Bigey: We spend beyond monthly pay for the sake of constituents

MDP parliamentary group’s leader Mohamed Rasheed Hussain (Bigey) says that parliamentarians have to spend beyond their official monthly salary for the sake of their constituents.

The remark comes after the Public Accounts Committee’s decision on Tuesday to raise the salaries of officials that are determined by the Parliament – including the president, vice president, government ministers, parliamentarians and judges – sparked widespread backlash.

In a press briefing regarding the decision held on Wednesday evening, Bigey, who represents the Alifushi constituency, said that parliamentarians face a number of challenges after moving to Male’ City after getting elected by the people to advocate for their rights.

“The parliamentarians are always taking about how hard it is to live on rent. In addition to living in these hard conditions, they also need to go to their constituents,” he said.

Bigey said that parliamentarians need to constantly visit their constituents to check on their wellbeing.

“All these trips are a huge expense. Therefore, given all this, and based on the opinion of the majority of parliamentarians and from my own experience, it shows that we need to spend beyond the monthly salary for the sake of constituents,” he said.

The President’s Office issued a statement earlier Wednesday stating that the government had not requested an increase in the salaries of the president, vice president, and government ministers, and that the committee hadn’t consulted with the government before making the decision.

The President’s chief spokesperson, Mohamed Shaheeb said the decision was made by a committee with majority MDP members to sow discord and incite hatred.

On Tuesday, the committee decided to raise salary of Parliament speaker to MVR 90,000, the salary of deputy speaker to MVR 88,000, and the salary of other parliamentarians to MVR 80,000 – including a basic salary of MVR 55,000 and a living allowance of MVR 25,000.

With the MVR 20,000 committee allowance that parliamentarians receive; they will receive MVR 100,000, monthly.