Committee approves Farushath as Media Commission’s president

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee, on Thursday, has approved the appointment of Mohamed Farushath, former secretary general of Maldives Media Council (MMC), as the president of Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission (MMBC) – a new commission created under a contentious new law that led to the dissolution of Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom) and MMC.

The Committee approved the appointment of Farusath with the unanimous consensus of all lawmakers in attendance during Thursday meeting.

Farushath was chosen by the Committee after interviewing all MMBC members.

The seven-member MMBC is composed of three members appointed by the Parliament and four elected by registered medias – two of whom represent broadcasters and two who represent online medias. The legislative assembly is also empowered to appoint the commission’s chairperson.

The three members appointed by Parliament:

• Mohamed Farusath
•  Safa Shafeeq, the former president of BroadCom
•  Aminath Sarahath Izzath, a former member of BroadCom

The four members elected to MMBC:

• Hussain Sageef, former president of MMC
• Zamath Ahmed Waheed, former member of BroadCom
• Simaha Naseem, a journalist at Vaguthu
• Abdul Azeez Ibrahim

Four candidates from registered medias who applied to get elected to the commission automatically won their seats on September 7 after one of the only five candidates who applied dropped out of the race. They were formally appointed to the MMBC on October 13.

Parliament gave approval to the three candidates out of the 10 applicants who passed the interview after scoring above 75 points on Wednesday.

While journalists continue to protest against the new law as a direct threat to press freedom and a crackdown on dissent, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration touts it as important legislature that protects people from defamation, disinformation and misinformation, and paves the path for accountability in the media field.