Parliament Rejects Emergency Motion on Speaker’s Pay Rise Amid Public Backlash

The People’s Majlis on Monday rejected an emergency motion protesting proposed salary and allowance hikes for high-ranking state officials, as public anger intensifies over parliamentary remuneration during an ongoing national economic downturn.

The motion, tabled by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mauroof Zakir, called for an immediate debate on the Public Accounts Committee’s recent decision to approve a series of salary and allowance hikes, including a new MVR 22,000 monthly allowance for Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla.

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Speaker Abdul Raheem dismissed the motion without putting it to a vote, ruling that under parliamentary standing orders, an emergency motion cannot anticipate debate on an issue scheduled to come before the floor at a later date.

“Because the motion submitted by the member fails to satisfy that requirement as outlined in the parliamentary standing orders, it cannot be accepted,” the Speaker said.

The rejected motion argued that raising senior state remuneration was indefensible when public spending has outpaced state revenue by MVR 4.5 billion this year and the Ministry of Finance has instructed the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) to cut state-owned enterprise staff numbers by 33 percent to rein in expenditure. It also noted that long-standing pay harmonisation grievances for civil servants, healthcare workers, and teachers remain unresolved.

The floor decision drew sharp condemnation from opposition lawmakers. 

Speaking on the parliament floor, Galolhu South MP Meekail Naseem questioned the ruling party’s legislative priorities, stating that advancing ministerial and leadership pay increases was unconscionable while ordinary citizens face severe shortages of essential medicines like basic painkillers.

The parliamentary clash follows days of public criticism over the committee’s decision, passed using the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) majority. 

Under the approved measures, Speaker Abdul Raheem’s monthly remuneration rises from MVR 73,125 to MVR 95,125. The committee also approved package increases for ministers’ drivers to MVR 17,000 per month, alongside a flat MVR 5,000 monthly allowance increase for island council members across all tiers.

PNC lawmakers justified the revision as a necessary correction to an internal pay anomaly, pointing out that because the Speaker does not sit on committees, his take-home pay had fallen below that of ordinary MPs (MVR 82,500) and the Deputy Speaker (MVR 91,000).