President swaps nominee for ACC membership

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has swapped one of the two candidates he nominated for two vacancies at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

President Muizzu had submitted his original list of nominees for parliamentary approval on January 16. They were:

• Ahmed Nashid, Ma. Golden Moon, K. Male’
• Asiya Azeem, Rose Villa, R. Hulhudhuffaaru

He later submitted a second list, replacing Asiya with Abdulla Nashid, Fasana, R. Alifushi.

The new letter was read by Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla during an extraordinary sitting on Monday morning.

The names of Ahmed Nashid and Abdulla Nashid have been sent to the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee for vetting.

The Parliament has opened the opportunity for public complaints regarding the candidates.

The seats at the ACC were vacated in November last year after two of the commission’s members – vice president Abdul Salam and member Thoha Mohamed resigned ahead of no-confidence votes at the Parliament.

In the no-confidence motions against them, Abdul Salam and Thoha were accused of serious misconduct, including filing away a corruption case against a former attorney general despite having sufficient evidence to prosecute the case.

They resigned on November 25, ahead of a floor vote on the motions against them.

The same day, the Parliament passed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act empowering the Maldivian President to appoint the president and vice president of the commission.

President and vice presidents of the ACC were previously elected with an internal vote taken among members of the commission.