
Habeeb chairs EC as 3 commissioners 'lost confidence' in Fuad
Disputes among EC members first came to light after two commissioners sought to do further checks on the membership forms submitted by The Democrats.
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Vice chair Ismail Habeeb has started chairing sittings of the Elections Commission (EC) after three commissioners said they did not have confidence in commission chair Fuad Thaufeeq.
Disputes among EC members first came to light after two commissioners sought to do further checks on the membership forms submitted by The Democrats before granting the permission to form the breakaway party led by parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed.
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Commissioner Ali Nashath accused Fuad of trying to give permission to Democrats in haste, but Fuad denied it
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Granting permission to The Democrats was delayed by a month; the party was allowed to register on July 2
Three out of the four members who attended the commission's meeting after the registration of Democrats passed a no-confidence motion against Fuad. This was confirmed by Habeeb on Monday.
Habeeb said some commissioners wanted Fuad to be removed from the presidency due to differences of opinion over the registration of Democrats. However, as per law, the commissioners do not have authority to pass a no-confidence motion against the chair, he added.
Habeeb said that since some commissioners were still opposing the move, Fuad had entrusted him with the responsibility organising and chairing commission meetings.
"The president of the commission also wants the commission to continue its work. That's why I have been entrusted with the responsibility," he said.
The three commissioners against Fuad include:
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Nashath
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Dr Mohamed Zahir
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Mohamed Asif
Section 10 of the Elections Commission Act lays down two circumstances under which the post of president of the commission would fall vacant.
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if the commissioner loses his commission post
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by resigning on his own
According to the law, EC chair is appointed via a vote among commissioner. Only parliament has the power to dismiss members from the commission.