Supreme Court has accepted a case filed against the parliament’s decision to reduce the salaries of the president, vice president and members of independent institutions.

The apex court has confirmed this to RaajjeMV. The constitutional case, filed by Civil Court’s former judge Mohamed Haleem, seeks to nullify the parliament’s decision.

Judge Haleem case highlights that there are laws and regulations on the salaries of president, vice president and members of independent institutions, as well as that some of these regulations note that changes cannot be brought to salaries during their terms.

Chair of parliament’s public accounts committee and Kinbidhoo constituency MP Mohamed Nashiz that they had decided against changing the laws ‘as this is a temporary deduction’. He said that the decision was reached as per the official advisory of the parliament’s Counselor General Fathmath Filza.

He said that the salary deductions of the president and vice president were included in the request submitted by the finance minister, and added that this was done on the request of President Ibrahim Moahmed Solih. Further, he said that an amendment is not required ‘if the president does not have any objections.’

MP Nashiz also noted that the finance minister has to submit a motion through a parliamentarian, in order to change the law.

Following the three-month 35 percent reduction approved by the parliament, President Solih’s salary has been reduced to MVR 65,000 and Vice President Faisal Naseem’s to MVR 48,750.

As per the Maldivian Constitution, the parliament is to declare the salary and benefits of the president and VP. Majlis in 2009 passed the ‘Emoluments and Benefits of the President and Vice President Law’ which states that the salary of the president is MVR 100,000 while the VP’s is MVR 75,000. Hence, there have been questions raised over whether their salaries can be reduced without amending this law.

The salary reductions are part of the government’s plans to reduce state expenditure amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has affected the country’s economy immensely.