Ten candidates have applied for three membership positions of the Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission established under the Media Control Act.

The deadline for nominations ended on Sunday. The names of the candidates were announced during the parliament session on Monday.

The candidates

1. Fathimath Fahmy
2. Mohamed Farusath
3. Safa Shafeeq
4. Aminath Sarahath Izzath
5. Ibrahim Mohamed
6. Moosa Rilwan
7. Mohamed Thoha
8. Shehenaz Adnan
9. Mohamed Samin
10. Shafeeqa Naeem

Ibrahim Mohamed is the Vice President of the abolished Maldives Media Council (MMC) while Rilwan, Sarahath and Safa are members of the abolished Broadcasting Commission (Broadcom).

The names have now been referred to the Independent Institutions Committee. The committee will interview the candidates and give marks. The parliament will take a vote after the committee stage.

Four members of the Control Commission have already been elected without a vote because of the low support by the journalist community.

The commission consists of seven members. While the four members representing the media were elected without a vote, the other three members will be appointed by the parliament, which is controlled by President Mohamed Muizzu.

Most media outlets have rejected the commission, and there was no support or interest among journalists to compete for the commission membership.

The local journalist community and the international community have called on the government to repeal the restrictive media control law.