Official residences assigned to Parliament Speaker and Chief Justice

Under the bills passed to assign official residences to Parliament Speaker and Chief Justice and their families in order to reinforce their security, the Government has decided to assign Muraidhoo to Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and an apartment from Rehendhi Flat to Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan.

Two acts were amended in order to arrange official residences for the two top officials of the state and their families being - the First Amendment to the Parliament’s Privileges and Powers Act and the Sixth Amendment to the Judges Act. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih gave his ratification for both the amendments on June 30.

While the Government has yet to officially announce their decision – a reliable source has confirmed to Sun that residences have already been assigned for the two top officials.

Accordingly, Parliament Speaker Nasheed has been assigned to Muraidhoo located near the Justice Building whereas Chief Justice Muthasim has been assigned to an apartment at Rehendhi Flat.

The Government is expected to officially announce this upon the completion of the security clearance of both buildings.

As per the amendments to the acts, the government 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.

It also declares 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.

The bill to arrange official residences for the heads of the two branches of the state was submitted to the Parliament in the wake of an IED attack outside the residence of Speaker Nasheed on May 6.  The bill was submitted on May 26 and was passed with the vote of the majority June 21.