Majlis approves Asif's appointment to EC, Ahidh as Information Commissioner

People’s Majlis has on Monday approved the appointment of Ahmed Ahidh Rasheed as the Information Commissioner, as well as Mohamed Asif’s appointment to the Elections Commission.

While the president forwarded the names of four nominees for the post of Information Commission as well as the five nominees for EC membership, they were reviewed by the parliament’s committee on independent institutions.

49 MPs voted in favour of Ahidh’s appointment as Information Commissioner at Monday’s sitting.

In addition to him, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih nominated Shiham Mohamed Waheed, Azleema Ahmed and Maryam Aleem. All four were interviewed by the independent institutions’ committee and a separate vote was held for each.

Ahidh was approved with the anonymous votes of 10 members that took part in the committee meeting. Azleema received seven votes while Shiham got six and Maryam received five votes.

The post of Information Commissioner has remained vacant since March 21, when former Information Commissioner Hussain Fiyaz Moosa resigned. He was appointed to the post on the 31st of October, 2019.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is an independent body that was established under the Right to Information Act Section 43 (b) on 13 July 2014.

The Office is established to uphold the right of the public interest of acquiring and dissemination of the information, in addition to encouraging the enforcement of open governance among the state institutions. Apart from this, the Information Commissioner's Office also enforces the Right to Information Act and administers the regulations that come under the RTI Act.

At Monday’s sitting, 50 lawmakers voted in favour of appointing Mohamed Asif to the vacant seat the Elections Commission of Maldives.

While President Solih had forwarded five nominations to the post, four were interviewed during the committee review. The fifth candidate had withdrawn on their own, according to committee Chair and Meedhoo constituency MP Rozaina Adam.

Asif received 10 votes during the committee review.

A seat at the commission remains vacant since the resignation of Ahmed Shareef back in June, both as member and commission president. A new president can only be elected after a fifth member is appointed to the commission.

As per laws, EC president must be appointed within 60 days after the post goes vacant. While the period is excluding public holidays, the recent drawn-out holiday had stretched this period to 90 days.