The People’s National Congress (PNC) parliamentary group leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah said on Tuesday that the proposed pay cut for lawmakers should be implemented by the next assembly.
He said if the pay cut is implemented during the current assembly, it would impede repaying the debt acquired for the last parliamentary election.
His remarks have come hot in the heels of a new petition calling for the reduction of lawmakers’ salaries.
While supporting the idea in a post on X, Falah highlighted that a proposal to set lawmakers’ salary at MVR 100,000 was approved at the committee level during the 19th assembly during Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) super majority. This was however rejected on the instructions of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, Falah added.
“So, if the salary is set at MVR 5,000 for the 21st assembly, the members who are fine with this and still contend, will not have any room for complaints,” Falah said.
He also emphasized on the allowances given to former presidents and judges.
“I would like extend a special thanks to the incumbent president for his exemplary conduct for settling with half of his original salary,” Falah added.
After President Muizzu announced the decision to reduce the remuneration of all political employees by 10 percent, Falah had subsequently decided not to take 10 percent of his salary for a one-year duration to support this.
Despite the president’s decision, the current parliament assembly later said that the law does not allow implementation of this reduction.
Members of the parliament receive a remuneration of MVR 82,500 per month, which was set by a regulation implemented by the lawmakers themselves.
Although the topic of increasing the salaries of MPs was discussed during the 19th assembly, it quickly got shelved due to heavy criticism.
Besides a hefty salary, the members and their families receive free medical care from ASEAN countries as part of the amenities.
While the reduction of their pay has been proposed multiple times in the past, it got rejected by lawmakers each time.
The online petition, besides calling for the reduction of lawmakers’ salaries, also call to discontinue the allowances given to former MPs and health insurances to MPs and their families. It additionally called for the implementation of government-initiated Aasandha scheme for MPs as well.