Committee meeting cancelled after summoning CSC members

Wednesday’s meeting of the parliament’s Committee on Independent Institutions has been cancelled.

According to its agenda for Wednesday, they were to question members of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) at the meeting scheduled for 2pm. The committee decided to summon CSC members at its meeting on Tuesday.

The decision came after a letter submitted to the committee- by Kelaa MP Ali Arif, South-Maafannu MP Abdulla Arif and Hoarafushi MP Mohamed Ismail- accused the CSC of violating the Civil Service Act in making new hires.

While the acts states that the “most eligible” person must be hired for a civil service position, they claimed that the Commission has been hiring individuals that are under qualified.

At the committee meeting, some MPs spoke in favour of summoning the CSC members, including Meedhoo constituency MP Rozaina Adam who noted that the Commission itself comprises of members that “are not qualified.”

She highlighted that these members were appointed by the previous administration.

“Those in this committee can testify that some members of the CSC do not meet the requirements,” she said.

Noting that the CSC members must have at least 10 years’ experience, MP Rozaina said that the Committee on Independent Institutions had approved them “despite knowing they did not have the experience.” She added that the members had then opted to add their study period to work experience.

The Civil Service Commission comprises of; President Dr. Ali Shameem, deputy Shaheed Mohamed and members Fathimath Amira, Ibrahim Shaheeg and Zakariyya Hussain.