Information Commissioner interview sessions cancelled on speaker's request: MP

MP Rozaina Adam has said that scheduled interview sessions with those nominated for the post of Information Commissioner was cancelled “on the speaker’s request.”

The Addu-Meedhoo constituency representative is the chair of parliament’s committee on independent institutions.

Rozaina said that Speaker Mohamed Nasheed had requested to postpone the sessions after they were scheduled, via a letter.

However, the lawmaker did not disclose any further details of this letter.

Interview sessions with the four nominees were cancelled previously as well, after Central-Henveiru constituency MP and main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s parliamentary group leader, Ali Azim proposed to form a “super committee”.

This super committee will appoint and dismiss members of independent institutions, and was initially proposed by the speaker.

However, MDP’s parliamentary group voted against this on Monday.

Nine individuals had responded to the President’s Office’s announcement for the post of Information Commissioner. Out of this, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had forwarded the names of the four individuals that he found most suitable for the post, on July 25.

The president’s nominees are; Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, Ahmed Aahid Rasheed, Fathmath Saushan and Ahmed Fayaz Hassan.

The post is currently vacant, as the last Information Commissioner Abdul Azeez Jamal Aboobakuru’s term expired on July 22. He was appointed on June 22, 2014.