President Nominates Former EC Member Mohamed Shakeel to Fill Commission Vacancy

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has nominated Mohamed Shakeel for appointment to the Elections Commission (EC), forwarding his name to the Parliament for approval to fill a vacant member seat. Shakeel, who currently serves as the Managing Director of the Hajj Corporation, was selected following a public application process. In a formal letter to the Majlis (the Maldivian Parliament), President Muizzu recommended Shakeel's appointment to restore the commission to its full capacity. Along with the primary nomination, the President submitted the names of all other qualified candidates who applied for the position. This nomination brings a level of institutional familiarity to the role. Shakeel previously served as a member of the Elections Commission from December 2014 to May 2018, and prior to that, he held the position of Director General of the commission from September 2013 to December 2014. The vacancy was created following the resignation of Mohamed Zahid, who stepped down from both his role as a commission member and his position as President of the commission. The Elections Commission is legally mandated to consist of five members. The current remaining members are Vice-President Abdul Rahman Salah Rasheed and members Hassan Zakariyya, Abdul Haseeb Ismail, and Riffath Abdulla. Notably, the position of President of the Elections Commission also remains vacant. According to the law, the President of the Maldives will appoint the commission's head from among its members, subject to parliamentary approval, once the five-member body is fully constituted. The appointment of a new member is therefore the critical first step in restoring the leadership of the nation's primary electoral body.