President ratifies bills on official residences for Speaker, Chief Justice

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified bills designed to arrange official residences for the Parliament Speaker and Chief Justice and their families in order to reinforce their security.

President ratified the First Amendment to the Parliament’s Privileges and Powers Act and the Sixth Amendment to the Judges Act this Wednesday.

The bills were passed by the Parliament on June 21.

With the ratification of the two bills, the state is charged with arranging official residences for the two top officials and their families, along with an adequate number of staff and expenses for the residences.

Both bills also declare that the residences must be suitable to implement necessary security measures, and that the security at both residences must be provided by Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).

The Speaker’s residence will be staffed by the Parliament, while the Chief Justice’s residence will be staffed by the Supreme Court.

Legislature to arrange official residences for the heads of the two branches of the state was submitted in the wake of an IED attack outside the resident of Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed on May 6. The President instructed for necessary action to reinforce security of the heads of the three branches of the state following the attack.

The legislature take immediate effect upon ratification.