A no-confidence vote to remove Maldives Media Council (MMC) President Shahbaan Fahmy from the council has failed.
The council began the process of removing Shahbaan from the MMC membership when authorities said Kings Forex Trading Company, in which he had a stake, ran an illegal investment scheme.
The Kings Company was suspended as their business activities, which had characteristics of an investment scheme, were being conducted as a Ponzi scheme. The company is now being investigated by the police and other relevant authorities. The police have charged Shahbaan, his brother, and former Feydhoo MP Alhan Fahmy with money laundering.
In an emergency meeting held by MMC, eight out of 12 members present at the meeting voted in favor of Shahbaan's removal from the council. Four members voted against Shahban's removal.
According to the MMC Act, the post of MMC President will be vacant under five circumstances. These include the expiration of term, removal from council membership, resignation, death, or loss of a characteristic required by the Act to be an MMC member. According to the law, if a two-thirds majority of the council members vote against a council member in a no-confidence vote, he may be removed from council membership.
Therefore, the MMC members moved to remove Shahbaan from MMC membership. While MMC has a total of 15 members, ten members must vote in favor of removing a member of the council. Shahbaan's removal from the MMC was not approved as the required number of votes was not received.
Some MMC members, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AVAS that the council's general decisions could be taken if 50 percent of members vote in favor of the decision. While this is the case, and while over half of the entire council voted in favor of Shahbaan's removal, his remaining on the council as its President is immoral, he said.
'Although we failed to remove Shahbaan from MMC membership due to the law stating that two-thirds of votes is required to remove him, over half of the council voted against him. This means the council members do not have confidence in Shahbaan. The best thing for him to do would be to resign,' he said.
At Sunday's meeting, Shahbaan was given the opportunity to respond to the allegations against him before the no-confidence vote was taken. Although Shahbaan spoke in his defense, the details could not be obtained as the meeting was conducted behind closed doors.
Shahbaan's case was also submitted to the Parliament's Independent Institutions Committee on Sunday. Shaaban has previously said he will not resign despite the pressure over the allegations. The Kings Company has always denied any suggestion that it ran a Ponzi scheme.
