President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the amendment to the Law on the Protection and Allowances for Former Presidents, introducing a monthly allowance of MVR 30,000 for individuals who have served as vice presidents while simultaneously reducing existing state-funded benefits for former presidents.

The bill was submitted to the People’s Majlis by MP for Hulhudhoo constituency Mohamed Shahid on behalf of the government.

Its stated aim was to amend the law by removing the monthly state budget allocation for the official office expenses of former presidents and establishing a financial allowance for former vice presidents.

The bill proposed the deduction of the previously allocated MVR 175,000 per month for former presidents’ office expenses. It further stipulated that if a former president is elected for a second term or holds another state position, they will not be entitled to these allowances during that period.

The amendment also specified that the state will not be obligated to provide security services to any former president residing outside the Maldives during their stay overseas.

Alongside these changes to benefits for former presidents, the bill initially proposed a monthly allowance of MVR 25,000 for former vice presidents, as well as the arrangement of healthcare services for them both within the Maldives and abroad.

The amendment clarifies that only individuals who have completed a full five-year presidential term will be recognized as former vice presidents eligible for these benefits.

Based on this provision, the only individual currently qualifying for the allowance is Faisal Naseem, who served as vice president in the previous administration of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The bill was reviewed by the Parliament’s Finance Committee, which introduced one amendment. The committee altered paragraph (1) of sub-article (a) of the new article proposed to be added after Article 8 of the existing law under Article 5 of this bill.

The committee approved increasing the monthly allowance for former vice presidents from the initially proposed MVR 25,000 to MVR 30,000. This change was approved unanimously by committee members at their meeting held on Saturday.

The parliament passed the bill during its sitting on November 1. The amendments also specified that if a president or vice president is convicted of a criminal offense while in office, they and their spouse will immediately lose all protection and allowances provided under the law.

With the president’s ratification and the bill’s publication in the Government Gazette, the amended law has now come into effect.