Parliament greenlights PNC’s Shakeel for appointment to Elections Commission

The Parliament on Tuesday approved Mohamed Shakeel, the managing director of Maldives Hajj Corporation and member of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s senate, for appointment as a member of the Elections Commission (EC).

Shakeel secured the backing of the Parliament with a majority vote of 51-7 on Tuesday morning.

A seat at the EC got vacated after the commission’s chairperson Mohamed Zahid resigned from the role and left the commission in May.

Shakeel was subsequently nominated to fill the vacant seat by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

Shakeel is not new to the EC, having served as a member of the commission back during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

He is an active member of the PNC, serving as a member of the party’s senate as well as the party’s elections committee.

He was questioned regarding his earlier resignation from the EC during his interview with the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee on Monday.

Shakeel responded that he had heard some talk within the commission which he found unacceptable and made him believe that he could not work independently.

“I would resign if the same situation were to rise again,” he said.

Shakeel, who had previously worked as a director-general at the Bank of Maldives (BML) and later at the EC, was originally appointed as a member of the commission on December 3, 2014. But he resigned on May 9, 2018, ahead of that year’s presidential elections.

Zahid’s resignation from the EC on May 1 came with more than three years left in his term.

He provided no explanation for the decision, which came in the wake of the PNC’s heavy defeat in the local council elections and referendum held on April 4.