Top pick for Tax Tribunal, Mahaz, gets voted down at Parliament as PNC drops support

Former Supreme Court Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir, who appeared as a shoo-in for appointment to the Tax Appeal Tribunal after getting named as President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s top pick for the role and passing the committee evaluation with the highest score, failed to pass the final floor vote at the Parliament on Wednesday.

Last week, Mahaz, who was dismissed from the Supreme Court in a no-confidence motion backed by the ruling People’s National Congress back in May, was named as President Muizzu’s top pick among seven candidates for two seats at the Tax Appeal Tribunal which have been vacant for months.

The Judiciary Committee had finished the evaluation of the candidates on Tuesday night. Five candidates passed the evaluation after scoring 75 points. Mahaz had scored the highest with 97 points.

But as his name was put to a final vote at the Parliament floor on Wednesday afternoon, he got rejected with a majority vote of 41-4. The four who voted in favor of his appointment included two politicians from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) - South Hithadhoo MP Ibrahim Nazil and Thoddoo MP Hussain Sameer – and two from the PNC – Madaveli MP Mohamed Shameez and South Feydhoo MP Ibrahim Didi (IB).

Meanwhile, Kendhoo MP Mauroof Zakir, a parliamentarian from MDP, abstained from the vote.

Therefore, Mahaz failed to secure enough votes for his appointment.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Afeef, who ranked the second highest in committee evaluation with 91 points, passed the floor vote with the unanimous vote of 53.

The move to downvote Mahaz comes after PNC faced criticism over the marked shift in stance from four months ago, when the ruling party used its Parliament majority to have Mahaz removed from the Supreme Court.

Mahaz's ouster from Supreme Court:

The Tax Appeal Tribunal was previously headed by Chief Justice Abdul Ghani Mohamed, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in a major shakeup earlier this year, as the court heard a case challenging controversial government-backed constitutional amendments.

This shakeup had also led to Mahaz's own dismissal from the top court.

On February 26, Supreme Court judges Dr. Azmiralda Zahir, Mahaz and Husnu Al-Suood were suspended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), citing an ongoing investigation by the against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). All three were hearing a case challenging the controversial move by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) to write anti-defection clauses into the Maldivian constitution.  It also came shortly after the ruling PNC used its supermajority in the Parliament to push through amendments to the Judicature Act to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices - a bill that was later tabled following public backlash.

Suood resigned from the top court in protest of JSC’s decision, and the commission later opened misconduct cases against Azmiralda and Mahaz, accusing them of conspiring to influence the Criminal Court. Azmiralda and Mahaz - both of whom claim that the allegations against them are baseless and that the investigations by the JSC were tainted by the denial of due process to them - were dismissed by the Parliament with majority votes of 68-11 on May 14.

The case against them stemmed from the allegation that they exerted their influence over the Criminal Court to secure the release of Azmiralda’s husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, an anesthesiologist, who was arrested during a police raid on a massage parlor in Male’. However, Criminal Court judge Ibrahim Zihunee’s statement to JSC shows Mahaz had called him after Latheef was already released from police custody.

Meanwhile, the then-assistant registrar of High Court, Hussain Mohamed Haneef, who testified against Azmiralda and Mahaz at the JSC, was recently appointed to a senior position at state-run utility company, Fenaka Corporation.

President Muizzu, whose administration has been accused of deliberately undermining the country’s judicial independence, denied these claims in a press briefing on May 3, describing the events that fueled the allegations as mere “coincidences.”

The JSC had come under fire from both local and international organizations over its decision to push for the dismissal of the Supreme Court justices. On June 4, multiple international bodies sent an open letter to President Muizzu urging him to suspend the impeachment of Supreme Court judges, citing reports of serious procedural concerns.

The then-Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan had remained silent throughout their suspension and dismissal, prompting many to question whether he was fulfilling his responsibilities as the Chief Justice. He had submitted a letter to the JSC amid the turmoil on May 8, informing the commission of his decision to retire. He formally retired on July 21, and was conferred Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin less than a week later, on July 27.