Fayyaz Condemns Majlis Allowance Hikes for Speaker and Officials as “Insult to Public”

Former MDP Chairperson and Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail has condemned the Public Accounts Committee’s approval of steep allowance increases for the Speaker of Parliament, ministers’ drivers, and island councillors, describing the decision as a “huge insult” to citizens facing soaring living costs.

Fayyaz’s sharp rebuke follows the committee’s approval of a proposal submitted by ruling Progressive National Congress (PNC) MP Abdulla Shareef to grant Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla a new monthly allowance of MVR 22,000.

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“Parliament has done no real work, and the government has achieved no tangible results. Yet today, Parliament decided to raise the salaries of ministers and the Speaker,” Fayyaz said, criticizing the current legislative body. “There has never been a lower-standard Parliament than this… At a time when prices are soaring and so many people are struggling to get by, was this really the one task left undone?”

According to parliamentary administrative staff, the measure is intended to rectify pay disparities, noting that the Speaker currently receives MVR 73,125 per month and does not serve on parliamentary committees, missing out on the MVR 20,000 committee allowance collected by ordinary MPs (MVR 82,500) and the Deputy Speaker (MVR 91,000).

 The new allowance raises Speaker Abdul Raheem’s monthly remuneration to MVR 95,125.

During committee deliberations, opposition MDP MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa voted against the measure, arguing that granting pay hikes was inappropriate given prevailing economic conditions. 

However, the ruling PNC majority pushed the motion through.

The committee also approved package adjustments for ministers’ drivers proposed by PNC MP Mohamed Mamdooh, raising their driving allowance to MVR 12,000, petrol allowance to MVR 2,000, and introducing a MVR 3,000 living allowance, bringing total monthly allowances for drivers to MVR 17,000. 

Additionally, the committee passed a MVR 5,000 flat monthly service allowance increase across all island council tiers, boosting island council presidents’ monthly pay to MVR 30,500, vice-presidents’ to MVR 25,000, and council members’ to MVR 23,000.

The decision has sparked widespread public outrage, with critics and ordinary citizens accusing lawmakers of directly infringing upon the rights of working people to enrich themselves.

Members of the public pointed to the stark contrast between the lavish compensation granted to political figures and the statutory floor set for ordinary workers.

Under current minimum wage regulations, public sector workers are capped at MVR 7,000 monthly, while standard full-time private sector monthly baselines range from roughly MVR 4,500 for small enterprises to MVR 8,000 for large enterprises, with micro-enterprises exempted entirely. 

Citizens have expressed fury over politicians securing substantial raise packages while hard-working Maldivians continue to struggle on basic wages amidst a rising cost of living.