Malé, Maldives – People’s Parliament has passed the bill today to arrange official residence for the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed and the Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan to strengthen their security.
Chairperson of the Subcommittee, Imthiyaaz Fahumy, who was in charge of investigating the bill informed earlier that only minor changes were brought to both bills such as clarifying ‘official residence’ as any living space, implying that even a place such as a flat can be arranged instead of a private house.
Another change to the bill includes detailing who can reside with the Chief Justice at his residence. The original bill stated that Chief Justice’s spouse, parents and children can live at the residence. However, the changes brought by the subcommittee detailed that children below 18 years of age, children with disabilities and unmarried children can reside with the Chief Justice at the residence. These changes were brought to both bills.
The amended bill states that the residency must be as such that sufficient security measures can be implemented if needed.
After the terror attack on Speaker Nasheed on May 06, several citizens have questioned the security given by the state for the higher authorities. A bill was presented to the Parliamentary Committee on National on June 14 calling for amendments to be brought to the law to arrange a residence for Speaker of the Parliament and Chief Justice of Maldives.
