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MPs take allowance for committee meetings not held

18 Jun

A meeting of the Finance Committee of Parliament in session | via Haveeru Online

Members of Parliament has been given the controversial committee allowance of 20,000.00 Rufiyaa each for the month of March. The decision to pay the committee allowance to MPs was made at a meeting of the Finance Committee which approved the deal, despite no committee meetings being held for the month of March.

It is not an issue of MPs being paid an allowance. They are paid a monthly remuneration package of 62,500.00 Rufiyaa for the seats they occupy on behalf of the constituencies they represent.

The committee allowance of 20,000.00 Rufiyaa is the salary of permanent secretaries who are the top civil servants.The controversial committee allowance was approved by parliament for “the additional work” they do in the committees of the parliament. And this is not necessarily work done overtime.

A lot of critical legislation which should have been completed by the parliament are still pending, and the MPs spend much of their time in scuffles with each other and engaged in political drama which is aired lived for their personal benefit. Several meetings are cancelled due to a lack of quorum with the MPs paid beyond the means of the public coffer.

The committee allowance alone is 1.5 million Rufiyaa for the month of March. This is when the Ministry of Islamic Affairs has gone into competition with the civil society to raise funds for the maintenance of mosques in the country, as the government cannot afford it. The ministry expects to raise 1.5 million Rufiyaa through its week long effort, by putting donations boxes in mosques.

Many parliamentarians have been accused of high corruption and bagging millions of Rufiyaa in the “transfer fees” from party to party, which though not proven have been allegations made in the protected confines of parliament by MPs with immunity from prosecution, though the accusations are aired on public TV.

In sum total, the current Maldives parliament seems to be widely perceived as an inefficient monster which has become a burden on its people.

 
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Posted by on June 18, 2012 in Politics

 

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Nasheed MP, Propose Child Offenders Bill

14 Jun

Nasheed writes in his blog:

The 35 page bill, containing 62 provisions, does several things.

It defines at least 18 different acts as “child sex offences” and prescribes comparatively harsher penalties – with jail terms ranging between 14 years and 25 years without the possibility of bail, parole or early release. It provides harsher penalties for offenders who abuse and molest children while being placed in a position of trust in relation to a victim. It goes on to list a catalogue of relationships considered as relations of trust in relation to children.

It suspends or restricts certain fundamental rights provided in the constitution otherwise available to persons accused of offences – such as the right to silence and the right to release from custody if investigation can be conducted without subjecting the accused to continuing detention.

It provides a procedure for the prosecutor general, on behalf of the state, and at the request of the commissioner of police, to apply to the High Court for an order to keep the accused involved in a child sex offence in “continuing custody” both during investigation as well as trial. It also spells out a procedure for the prosecutor general, acting on behalf of the state, to apply to the High Court for an order to keep a child sex offender in “continuous supervision” of the corrections department even if the offender has completed serving his sentence, and in some extreme cases, to keep the person in “continued detention” despite having served his sentence in full.

It asks the state to provide social security for the victim, in case the child cannot be supported by his or her parents or guardians in those new and special circumstances of trauma and rehabilitation. It requires the state to provide rehabilitation and counseling for victims of child sex offences.

The Dhivehi text of the bill can be viewed by visiting this link or by visiting this website and following the “Majlis Agenda” link on the right side of the screen.

Read full post here

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2009 in CAWM

 

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