Two members nominated for CSC president

Names of two Civil Service Commission (CSC) members have been presented to the parliament today to be considered for the commission's presidency.

The nominations comes soon after the appointment of a new CSC member, completing the 5 member commission following a long period of controversy regarding the legitimacy of former CSC president, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan's seat in the Commission.

Parliament majority holder Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) nominated CSC member Dr. Mohamed Latheef as the Commission’s president. Dr. Latheef, who has held the CSC presidency earlier, has also acted as the Minister of Education during Gayoom’s presidency.

Minority party, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) nominated CSC Member Ahmed Hassan Didi as the Commission’s president. The nomination was presented by Vaikaradhoo MP Ali Arif.

Parliament will vote for a CSC president later today.

Parliament will vote on a CSC president a time where the Supreme Court has put a hold on the taking of oath of the CSC member Reenee Abdul Sattar, who was recently appointed by parliament to replace former CSC president, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan.

The taking of oath ceremony was halted on short notice by an order by the Supreme Court, by an order signed by four Supreme Court judges. However, Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain had later stated the order was issued without his knowledge.

The Supreme Court order stated that, as the court had earlier declared parliament’s decision to remove Fahmy from office was declared void, the parliament does not have the authority to forego the court’s decision and appoint a new member to CSC.