Amendments ratified to EC Act, ACC Act

Amendments have been ratified to the Elections Commission Act and the Anti-Corruption Commission Act.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu ratified the second amendment to the Elections Commission Act and the third amendment to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act on Tuesday.

The amendments were passed by the People’s Majlis during the 53rd sitting of the 20th Majlis assembly on November 25.

The amendments introduce significant changes to the procedure governing the appointment and resignation of the ACC and EC Presidents and Vice Presidents.

69 lawmakers voted in favor of approving the amendments during Monday’s parliament sitting, while 10 lawmakers voted against.

According to the amendments passed by the parliament on Monday, the current method of appointing the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the ACC and EC through a vote among commission members will be changed. As such, the President is now granted the power to appoint the Presidents and Vice Presidents from among the commission members. The amendment also stated that the President is required to submit the names of those appointed as Presidents and Vice Presidents to the People's Majlis. In addition to this, the amendment specified that the parliament must review and approve the names submitted by the President.

With the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) holding a supermajority in the People's Majlis, and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu as the party's leader, political analysts view this change as a way to facilitate the appointment of individuals preferred by Muizzu to lead these two institutions, which are legally mandated to function as independent bodies.

According to the previous laws governing the ACC and EC, if the Presidents of the commissions wished to resign, they were required to submit a letter to the commission itself. The Vice President was required to submit a letter to the commission's President if he wished to resign. However, under the amendment, both the Presidents and Vice Presidents of both commissions would need to submit their resignation letters to the President himself henceforth.

According to experts, the amendments passed by the People's Majlis to the ACC and EC laws pave the path for increased opportunities for political influence over these two institutions, which have been operating as independent bodies.

The bill to amend the ACC Act was submitted to the parliament by MP for Felidhoo constituency Adam Zahir on behalf of the government. The bill to amend the EC Act was submitted by MP for Kelaa constituency Abdulla Shareef.

The amendments have come into effect following ratification on Tuesday.

They have been publicized in the government gazette as well.