Speaker Abdul Raheem moves into Muraidhooge

Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla has moved into Muraidhooge, the official residence of the Parliament Speaker.

The Parliament Secretariate said Speaker Abdul Raheem shifted to Muraidhooge on Friday.

He had informed his decision to shift to Muraidhooge via a letter to the Parliament’s General Purpose Committee last Wednesday.

In his letter, the Speaker proposed to make changes to some of the employee posts at the residence when making appointments ahead of the completion of renovations at Muraidhooge.

In this regard, he proposed to change the name of the one post, revoke four posts and introduce four posts in place of them.

The Committee passed the Speaker’s proposal by the unanimous votes of eight members in attendance.

Muriadhooge was declared the official residence of the parliament speaker in 2021 via an amendment to the law following an assassination attempt against then-speaker Mohamed Nasheed as he exited his personal residence where he had been residing at that time. 

Prior to this, official residences were only arranged for the president and the vice president. The amendment to the law also allocated an official residence to the chief justice.

The amendment mandates the state to arrange official residences for the two top officials and their families, along with an adequate number of staff and expenses for the residences. The residences must be suitable to implement necessary security measures, and security at both residences must be provided by Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).