President nominates Zahid as chairman of EC, Salah as vice chairman

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has nominated Mohamed Zahid as the new chairman and Abdul Rahman Salah Rasheed as the vice chairman of the Elections Commission (EC).

The letter sent by President Muizzu on January 26 seeking parliamentary approval for the appointments was read at the Parliament on Monday morning.

Their names have been sent to the Independent Institutions Committee for vetting.

Zahid and Salah were appointed as members of the EC on January 26.

They received parliamentary approval for their appointment on January 16 with a unanimous vote of 68.

Zahid had served as vice president of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) until he was dismissed in 2020. He also previously served deputy minister at the Gender Ministry.

Meanwhile, Salah previously served as secretary-general at the EC. He also served as permanent secretary at the Home Ministry.

Zahid and Salah were appointed to fill seats vacated in November last year after two of the commission’s members – vice president Ali Nashath and member Mohamed Asif were dismissed following no-confidence motions passed by the Parliament based on serious allegations of misconduct including creating and selling fake membership applications to political parties. But a third commissioner, Dr. Mohamed Zahir, who faced the same allegations, survived the vote.