Abdul Hannan Aboobakuru, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thulhaadhoo, has withdrawn his proposed ‘Maldives Media and Broadcasting Commission’ bill, which sought to abolish the separate Maldives Media Council (MMC) and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (Broadcom) in order to establish a new, singular commission. Aboobakuru is an independent MP.

The bill also sought to impose considerable fines and other penalties, such as suspensions, on newspapers, broadcasters, and individual journalists.

The proposed new legislation had drawn staunch criticism from the opposition, which had labelled it an attempt to ‘bury’ independent media, as well as local and international media organisations, which had called the proposed bill undemocratic and an attempt to cripple press freedom in the Maldives.

“Within the space of one year, a bill has been introduced in parliament to bring journalism under the control of the government,” former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said in a recent television interview critical of the Mohamed Muizzu administration.

While Aboobakuru introduced the bill to Parliament on 12 November, it had not been approved for consideration by a floor vote before the MP chose to withdraw it.

Speaking with local news outlet ‘Adhadhu’, Aboobakuru, who had earlier insisted that he did not intend to withdraw the bill, confirmed that he had done so due to a lack of support, also acknowledging that he had not undertaken any prior consultation before submitting the bill.

“What happened is that I do not think it will get the support of 75 MPs [in order to pass as legislation]. The bill was introduced without any consultation. Notwithstanding, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has also said that he does not support the bill,” Aboobakuru confirmed.

Even as journalists and politicians continued to insist that the bill was introduced under administration influence, with the specific intent of controlling the Maldives’ media, President Muizzu responded to the criticism, saying that it was never his policy to control the media.

He will work to empower the media, Muizzu said.

“The current media bill does not align with my policy beliefs. I do not live with the intent of controlling the media. I am not trying to control the media. I want to give the media even more freedom,” he said at a rally on Sunday night.

Sunday, 17 November, marked the one year anniversary of the Muizzu administration.