WP chief Pritam Singh supports MP allowance increase, questions mayors' wages and roles
Mr Singh also called for the allowances of legislative assistants and secretarial assistants to be reviewed.
The Workers' Party (WP) concurs with the government's decision to increase Members of Parliament (MPs)’ salaries to offset inflation, but disagrees on the methodology for determining ministerial pay. WP favors a formula that pegs ministerial salaries to a multiple of an MP’s salary, derived from a public sector appointee’s earnings, as previously proposed in 2012.
This approach is seen as more transparent compared to pegging ministerial salaries to a discount on the median salary of Singapore's top 1,000 earners. Under this formula, the annual allowance for an MR4 minister would increase from S$1.1 million to S$1.8 million, with a more moderate rise compared to the committee’s recommendation of an all-in salary increase to S$2.59 million.
WP supports the government’s decision to limit ministerial salary increases to 9%, but queries whether this signifies no further across-the-board adjustments, with increases based solely on performance and responsibilities. The party also clarified the components of the ministerial salary, mentioning the S$1.1 million reference figure includes both fixed and variable components.
The committee’s proposal aims to provide a wider range of salaries within each ministerial grade to attract a more diverse pool of candidates. However, WP cautioned this increased flexibility could heighten public scrutiny of ministers’ salaries due to transparency concerns.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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