Parliament votes down Zeena in favor of Rilwan for BroadCom

In a surprise move on Tuesday, the Parliament voted down former chief of Public Service Media (PSM), Zeena Zahir, who had topped the committee review, in favor of TV presenter Moosa Rilwan for the vacant seat at the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom).

One of the seats in the seven-member BroadCom was vacated in March following the resignation of the commission’s then-vice president Ibrahim Fazeen in face of a no-confidence motion against him at the Parliament over a sexual misconduct allegation.

Applications opened on April 6, and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu submitted a list of 10 candidates for the role to the Parliament on April 23. In the list, ranked based on his preference, was topped by Aminath Shiyana. Zeena had been ranked fifth, below Rilwan, who was ranked third.

But it was Zeena who scored the highest marks during the Independent Institutions Committee’s review of the candidates.

Five candidates who scored above 75 points:

• Zeena: 85 percent
• Shiyana: 83 percent
• Shimla Ahmed: 82 percent
• Rilwan: 81 percent
• Zam’ath Ahmed Waheed: 77 percent

But during the floor vote at the Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, Zeena, who resigned from PSM undisclosed reasons on August 23, 2024, after less than a year on the job, failed to secure enough votes as ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) used their supermajority in the legislative assembly to vote her down 52-12.

Meanwhile, Shiyana, who had topped the list of candidates but scored second highest during the committee review, was voted down 55-11. And Shimla, who scored the third highest points was voted down 54-14.

Rilwan passed the vote with a unanimous vote of 70.

The Parliament voted on the candidates one-by-one based on the points they scored.

Rilwan began his career as a TV personality at the Television Maldives (TVM), a TV channel run by the PSM. His career spans over 16 years, during which time he worked as both a presenter and producer on numerous TV shows.

Rilwan also worked for three months as the CEO of Mendhuru TV, a new TV channel incepted last year, before returning to TVM where he currently works as a part-time presenter.

Rilwan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations, and had previously also worked on contract basis for international organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank as a communications consultant.

The Parliament is also reviewing candidates for a second seat at BroadCom which will become vacant once the term of Aminath Ameena expires in June.