent administration of making false promises to implement fiscal reforms.

Umar also spoke about discussions that took place in March to raise around MVR 15 billion by selling a plot of land to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

He said the move will result in a sharp rise in the dollar rate, destroy local trade, and push state-owned enterprises further into debt.

“I have to say they are ‘zero’ at managing the economy. I regret to say that if things continue at this rate, we will go bankrupt. I haven’t seen any effective measures,” he said.

Referring to a high-ranking source at the Finance Ministry, Umar said the government does not have any money beyond barely covering the payroll.  He added that private businesses are growing more and more hesitant to engage in trade with the government.

The Maldives has been receiving urgent appeals by international financial agencies – including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank - to cut down costs and expedite the implementation of fiscal reforms.

The government has repeatedly expressed confidence in being able to cut down costs and overcome the current economic crisis.