No-confidence motions filed against CSC president, vice presidents of ACC and EC

No-confidence motions have been submitted to the Parliament against a number of commissioners, including Mohamed Nasih, the president of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and vice presidents of both the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Elections Commission (EC).

The Parliament is scheduled to hear the motions on Tuesday. According to the information published on the Parliament website, the following motions will be sent to a permanent parliamentary committee for review:

• A motion to dismiss Nasih from the CSC
• A motion to dismiss ACC vice president Abdul Salam and another member
• A motion to dismiss EC vice president Ali Nashath and two other members

The move comes as the Parliament reviews bills submitted by the government to empower the president to appoint presidents and vice presidents to both the ACC and the EC.

The bills were sent to the Independent Institutions Committee for review on November 5.

President and vice presidents of ACC and EC are currently elected with an internal vote taken among members of the respective commissions. And the results of the vote need to be submitted to the president and the Parliament within 28 hours.

But with the legislative changes, presidents and vice presidents of the two commissions will be nominated by the country’s president. The nominations will be vetted by the Parliament and will require parliamentary approval. Resignations of presidents and vice presidents of the commissions will also need to be submitted to the country’s president.

Lawmakers from the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), who hold a supermajority in the Parliament, have expressed support for the bills, especially with respect to the ACC. They said that ACC has repeatedly failed to properly investigate major acts of corruption.

However, lawmakers from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) accuse the government of attempting to undermine the independence and autonomy of institutions such as the ACC and EC, and exerting influence over such institutions.