Committee: Live interviews can affect impartiality

The Committee for Independent Institutions of the Parliament has stated that it can affect the impartiality of the interview process if the interviews are broadcast live.

The Committee stated so in the report formed to fill the post of the Information Commissioner. The Parliament will tomorrow give its approval to one of the three candidates interviewed by the Committee for the Information Commissioner. The Committee had originally been provided four names for the post by the President.

The three names sent for Parliamentary approval are:

• Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, Athamaage, Th. Vilufushi
• Ahmed Fayaz Hassan, M. Hazaaryvilla
• Ahmed Aahidh Rasheed, H. Guvara

The Committee stated that candidates who are interviewed later on will have the chance to find out the questions asked in the interview and thus prepare their answers beforehand from the interviews of previously interviewed candidates. The Parliament regulations currently state that candidate interviews must be broadcast in cases sent to Parliament Committees.

The Committee also stated that it had noticed there was no way of informing the Parliament regarding the capabilities of the candidates and which candidate is more capable than the other in the current regulations.

The regulation currently states that only the names that are passed by a two-thirds majority of the Committee can be sent to the Parliament and this leaves the Parliament unable to decide on all the names recommended by the President for independent institutions, according to the report.