Democrats issues 3-line whip against salary hikes
The Democrats Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb spoke against the salary increments.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
The Democrats issued a three-line whip on Wednesday to vote against the Parliament Finance Committee's decision to raise politicians' salaries.
The three-line whip was issued unanimously by the party's Parliamentary Group (PG).
In a statement, The Democrats said their PG opposes the Finance Committee's decision and urges Speaker Mohammed Aslam to reject the decision.
Although the MDP has a large majority in parliamentary committees and the entire parliament, the MDP PG’s office was urged to be more responsible in making decisions, in the statement.
The statement said:
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The economy is in a very dangerous state and the amount of debt owed has increased dramatically
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The usable reserves are almost exhausted, and the funds to cover the deficit in next year's budget passed last week are still uncertain
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The living conditions of the common people and the salaries of workers and civil servants are relatively low compared to the expenses they have to incur
“It is extremely shameful and equally disturbing that the Finance Committee approved to further increase the salaries of government officials, MPs, corporate heads and all politicians, despite being best informed about the existence of these issues,” the statement said.
The Finance Committee on Tuesday reviewed the salaries of various government posts to be fixed by Parliament and decided to increase all the proposed salaries with some changes.
Salary increase decided:
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President - 120,000; Now paid MVR 100,000
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Vice-President - MVR 90,000; Now paid MVR 74,000
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Ministers - MVR 74,000; Now paid MVR 66,000
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Members of Parliament - MVR 100,000
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Chief Justice: MVR 91,000
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Supreme Court judges: MVR 89,000
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Chief Justice of High Court: MVR 72,000
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High Court Judges: MVR 68,000
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Senior Judges of Criminal Court, Drug Court, Civil Court, Juvenile Court and Family Court: MVR 62,000
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Criminal Court, Drug Court, Civil Court, Juvenile Court Judges: MVR 60,000
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Chief Magistrate of the District: MVR 43,000
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Chief Magistrate and Magistrate of the Court: MVR 41,000
Before the vote on salaries at Tuesday's committee meeting, The Democrats Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, who spoke in the official section, said the changes add MVR 90 million to the entire total. Therefore, he spoke against the salary increase of all agencies on Tuesday.
If the committee's decision is passed by the Parliament, it will be implemented accordingly.
