The Parliament floor vote on appointment of members to three seats at the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) – a new commission created under a contentious new law that led to the dissolution of Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom) and Maldives Media Council (MMC) – got postponed on Monday, due to lack of quorum.
The seven-member MMBC is composed of three members appointed by the Parliament and four elected by registered medias – two of whom represent broadcasters and two who represent online medias. The legislative assembly is also empowered to appoint the commission’s chairperson.
And all members, including those elected by medias, can be dismissed by the Parliament, in which the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) enjoys a supermajority.
10 candidates were shortlisted for appointment to three seats at the MMBC that will be decided by the Parliament. However, two of the candidates later dropped out, and the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee had vetted the remaining eight.
Three of the candidates passed the interview on Sunday after scoring above 75 percent points.
Mohamed Farusath topped the committee evaluation with 90.5 percent points, while Safa Shafeeq, the former president of BroadCom, placed second with 88.88 percent points, and Aminath Sarahath Izzath, a former member of BroadCom, placed a close third with 87.88 percent points.
The Parliament had been scheduled to debate on the nominations and take a floor vote on Monday.
However, the legislative assembly was unable to hold the vote due to lack of quorum.
Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, who was chairing Monday’s sitting, said that the law requires members to be appointed to the MMBC with a majority of the entire Parliament.
He said that this requires at least 47 out of 93 members of the Parliament to take part in the voting.
“Based on the attendance today, we do not have the legally-mandated number to hold this vote. Therefore, I have decided not to proceed with this agenda item today,” announced Nazim.
The Parliament sitting on Monday began with 28 parliamentarians in attendance.
17 parliamentarians are currently out of Male’ on official visits, while two are on sick leave.
However, Nazim did not specify the number of parliamentarians who were in attendance when voting time came.
Nazim announced that the MMBC vote, as well as the vote on a resolution submitted by North Galolhu MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu) regarding difficulties in securing blood donations will be conducted during the next sitting.
“I ask PG [parliamentary group] leaders to boost attendance to accommodate this during future sittings,” he said.