Parliament passed a raft of legislation before breaking for recess. Amendments were approved to the foreign currency law to require resorts to convert 40 per cent of their monthly revenue, doubling the originally proposed 20 per cent threshold and tightening the conversion period from quarterly to monthly. New provisions were added at the committee stage to ban the publication or promotion of black market exchange rates with fines of MVR25,000 (US$1,620) to MVR500,000 for individuals and MVR100,000 to MVR5 million for legal entities or registered businesses. Separate provisions formalised MMA regulations for licensed money changers with required deposits and fines for unlicensed operators.
The decentralisation law was amended to grant cabinet power to strip land and assets from council jurisdiction for government development projects, with compensation required for any investments made on the land and a requirement to consult the relevant council and allow 14 days for objections before proceeding. The bill, fast-tracked through committee, was passed after the government reportedly organised a counter-petition supporting the legislation after a public petition with 2,300 signatures calling for its withdrawal had reached the threshold requiring parliament debate.
President Muizzu's tourism adviser Mohamed Khaleel resigned over the 40 per cent conversion requirement, telling Adhadhu he did not believe there was any point remaining as adviser while a policy damaging the industry was being pursued. Khaleel, managing director of Pulse and a shareholder in Manta Air, said doubling the amount resorts convert will not ease the dollar shortage.
Muizzu defended the measures taken against resorts and money changers. They would produce good results overall and some people were saying otherwise for political reasons, he told PSM's Nation Chat podcast. He insisted the government had consulted before acting. He said ending the black market would take time, and that practices such as how foreign workers remit money and how foreign currency is held had been shaped over years.
Parliament approved Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakar as Information Commissioner despite concern from civil society organisations over his first term’s record of dismissing complaints and holding hearings in secret. President Muizzu only nominated Azeez for the vacancy created by outgoing commissioner Ahmed Ahid Rasheed's expiring term.
Parliament approved Shamoon Hameed, a former HRCM secretary general and nephew of former presidents Gayoom and Yameen, as the new commission member, replacing outgoing member Samaau Ahmed Najeeb after her five-year term expired. Shamoon, who received 92 percent in the committee's assessment against Samaau's 86 percent, had been listed first in President Muizzu's nomination letter.
Parliament passed a new Land Transport Act transferring responsibility for transport in the capital to a Greater Malé Transport and Mobility Office under the transport ministry. A chapter on Malé added at committee stage sets out different rules for the area on the grounds that population and vehicle numbers make traffic unmanageable, and lapses after three years unless the National Road Safety Council extends it. The office will set policy on congestion, draw up an urban plan and develop roads, set a quota for vehicle registration in the Malé area limited to 30 per cent of registrations cancelled, set public transport rules, establish automated vehicle inspection, and make its own regulations. MDP members objected during the committee report debate that functions and revenue currently held by Malé City Council are being transferred to it.
The Tourism Employees Association opposed requiring resorts to convert 40 per cent of dollar revenue, warning the measure could severely reduce staff incomes and service charge – which is paid in US dollars – and calling on the government to instead cut spending on political appointees, unnecessary embassies and non-essential projects.
Parliament passed a bill giving the president the power to designate uninhabited islands and lagoons for particular uses. They can be leased for 21 years, extendable to 50 by ministries and councils. Islands may be leased for tourism, industrial, fisheries, agricultural, other economic, social and state purposes, at MVR3 a square metre a year for industrial and economic use, MVR2.50 for fisheries and agriculture and MVR2 for social purposes. Lagoons may be leased for large and medium-scale industrial work, large-scale economic activity and aquaculture, at MVR3 a square metre for industrial and economic use and 50 laari for fisheries.
Raajje TV reported to police that it has information a plan is under way to attack its head of programmes and coordination, Amir Saleem. In a letter to the police, the opposition-aligned broadcaster said it received the information from a reliable source and that the X account Hasan Kurusee then posted that money had been paid to attack Amir and Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim 'Kudu.' The station said it had earlier reported a death threat made against Amir alongside a photograph of him speaking at a journalists' protest over the "media control bill," that police gave no details on that case and told the station on Monday it had been filed, and that a further threat a day later is a matter of concern.
MDP deputy chairperson Ahmed Abdulla resigned to work on Abdulla Shahid's campaign for the party's presidential primary.
The dollar crisis was caused by the government wasting the dollars it received, former finance minister Ibrahim Ameer told an MDP macroeconomic committee press conference. He said the MMA governor is doing what the government wants, announcing the need for contractionary monetary policy while running the opposite, and that MVR6.1 billion has been printed: MVR3.7 billion through the banks and MVR2.4 billion through the Pension Office. He said the government has spent US$285 million on the Rasmalé project and drones while cutting nothing, and that of US$2.6 billion in external financing budgeted over recent years it has raised about US$800 million in two and a half years, much of it project financing arranged earlier. Asked about the MVR8 billion printed under the MDP government, he said the two situations are not comparable.
Abdulla Yaasir was appointed new CEO and managing director of Visit Maldives Corporation.
Jameela Ali was approved as the new High Commissioner to the UK.
Parliament approved two appointments to the Local Government Authority board: Aishath Arifa of Gaddhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu, as the member with experience in gender equality, and Mohamed Arif of Kanditheemu in Shaviyani, in governance or public administration.
