Parliament has approved Elections Commission (EC) member Ismail Habeeb for a second term.

He received 58 votes in Wednesday’s parliament sitting.

The government began accepting candidate applications since member Habeeb’s current term is to end on March 13.

The committee on independent institutions interviewed and reviewed 16 candidates for the seat and gave top marks to Habeeb, who received 90.28%. The only other candidate who received a passing grade is Ahmed Moosa, who received 75.57%.

The grading process took into account the candidate’s academic achievements, job experience, and leadership skills.

The call for a vote was also placed in the agenda for Tuesday, but speaker Qasim Ibrahim cancelled it after main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) stated that the committee did not approve the forwarded report of the approved candidates.

On Wednesday, speaker Qasim proceeded with the vote after he received a letter from the committee chair confirming that they have approved the report.

While Habeeb has been approved for a second term, the current EC membership was severely criticized in the past five years over its pro-government bias.