Malé, Maldives – An Information Commissioner has still not been appointed to the vacant position left by Former Commissioner Hussain Fayaz although it is mandated by the law for a new commissioner to be appointed within 60 days.
The Information Commissioner’s Office was established on July 13, 2014, as per Article 43 (a) of the RTI Act. The information commissioner is mandated with the enforcement of the RTI Act – the law defines the right to access and obtain information in any state institution and encourages the widest circulation of information available at state institutions. The also mandates for a new commissioner to be appointed within 60 days of the vacancy.
Following the resignation of Hussain Fiyaz Moosa on March 21, 2021, to work at his own online news website, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih sent three names to the parliament on April 25. The names are Shihaam Mohamed Waheed, Ahmed Aahid Rasheed and Mariyam Aleem.
In addition to these three names, those who had applied for the job were also sent to the parliament for the Parliament Committee on Independent Institutions to carry out the evaluations and interviews.
However, after thorough evaluations and interviews from the committee, the committee stated in its report, that none of the candidates for the post received sufficient votes for them to be sent to the parliament. Subsequently, none of the names sent by the President were approved and the Information Commissioner’s post is still vacant.
