Vote on MCBC appointees deferred due to low attendance

The Parliament on Monday postponed the vote on appointing three members to the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MCBC) due to a lack of quorum.

The seven-member commission includes four members representing the media — two from broadcasters and two from other media — and three members appointed by Parliament.

The Independent Institutions Committee had submitted a list of eight nominees for the three parliamentary seats. The candidates who received the highest evaluation scores were:

The appointment of the three members was included on Monday’s agenda. However, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim announced that the vote could not proceed because the required number of members was not present.

A minimum of 47 members are needed to conduct a vote, but only 28 attended the sitting. Nazim said that 17 members were abroad on official trips, while two members were absent.

“Based on today’s attendance, it is not possible to vote on this number as required by law. Therefore, we have decided not to conduct the vote today,” Nazim said.

He added that all agenda items requiring a vote would be deferred and requested Parliamentary Group Leader Ibrahim Falah to ensure adequate attendance at future sittings.

Meanwhile, the four media representatives for the commission were selected earlier without competition, as the number of applicants equalled the number of available positions.

The newly appointed members representing broadcasters are Abdul Aziz Ibrahim and Zam’ath Ahmed Waheed, while Simaha Naseem and Hussain Sageef were appointed to represent other media.