Fuwad Thowfeek has been approved as a member of the Elections Commission.

The People’s Majlis approved him at Wednesday’s sitting, with 70 MPs voting in his favour.

The President’s Office had forwarded four nominees to Majlis, among those that had applied for EC membership. The nominees were forwarded to the committee on independent institutions for further review.

The applications were opened as the tenure of commission member Amjad Musthafa will expire on November 24.

Amjad was seeking to be reappointed to the Elections Commission, and was among the nominees forwarded by the President’s Office, along with Hassan Nazim and Haneefa Khalid.

Fuwad was the Elections Commissioner from 2008 to 2014.

Main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had issued a three-line whip to vote for Fuwad, a few moments prior to the vote.

He was removed as the head of the commission in March 2014, for criticizing a restrictive Supreme Court guideline for parliamentary elections held that year.

Thowfeek received a six-month jail sentence, which was suspended for three years. He had resided in neighboring Sri Lanka until last year.