Former MDP presidents Nasheed and Solih traded barbs during campaigning for the party’s chairperson election, as both toured across islands in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll. At a rally for Meekail Naseem in Thinadhoo, Solih said the MDP would need to form a coalition with other parties to return to power, estimating that 100,000 votes more than MDPs 60,000 membership base would be needed to win a presidential election. He noted that a coalition agreement signed with former President Gayoom, Adhaalath Party leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla, and Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim had helped bring him to power in 2018. The agreement set out how power would be shared among coalition partners, including cabinet posts, parliamentary seats, and council positions. He added that he entered office as the coalition’s unity candidate and initially governed in line with the agreement, but later shifted to campaigning for MDP candidates in the 2019 parliamentary elections after the party’s national council decided to abandon the coalition arrangement and field its own candidates for all seats. Speaking at a campaign event in Faresmaathodaa, Nasheed described coalition partners as “icing on the cake" and argued that MDP must strengthen its own activities to defeat the government. Members should not see victory as something achievable only through help from the Adhaalath Party or Jumhooree Party, he suggested.
A compliance audit of the now-dissolved Broadcasting Commission found the commission could not account for money it was owed in 2024, after a server failure left it unable to retrieve financial records. Broadcom's 2023 accounts listed MVR 30.5 million (US$ 1.9 million) in outstanding receivables, but the commission never prepared the 2024 annual report incorporating that year's financial statements, citing a server problem that made the records inaccessible, so the amount still owed by the end of 2024 could not be determined. The finance ministry's SAP system recorded MVR 7.45 million received by the commission in 2024 (including MVR 5.3 million in telecommunication licence fees and MVR 1.8 million for music played at events and on cable TV), but the audit found receivables records had not been properly maintained or entered into the system. Whether any of the MVR 30.5 million owed at end-2023 was recovered in 2024 – and if so, how much – could not be established. The Auditor General recommended the commission arrange for financial records to be securely preserved against server failures and take steps to recover money owed under public finance regulations. Broadcom was merged with the Media Council to form the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission last year.
Information Commissioner Ahid Rasheed welcomed all government ministries achieving 100 percent compliance with proactive disclosure obligations under the RTI law for the first time. The next steps should focus on keeping published information up to date, ensuring full compliance among all public bodies under the ministries, improving overall standards of compliance, and guaranteeing timely responses to all RTI requests, he said.
Ishaq Rasheed, 44, from Gaaf Dhaal Gadhdhoo, was found dead underwater after being reported missing while diving for bait from a fishing vessel near Gadhdhoo. Police said he was reported missing at 5:40am on Sunday. He was recovered and taken to the island's health centre, where he was pronounced dead.
Police removed Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Shifan from his role as chief spokesman and appointed Superintendent of Police Ali Arif as his replacement. No reason was given for the change. Shifan was accused in a whistleblower letter sent to parliament’s security services committee last November of sexually harassing and sexually assaulting female police officers, including allegations that he sexually harassed an 18-year-old administrative support officer in 2024.
MIFCO increased the purchase price of skipjack tuna from MVR 17 (US$ 1.1) to MVR 18.50 per kilogram. Prices for yellowfin tuna remain unchanged at MVR 20 for fish weighing 10–15kg and MVR 25 per kilogram for fish above 15kg. Managing Director Mohamed Anas told Mihaaru that the company will continue adjusting rates depending on fish availability.
Parliament suspended sittings for a second consecutive week. Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla announced a one-week recess last Monday. The parliamentary secretariat said on Sunday that the next sitting is now scheduled for June 15.
The price of essential commodities in the Malé area increased by 1.14 percent in May compared to April, and by 6.35 percent compared to the same month last year. While gas and fuel prices remained unchanged from April, food prices rose by 1.59 percent. The increase was driven mainly by higher prices of meat, which rose by 6.68 percent, vegetables by 3.38 percent, and milk, eggs and other dairy products by 2.67 percent.
Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim asked Speaker Abdul Raheem to direct the state-owned enterprises (SOE) committee to investigate the Waste Management Corporation over its failure to deposit employee pension contributions for the past 19 months. The opposition MP said employees were being deprived of investment returns on their pension savings and were unable to use their pension funds as collateral for housing loans because the contributions had not been deposited. The letter called on the SOE Committee to hold senior WAMCO officials and Pension Office accountable, and to propose a detailed plan to settle the outstanding contributions. In January, WAMCO blamed the delays on overdue payments owed to the company, including MVR 98 million from the Malé City Council.
The lawyer representing 20-year-old Indian national Dhanushkadhan Gopal, who is in detention over drug smuggling allegations, told the Criminal Court that his client is a university student and a victim of a scam who was allegedly told he had won a lucky draw trip and was sent to the Maldives with “samples” of products that he was instructed to sell. The lawyer said Gopal had given investigators a detailed account of what happened, including information about those who sent him to the Maldives, and argued that similar cases indicate an organised scheme targeting young and unsuspecting individuals. The investigating officer told the court that there were indeed four other cases with a similar pattern, but maintained that Gopal’s involvement is different and can be substantiated through mobile forensic evidence.
Khalisa Mohamed, the Food and Drug Authority’s Food quality assurance coordinator, told Mihaaru that MFDA is planning to carry out a “total diet study” to identify the food items most commonly consumed by Maldivians and the types of chemicals present in them. The authority is also developing testing methods to examine agricultural produce, she said, amid concerns over the use of carcinogenic substances in farming. A separate contamination study will help determine which cancer-causing substances may be present in food products, she added.
