Members elected to Media Commission without election

Members of the Media and Broadcasting Commission, established to regulate the media, have been elected without a formal election.

Elections Commission (EC) announced today that the number of candidates representing broadcasters matched the required two seats after one of the eligible candidates withdrew their nomination before Saturday's scheduled election.

Similarly, the number of qualified candidates representing online media also met the required number of seats for that category.

Consequently, four members of the seven-member commission have been elected unopposed. These members are:

Zam'ath Ahmed Waheed holds a master's degree in journalism and worked in television for many years. He was also a member of the former Broadcasting Commission, which was abolished with the introduction of the new law.

Simaha Naseem is a long-time online media journalist. Hussain Sageef was the chairman of the last dissolved Media Council.

Parliament is set to elect the remaining three members to the commission.

The establishment of the Media Commission came amid protests by journalists against the passage of the enabling law.

The main concern among journalists is that the government system heavily regulates journalism. Journalists argue that the fact that Parliament appoints three members and can remove all commission members is a significant problem.