Government yesterday rejected Lieutenant Colonel Zubair Ahmed Manik nominated by former President Mohamed Nasheed to the National Enquiry Commission (NEC) set up to probe the events leading up to and following the transfer of power on February 7. A press statement by the President’s Office yesterday stressed that the nominee who is the uncle of Nasheed did not meet the criteria required to be a member of the Commission.
To that end, Zubair did not have a first degree amongst the criteria agreed between the government and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), statement read.
It had been learned that Zubair had been undergoing a military course in Malaysia during the time of the change in government. He had also been the head of the MNDF legal department at the time.
Nasheed’s nominee who is still in Malaysia is believed to be holding only a diploma.
Government further claimed that Nasheed’s continued nominations that do not meet the specified criteria, was a clear sign that the former President does not wish to cooperate with the Enquiry Commission.
“The government under the guidance of the Commonwealth has agreed to appoint a foreign Judge as the Co-Chair of the Commission,†President’s Office statement added.
While the government had rejected Zubair’s nomination to the Commission, MDP had earlier claimed that the name submitted by Nasheed would fulfill the agreed criteria.
As the deadline of till the end of the month given to the former President draws to a close, the government had rejected all nominations made by Nasheed thus far.
The former President’s nominees include Machchangoalhi-north constituency MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, former Housing Minister of the previous administration Mohamed Aslam, former Youth Minister Hassan Latheef, former Education Minister Shifa Mohamed, former member of the Judicial Service Commission Aishath Velezeenee and former board member of the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Ibrahim Saleem.
In addition to holding a degree, the criteria specified by the government states that the person to be placed in the Commission by Nasheed must be a person who has been away from the political scene for a period of two years, must also be a person who has not taken a specific stand in relation to the regime change, must be unprejudiced and generally acceptable to the public.
The government had agreed to change the composition of the Enquiry Commission after the Commonwealth had warned stronger measures if the Commission is not revised to make it more independent, impartial and generally acceptable to the people.
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