Renowned attorney Maumoon Hameed has been elected as the President of newly established Bar Council.
Maumoon Hameed contested against former Attorney General and current president of the Presidential Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappearances and Murders, Husnu Al Suood.
During the previous government, Maumoon Hameed's name was nominated for the post of Prosecutor General. However, he failed to receive the support of lawmakers representing the government at the Parliament at the time. He then acted as attorney to several high profile politicians, including former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom.
1487 lawyers were eligible to vote in Saturday's Bar Council Election.
This is the first election held under the Legal Professions Act. According to the law ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Bar Council election has to be conducted and overseen by Elections Commission (EC).
Although it was previously planned to place ballot boxes in all islands of the Maldives, three boxes were eventually placed in capital Male' and southernmost Addu City only due to the less number of lawyers who registered to vote in the election.
The Bar Council, created under the Legal Profession Act, has regulatory power over the work of legal professionals. Issuing licenses and penalization also falls within the mandate of the Bar Council, among other responsibilities.
Six attorneys are on the Bar Council in addition to the Council's President, Vice President and the Attorney General. All members with the exception of the Attorney General are elected by a vote among lawyers.
While former Attorney General Abdulla Muizzu was elected as the Executive Committee's Vice President in Saturday's election, the six members elected for the Executive Committee are former Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu, former Makunudhoo MP Anaaraa Naeem, and former judge Aisha Sujun, in addition to Maldivian Democratic Party's Secretary General Anas Abdul Sattar, Mohamed Faisal and Mohamed Aseel Hassan.
Maumoon Hameed was elected as the President of Bar Council's Executive Committee
