President defends new cabinet pick Ali Shareef as ‘best in the field’ amid uproar over controversial social media posts

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu described the newly appointed Climate Change, Environment and Energy Minister Ali Shareef is the “most educated and experienced in his field” on Monday, even as his new cabinet pick faces criticism over old social media posts of him belittling people.

Ali Shareef, who previously served as Special Envoy for Climate Change in President Muizzu’s administration, was appointed to the cabinet on April 14 in a major reshuffle described by President’s Office as part of positive reforms he envisions “in keeping with the aspirations of the people.”

But old posts Ali Shareef made on social platform X soon resurfaced, in which he made controversial comments against multiple individuals, including foreign leaders and prominent figures within the Maldivian community.

A reporter from Sun questioned President Muizzu regarding his decision to appoint Ali Shareef to his cabinet, and whether he believes it to be in line with “the aspirations of the people.”

President Muizzu responded that there was no one more educated and experienced in the field than Ali Shareef.

He believes that everyone would agree on that.

“Therefore, I looked to appoint a very technical, very proficient person to the role,” he said.

One of the posts that recently resurfaced targeted Ibrahim Ismail (Ibra), a former parliamentarian who helped draft the Maldivian Constitution. In the 2019 post, Ali Shareef suggested that Ibra, who has a physical disability, should be “grateful to Allah that he has his other limbs in order.”

There were posts in which he harassed former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and former parliamentarians, including those who are now his colleagues in the cabinet.

There were also posts ridiculing foreign leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanual Macron.

Ali Shareef later deleted these posts following public backlash.