The Parliament has referred no-confidence motions against several commissioners, including Civil Service Commission (CSC) President Mohamed Nasih, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Vice President Abdul Salam, and Elections Commission (EC) Vice President Ali Nashath, to the Independent Institutions Committee for review.

The motions, introduced on Tuesday, allege various commissioners have failed to fulfil their duties and cite multiple irregularities in the commissions' operations.

The no-confidence motions also target CSC member Thoha Mohamed and EC members Mohamed Asif and Dr Mohamed Zahir. These actions follow the introduction of government bills that seek to empower the Maldivian president to appoint presidents and vice presidents to both the ACC and EC. Currently, the leadership of these commissions is chosen through internal voting among commission members, with the outcome submitted to both the president and Parliament within 28 hours.

Under the proposed legislative changes, the president would nominate the leaders of both commissions, with Parliament required to vet and approve these nominations. Additionally, resignations by the presidents or vice presidents of the ACC and EC would need to be submitted directly to the president.

The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), which holds a supermajority in Parliament, supports the proposed reforms, particularly concerning the ACC, citing repeated failures by the commission to adequately investigate significant corruption cases. However, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has voiced concerns that the changes may threaten the independence of key institutions and increase government influence over bodies intended to operate autonomously.

The Independent Institutions Committee will now review both the no-confidence motions and the government-backed legislative proposals, with the potential to impact the governance and independence of the Maldives' anti-corruption and election oversight bodies.