Parliament gives green light to re-appoint EC member

The parliament has given the green light to re-appoint Elections Commission (EC) member Ismail Habeeb as a commission member.

According to the report published after reviewing the 16 applications received for the vacant post, the parliament commission on Independent Institutions had scored the highest marks to Ismail Habeeb, while Ahmed Moosa scored the second highest number of points on the grading scale.

During the vote taken at Wednesday's parliament sitting, 58 out of 60 present members voted in favour of re-electing Habeeb. The vote was asked after reviewing the concerns expressed by main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) regarding the report issued by the Committee on Independent Institutions on the 16 candidates.

Speaker of the parliament, Gasim Ibrahim affirmed that the committee had confirmed that there ere no issues with the report compiled by the committee prior to asking or votes.

A new member for the Elections Commission was sought as Habeeb's five year term on the commission was coming to an end. With his re-appointment, he will remain a member of the Elections Commission for another five years.