BRATISLAVA, October 10, (WEBNOVINY) — Members of parliament for the governing coalition are determined to approve in some form a reduction of their salaries, but hey have not yet agreed on how exactly to do that. „We agreed that we will reduce costs per member of parliament by ten percent. Now we are looking a form in which to translate this into a specific law. There are several alternatives. I expect that by next Tuesday but not later than Wednesday, we will close the matter,“ chairman of the parliamentary faction the SDKU Jozef Mikus told SITA news agency on Sunday.
Chairmen of parties of the governing coalition have already presented a proposal whereby the salary of constitutional officials except judges from next year would be reduced by three times the percentage rate of the general government deficit next year and twice the rate in the following years.
Parliamentary factions of the governing coalition members SaS and MOST-HID see no problem in linking the amount of their salary with the budget deficit. Martin Poliacik of the SaS believes that if lawmakers’ pay depends on the government’s fiscal performance, this would introduce the principle of responsibility and solidarity among parliamentarians and citizens. If the government’s performance is not good, members of parliament would earn less. Ondrej Dostal, of the MOST-HID caucus further notes that this system would motivate deputies to think more about government debt try to reduce it as soon as possible. Also, Pavol Abrhan of the KDH says that in their faction the opinion prevails that their salaries should be tied to the deficit.
On the other hand, a member of the SDKU, the largest party in the governing coalition, Stanislav Janis considers such proposal absolutely illogical. „It’s nonsense. There is entirely different responsibility of a deputy of the governing coalition and other of the opposition. Moreover, the executive branch has direct impact on the budget deficit. Although we approve the state budget, we only learn how much the government actually spent when we approve the state final account a year and a half later,“ said Janis. According to him, the basic salary of deputies should be reduced by ten percent and the saved money should be distributed by the Parliamentary Office for charitable purposes.
Chairman of the SNS faction Rafael Rafaj has a message for the governing coalition. He wants them to stop with this type of populist proposals, such as the abolition of parliamentary immunity and reduction of salaries. Instead, they should start with real sensible policies.
The parliamentary faction of the largest opposition party SMER-SD allegedly did not discuss the proposal, according to its member Jozef Burian. However, he said that in the past, when they were in government, they froze salaries of legislators in response to the financial crisis.
Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik is coordinating negotiations of parliamentary factions on the form of reducing the salaries of members of parliament. His spokesperson Tatiana Tothova said that the final draft would arise from an agreement of the parliamentary factions.
SITA