President’s aide resigns

A senior aide to President Abdulla Yameen has resigned today shortly after she was told to stay home.

According to a spokesman Aishath Liza, the president’s office media coordinator, was told to stay home on Friday. The president’s spokesman Ibrahim Muaz Ali said he has not yet received a resignation letter.

Liza, a former TV anchor, on Twitter said she had resigned to pursue higher education abroad.

Liza is the third coordinator to be sacked since an explosion on Yameen’s speedboat on September 28. On October 11, the youth ministry’s executive consultant Mohamed ‘Theme’ Shiyam and an executive coordinator Abdulla Muaz were sacked.

Muaz was subsequently questioned by the police on a charge of harassment and intimidation, according to local media.

Shiyam, meanwhile, was also dismissed from the board of the Maldives Ports Ltd.

Yameen has also sacked his Defence Minister Moosa Ali Jaleel, and replaced the police’s intelligence chief and the head of the military unit tasked with providing security to state officials.

Three soldiers have been arrested in connection to the boat blast. The government says it was a deliberate attack on the president’s life.

The police have also conducted a series of raids in the past week on the homes of individuals linked with Vice President Ahmed Adeeb.

Assistant Attorney General Ismail Wisham was sacked in late September after the police discovered alcohol and hash oil at his home. His wife Hana Waheed, a senior public prosecutor, was suspended.

Correction: This article previously said two soldiers were among three arrested in connection to the boat blast. This is incorrect. Three soldiers were arrested, but an immigration official was never arrested over the explosion.