Opposition expected to reject MPs’ rise when House committee meets today

The Labour Party is today expected to reject any increase to MPs’ salaries during a parliamentary committee meeting from which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is demanding consensus.

Parliament’s House Business Committee will meet this evening to discuss the raises after weeks of controversy and criticism, even from government MPs, over the way their honorarium was raised without consultation.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has said his MPs have reached a common and unified decision and would refuse any increase meant as a “carrot” to divide them from the people. Labour, however, would present transparent proposals that were easy for people to understand, respecting the public and giving dignity to MPs.

Although the party has been tight-lipped about these proposals, they are likely to acknowledge that a raise is long overdue (having last been reviewed in the early 1990s). However, they might stress that any increases must be implemented once the people start feeling the effects of a recovered economy.

Today’s meeting will be chaired by Speaker Michael Frendo. Labour will be represented by deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia and whip Joe Mizzi, while the Nationalist Party will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, whip David Agius and backbencher Frederick Azzopardi.

Criticism of increases seems to have quietened down since Dr Gonzi postponed any increases until they are decided by the committee. He also asked his ministers to refund the differences in the honorarium they had received since 2008.

But some questions remain unanswered and Labour may still oppose the fact that Cabinet members received their MPs’ honorarium besides their ministerial salary, something Dr Muscat calls a “double salary”.

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries have already been ordered to refund about €19,000, since they had been receiving an already upwardly revised honorarium since 2008. It is unlikely they will be asked to refund even more.

A spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister has confirmed that the refunds of ministers and parliamentary secretaries will come from their future salaries, and that all recipients will refund the difference.

However, it is not yet clear whether former minister John Dalli, who was later bumped up to European Commissioner, and former Speaker Louis Galea, who was appointed to the European Court of Auditors, ever got paid the increased honorarium. If they did, it is also not known how they will make the repayment since they no longer receive an income from the government.