Pres. appoints Ahid as Information Commissioner, Asif as EC member

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has appointed an Information Commissioner as well as a member to the Elections Commission (EC).

Ahmed Ahid Rasheed was appointed to the post of Information Commissioner under Article 44 (d) of the Right to Information Act.

Ahid received his letter of appointment during a ceremony held at the President’s Office on Monday afternoon.

The new Information Commissioner has a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom.

Prior to the appointment, he worked as the Governance Manager at Transparency Maldives.

He also filled the positions of Senior Legal Advisor and a Senior Project Coordinator at Transparency Maldives and CEO to the Maldives Volunteer Corps and Legal Officer of the Anti-Corruption Board.

The People’s Majlis approved Ahid’s appointment to the post on August 30, with the votes of 49 MPs in favor.

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 was established on 13 July 2014 in accordance with Article 43 (a) of the RTI Act which mandates the Information Commissioner to enforce the RTI Act.

The Information Commissioner’s 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.

Mohamed Asif was appointed by the president as a member at the EC on Monday as well.

Previous positions filled by the new EC member include the position of Deputy Director-General and Assistant Director-General at the Elections Commission.

The appointment comes under Articles 167(a) and 168 (b) of the Maldivian Constitution, and the Elections Commission Act.

Asif’s oath of office was administered by Supreme Court Judge Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, before being presented with his letter of appointment. Following Asif’s appointment, a new president of the commission can now be elected. 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.

The People’s Majlis approved Asif’s appointment to the post on August 30, with the votes of 50 MPs in favor.

A seat at the commission was vacated after Ahmed Shareef resigned back in June.