Nasheed has stated that he has not accepted the salary offered to MPs since his relocation to Ghana in January. However, Nasheed had delivered a letter to the Finance Ministry on March 31 requesting pay deductions starting from April to the end of his term.
Former President and Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has said that he has not accepted the salary given to parliamentarians since he relocated to Ghana in January to fill the position of First Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerability Forum.
Responding to a question about working in Ghana while remaining a member of parliament during an interview with Sri Lankan news media The Morning, Nasheed stated that he had stopped withdrawing the salary before he relocated to Ghana.
However, he had requested for the pay cut beginning from the month of April in the letter addressed to the Parliament Secretariat on March 31.
Nasheed explained that he remains in Ghana to arrange multiple procedures prior to formally assuming his position there and wrote that all work will presumably begin at the soonest as the parliament of Ghana had passed the regulation on Special Voluntary Fund (SVF) Secretariat.
Therefore, Nasheed, who had also formerly served as the Speaker of Parliament, had requested to not disburse the remuneration presented to parliamentarians for the remainder of his tenure starting from April.
With the 19th term of the parliament concluding on May 13, there remained only two months for Nasheed's tenure as a lawmaker to conclude during the time of this letter.
Although the salary offered for his post as an MP was halted, Nasheed still receives the allowance provided to former Presidents and Speaker of the Parliament. Accordingly with the Former Presidents' Protection and Benefits Act, a former President must receive a monthly financial compensation of MVR 172,000 (USD 11,134.55). Adding the MVR 73,000 (USD 4,725.71) provided to former Speakers of the Parliament, Nasheed's stipend adds up to MVR 245,000 (USD 15,869) a month.
However, after assuming the seat of Parliament Speaker in 2019, Nasheed had lodged a request to the Ministry of Finance to deduct the MVR 75,000 (USD 4,855.18) offered as compensation for former Presidents and further appealed to remove the MVR 10,000 (USD 647.36) presented as accommodation expenses.
Therefore, Nasheed receives a salary and allowance totaling MVR 160,000 (USD 10,357.72).
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