Parliament approves nominees for broadcasting commission
Mariyam Waheeda was approved with 68 votes
Left to right: Ahmed Gais, Mariyam Waheeda, Ali Yoosuf
The parliament has approved the nominations of Mariyam Waheeda, Ali Yoosuf and Ahmed Gais for the Maldives Broadcasting Commission.
36 candidates applied for the vacancies left behind by former members of the commission, Ismail Sofwan, and Hassan Nabaah.
Out of these 36 applicants, Aishath Shifla Ibrahim and Mohamed Hilmy were at the top of the list of prioritized names put forward by the President.
The list was sent to the Parliament’s Committee on Independent Institutions and upon further review, Aishath Shifla Ibrahim, Ahmed Gais, and Ali Yoosuf headed the list approved by two-thirds of the committee.
Despite being the number one name on the list, Shifla was not approved by the parliament during the first vote at Tuesday's sitting; only seven MPs voted for her.
On the other hand, Ahmed Gais was approved with a total of 64 votes, whereas Ali Yoosuf received 66 votes.
Gais, an activist for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), contested the most recent parliament primaries but was unsuccessful.
While he an active and senior member of the ruling party, his nomination has raised criticism from the public and those in the broadcasting field.
During the interview session, Gais had claimed that being an MDP member and a member of the commission will not be a conflict of interest.
Ali Yoosuf has extensive experience in the field of media. This includes the position of News Director at RaajjeMV from 2015-2019, in addition to his tenure at the Maldives Media Council from 2017-2019.
Moreover, he was also awarded the Golden Pen for journalism in the 2018 journalism awards, held by Maldives Media Council.
The President's Office had also separately opened applications for the vacancy left behind by former Broadcom President, Mohamed Shaheeb.
The prioritized names for the vacancy were Mariyam Waheeda, Aminath Ameena, Imrana Binth Abdulla, Aishath Dhiyana Thohir.
68 members voted for Mariyam Waheeda, filling up the vacancy.
As such, no votes were taken for the rest of the names on the list.
The parliament's committee did not approve any of the three candidates contesting for the vacancy left behind by Broadcom's Deputy President, Fathmath Zaina, and had instead requested to open applications for the position a second time. This request was passed during Tuesday's parliament session with the votes of 66 members.
Maldives Broadcasting Commission comprised of seven members out of which four became vacant after Fathmath Zaina’s removal and Abdulla Sofwan and Hassan Nabaah’s resignation. MBC’s President Mohamed Shaheeb also resigned in October.
