The People’s Majlis has on Wednesday accepted a bill proposing to amend the Judges Act so as to provide pensions for a former chief justice.

The bill, proposed by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed and tabled by the Speaker of the People's Majlis, seeks to amend the 2010 law so as to provide this privilege to the chief justice that sat before enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives, in 2008.

The Supreme Court of the Maldives was established two years before the 2008 enactment, and its chief justice then was Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim.

The first reading of the bill, deliberation on it, and voting has been scheduled for Wednesday’s sitting, an abuse of the due process, as noted by lawmakers speaking on the bill.

While MPs aligned with the Maldivian Democratic Party have spoken against the bill, while lawmakers aligned with the government coalition's Jumhooree Party, and the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives have spoken against it. 

A further bill seeking to provide pensions for parliamentarians after their tenure has been proposed by Velidhoo MP Yameen Rasheed.