Committee meeting for which Media Council was summoned closed off

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee meeting on Wednesday for which members of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) had been summoned, was held behind closed doors.

The agenda for the meeting included questioning MMC members regarding some letters and complaints submitted to the Parliament.

At the commencement of the meeting, Kolamaafushi MP Ibrahim Didi proposed to close off the proceedings to the public. The proposal was seconded by South Fuvahmulah MP Ibrahim Hussain.

The Committee resolved to close off the meeting in a 6-1 vote, with just main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s South Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem voting against it.

MP Ibrahim proposed to close off the meeting citing the possibility of conflict of interest.

“The agenda comprises possibly of matters that are conflict of interest. Henceforth, I propose to close of the proceedings,” he said.

MP Meekail expressed discontent over a decision to close off the meeting via a post on X. In his post, he described the decision to close off the meeting for which MMC members were summoned for questioning over the award to ‘Ji Skeelan’ documentary amid no-confidence motions against members of independent institutions as a threat to journalism.

Members of MMC have been summoned to the Parliament following a recent controversy in awarding the 11th Journalism Awards in the Audio and Video in Investigative Journalism category. The issue had first come light after Public Service Media (PSM) which broadcasted the event live released a statement citing the state media had no prior knowledge of the video shown during the event and in this trajectory, alleged deceitful conduct. PSM also alleged that the video was not in line with its editorial policy and violated the ethics of journalism.

The state media’s board also dismissed MMC’s President Ahmed Musthafa, who was serving as the Technical Operations Manager at PSM, over the controversy. Musthafa, who at the time of his dismissal had worked in the company for over 30 years, was reinstated shortly afterward.

The seven judges who evaluated this year’s applications for the award later released a statement claiming the Audio and Video in Investigative Journalism award was bestowed in violation of the regulations.

Notably, a bill was submitted at Wednesday’s parliamentary sitting to form a new commission by merging Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) and Maldives Media Council (MMC) under the name Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission Act.