Mahaz secures Parliament approval for Supreme Court vacancy

The Parliament has voted in favor of appointing Drug Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir to the vacant seat at the Supreme Court.

Mahaz won the backing of the Parliament with the vote of 55 parliamentarians this Wednesday afternoon.

It comes after Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s parliamentary group, which enjoys a supermajority at the Parliament, issued a three-line whip in favor of Mahaz just ahead of the vote.

Both Mahaz and former Attorney General Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed had been named as nominees by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. And the Judiciary Committee of Parliament, which had evaluated the two nominees, did not side with any one nominee, but had left the decision up to the general assembly.

Mahaz will fill the vacancy left in the wake of the impeachment of former justice Abdulla Didi for ethical misconduct upon official appointment by the President.