Parliament passes to cut city council members

The parliament has passed a motion forwarded by the Public Accounts Committee to reduce the salaries of members of city councils.

The motion was passed with 47 votes in favour and 17 against. A total of 64 MPs participated in the vote.

The change will see the reduction of mayors’ salaries from MVR 30,000 per month to MVR 15,000 per month, and their living allowance from MVR 15,000 to MVR 3,000.

For deputy mayors, salaries will be reduced from MVR 27,000 to MVR 12,000, and living allowance from MVR 8,000 to MVR 2,000.

For members, salaries will go down to MVR 10,000, and living allowance to MVR 1,500.

This follows the transfer of some of the duties of city councils to Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.

All members except for two in Malé City Council, and all members in Addu City Council represent the main opposition party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).