Candidacy opens for ACC membership

Candidacy opened on Sunday for two vacancies at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The seats at the ACC were vacated last month after two of the commission’s members – vice president Abdul Salam and member Thoha Mohamed resigned ahead of no-confidence votes at the Parliament.

In an announcement on Sunday morning, the President’s Office said that candidacy will remain open until 12:00 pm on December 16.

In the no-confidence motions against them, Abdul Salam and Thoha were accused of serious misconduct, including filing away a corruption case against a former attorney general despite having sufficient evidence to prosecute the case.

They resigned on November 25, ahead of a floor vote on the motions against them.

The same day, the Parliament passed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act empowering the Maldivian President to appoint the president and vice president of the commission.

President and vice presidents of the ACC were previously elected with an internal vote taken among members of the commission.