Husnee Mubarik appointed to JSC; Sattar replaces him as Judiciary Committee chair

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has appointed Manadhoo MP Husnee Mubarik as a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), replacing Guraidhoo MP Hussain Riza Adam, who abruptly resigned from the judicial watchdog earlier this week.

Mubarik, a lawmaker from the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), was presented with his letter of appointment in a ceremony held at the President’s Office on Wednesday morning.

His oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain.

The appointment comes two days after he was nominated with a unanimous vote of 58 to serve as the Parliament’s representative at the JSC.

Mubarik, a former lawyer, resigned from his position as the chair of the Parliament’s Judiciary Committee ahead of his appointment.

Following his resignation, the Judiciary Committee convened for a meeting and voted to elect Holhudhoo MP Abdul Satta as chair, and Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh as vice chair.

The votes were unanimous, as the two PNC lawmakers received support from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Mubarik replaces Riza, who was appointed as the president of the judicial watchdog on June 12, 2024.

While Riza did not provide a reason for his decision to leave JSC, it came mere days High Court Judge Mohamed Niyaz resigned form his position as vice president of the commission. He was quickly replaced as the commission’s vice president on Thursday by Yazmeedh Mohamed, a presidential appointee.

The shakeup within the JSC comes with the commission accused of making politically-motivated decisions in recent months.

This includes the February decision by the JSC to suspend three Supreme Court justices while they heard a case challenging the controversial move by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) to write anti-defection clauses into the Maldivian constitution. One of the justices – Husnu Al Suood - had resigned in protest of the JSC’s decision, while the commission later opened misconduct cases against Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir, accusing them of conspiring to influence the Criminal Court. Azmiralda and Mahaz - both of whom claim that the allegations against them are baseless and that the investigations by the JSC were tainted by the denial of due process to them - were dismissed by the Parliament in May.

The JSC faced more criticism in July, when it recommended senior PNC activist Mohamed Shaheed for appointment as a judge at the High Court, picking him above candidates with better education and experience, including sitting judges. Shaheed had withdrawn his candidacy in August following backlash.

In a meeting at the Parliament’s Judiciary Committee earlier in October, Riza described the JSC as “a powerless power”.