President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has appointed Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail as the acting Minister of Tourism. The decision was made after Ali Waheed was dismissed from his position as tourism minister following complaints of workplace misconduct.
On July 8, President Solih ordered Ali Waheed to submit his resignation, after serious allegations of sexual harassment were raised by female employees of the tourism ministry. However, as the resignation had not been submitted in time, the president dismissed Ali Waheed from the cabinet on July 9 and appointed Economic Minister Fayyaz as the acting tourism minister.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) have announced an investigation into the allegations raised against Ali Waheed. He had also come under scrutiny recently after an audio clip was leaked, in which a man believed to be Ali Waheed made inappropriate comments about Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Aishath Nahula.
Ali Waheed was appointed to the cabinet under a slot from Jumhooree Party (JP). JP has also proposed to dismiss Ali Waheed as its president.
Ali Waheed is the first minister to receive a resignation order from President Solih. However, he is the third minister to leave the administration of President Solih.
Previously, Shidhatha Shareef resigned from the position of the Minister of Gender, Family and Social Services after a no-confidence motion was submitted against her in the parliament following failure to handle several child abuse cases reported across the country. Further, citing health reasons, Aminath Athifa resigned from the position of the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.