Shakeel appointed as member of Elections Commission

Mohamed Shakeel is appointed as a member of the Elections Commission on June 24, 2026. (Photo/President's Office)

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has appointed Mohamed Shakeel, the former managing director of Maldives Hajj Corporation and member of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s senate, as a member of the Elections Commission (EC).

Shakeel took his oath of office and signed the declaration of membership during a ceremony held on Wednesday afternoon at the President’s Office.

The oath was administered by Justice Mohamed Saleem.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu (R) appoints Mohamed Shakeel (L) as a member of the Elections Commission on June 24, 2026. (Photo/President's Office)

Following the administration of the oath, he was formally presented with his letter of appointment by President Muizzu.

The appointment comes a day after Shakeel secured the backing of the Parliament with a majority vote of 51-7.

A seat at the EC got vacated after the commission’s chairperson Mohamed Zahid resigned from the role and left the commission in May.

Shakeel was subsequently nominated to fill the vacant seat by President Muizzu.

After the Parliament greenlighted his appointment, Shakeel resigned from the Hajj Corporation, as well as the PNC, where he served as a member of the party’s senate as well as the party’s elections committee.

Shakeel is not new to the EC, having served as a member of the commission back during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

He was questioned regarding his earlier resignation from the EC during his interview with the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee on Monday.

Shakeel responded that he had heard some talk within the commission which he found unacceptable and made him believe that he could not work independently.

“I would resign if the same situation were to rise again,” he said.

Hajj Corporation Managing Director Mohamed Shakeel at the 14th Sitting of the Parliament's Committee on Independent Institutions, summoned for review after President Dr Mohamed Muizzu nominated him for the vacant post at the Elections Commission, which he had served previously, June 22, 2026. (Photo/People's Majlis)

Shakeel, who had previously worked as a director-general at the Bank of Maldives (BML) and later at the EC, was originally appointed as a member of the commission on December 3, 2014. But he resigned on May 9, 2018, ahead of that year’s presidential elections.

Zahid’s resignation from the EC on May 1 came with more than three years left in his term.

He provided no explanation for the decision, which came in the wake of the PNC’s heavy defeat in the local council elections and referendum held on April 4.