President

Maldives National Defence Force’s (MNDF) Special Protection Group (SPG) has started providing security for members of the parliament.

Spokesperson for MNDF Colonel Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef said today that security for parliament members will be provided by the specially trained SPG starting this year. He said that security will be facilitated to the members who are currently in Male’, as soon as they request for the service.

Abdul Raheem however did not say how many members have already made the request.

Article 105 (b) of the Constitution stipulates that the state security services shall provide protection and safety to members of the parliament.

The SPG is a group comprising of a total of 178 military personnel. Some of the bodyguards of the SPG have done trainings in other countries while others have been trained by experts specially brought in from abroad to conduct trainings.

Up until now, the SPG has been responsible for the security of the President, Vice President, Parliament Speaker, Chief Justice, members of the Cabinet and the two former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom and Mohamed Nasheed.

The SPG provided security for eight presidents and leaders from the region during their visit to participate in the 17th SAARC summit held in Addu City in 2011.