Parliament endorses Mu’thasim Adnan as the next Chief Justice

The Parliament has voted in favor of appointing former Supreme Court Justice Mu’thasim Adnan as the Maldives’ next Chief Justice.

Muthasim secured the approval of the Parliament with the vote of 68 parliamentarians during the last sitting of the third session of the Parliament this Saturday afternoon.

The majority of the parliamentarians, including opposition parliamentarians, had spoken in approval of appointing Mu’thasim to the vacant position of Chief Justice during the debate on the Judiciary Committee’s report on the appointment.

The Parliament has also voted in favor of appointing prominent attorney-at-law Husnu Al Suood to the second vacancy at the Supreme Court. He secured the approval with the majority vote of 64 parliamentarians. Only one parliamentarian voted against his appointment.

Opposition parliamentarians’, contrary to their position towards Mu’thasim’s nomination, had voiced out against appointing Suood to the Supreme Court. They have accused Suood of being first and foremost a politician.

PNC deputy leader Adam Shareef Umar, who serves as the parliamentary representative for Maavashu constituency, said that Suood was one of Maldives’ most powerful politician, and questioned President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s intentions over nominating him to the Supreme Court.

The three current vacancies at the Supreme Court had followed the impeachment of former Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi and former Justice Adam Mohamed, and the retirement of Justice Abdulla Areef.

President Solih had originally nominated both Suood and High Court Judge Abdul Rauf Ibrahim to the vacancies at the Supreme Court in addition to nominating Mu’thasim to the vacant position of Chief Justice. Abdul Rauf, however, failed to pass the vetting process by Judicial Services Commission (JSC).