Former minister Rameela receives unanimous support for appointment to HRCM

Dr. Aishath Rameela, who resigned from President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s cabinet last year amid a battle with cancer, has secured bipartisan support from the Parliament for appointment as a member of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM).

Rameela, resigned from the role of Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare in December 2024, had been nominated by President Muizzu earlier in October to replace Mariyam Muna, the president of HRCM, whose term at the rights watchdog is set to expire on November 30.

The Parliament took the floor vote on Rameela on Wednesday.

She secured the backing of the Parliament for her new role with a unanimous vote of 63.

The five-member HRCM is currently composed of:

• Mariyam Muna, president
• Mohamed Shafeeg Mahmood, vice president
• Samau Ahmed Najeeb
• Ismail Habeeb Abdul Raheem
• Ahmed Magsoom

A PhD holder, Rameela was appointed to head the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Welfare – a new ministry – on November 17, 2023.

On November 29, 2023, Rameela announced that she had been diagnosed with advanced metastatic serous papillary carcinoma - a highly malignant form of ovarian cancer.

She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy as part of her treatment, before she tendered her resignation last year.