Committee moves to raise Chief Justice’s pay to MVR 95K, same as Parliament Speaker

The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday decided to increase the allowances paid to the Chief Justice, raising the monthly pay above MVR 95,000.

The Chief Justice currently receives a monthly salary of MVR 91,000.

At a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh, a lawmaker from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), proposed revisions to the pay of the Chief Justice.

He said that the pay of the Chief Justice should be on the same level as the pay of the Parliament Speaker – which the committee raised above MVR 95,000 last week.

Mamdhooh presented a motion to introduce a special allowance of MVR 4,125 for the Chief Justice in order to make up for the difference.

With the change, the Chief Justice will receive a monthly salary of MVR 95,125.

Mamdhooh’s motion passed by the unanimous consensus of the committee members in attendance.

The latest pay bump follows similar decision by the committee just last week.

On October 21, the approved amendments that will see the monthly pay of the Speaker raised to MVR 95,125, along with increasing the car allowance to cabinet ministers and the salaries of local councilors.

The Speaker currently receives a monthly salary of MVR 73,125, while the Deputy Speaker receives MVR 91,000, and other parliamentarians receive MVR 82,500, including the committee allowance.

This difference in pay is due to the Speaker not being allowed to sit at committees. Parliamentarians who sit at committees receive an allowance of MVR 10,000 if they have an attendance rate of 50-75 percent, and MVR 20,000 if they have an attendance rate of above 75 percent.

The committee therefore decided to introduce a MVR 22,000 allowance for the Speaker, which will raise their monthly pay to MVR 95,125.

The planned pay hikes have been slammed by lawmakers from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who described making such a move even as ordinary citizens struggle with the country’s economic downturn and the rising cost of living as “a grave injustice.”