May 4, 2008: In an interview with The Sunday Times, freshly re-elected Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is asked if he favours a raise for ministers. Dr Gonzi says he thinks they should be able to keep their MPs’ honoraria over and above their salary.
May 5, 2008: A day later, the Cabinet takes two crucial decisions: The Prime Minister, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, the Speaker and the Opposition leader can retain their honoraria, and this will be raised for everyone to €26,700 from €19,000. (The decision is only officially announced in December 2010).
November 30, 2008: Newspaper Malta Today says ministers were given a “hush-hush” weekly raise of €290 because they will keep their honorarium of €14,966. (The figures are incorrect and there is no mention of the honorarium increase.)
December 3, 2008: Malta Today quotes Labour whip Joe Mizzi saying he agrees with the raises. Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin slams the secrecy with which things were done. Nationalist whip David Agius – apparently oblivious to the Cabinet decision to raise MPs’ salaries - says MPs also deserve a raise, not just ministers.
November 1, 2010: Answering a parliamentary question by Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech gives a breakdown of the salaries given to ministers (€78,630) and parliamentary secretaries (€76,340). The breakdown reveals that they receive an honorarium of €26,728 plus a duty allowance of 20 per cent of their basic salaries. (Their basic salaries are €42,000 for ministers and €40,093 for parliamentary secretaries.)
December 8, 2010: Mr Fenech replies to another PQ, this time by Labour MP Leo Brincat. He says that a Cabinet decision was taken on May 5, 2008 that the Prime Minister, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, Speaker and Opposition leader will no longer lose their honoraria. He adds that the honorarium has been increased to €26,700 from €19,000.
December 9, 2010: Labour leader Joseph Muscat refuses his raise (€130,000 over five years), saying no one should be paid twice for the same job. The raises are criticised as insensitive.
December 12, 2010: Dr Gonzi defends the increases in a radio broadcast and questions why the matter is being brought up now when the decision was taken two years ago.
December 20, 2010: Nationalist MPs Jean-Pierre Farrugia and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando criticise the raise and pledge to donate their share. Labour sets up a fund for its MPs to donate their money to charity.
January 13, 2011: Dr Farrugia ups the ante when it turns out that ministers were already getting their upwardly revised honoraria since May 2008 while other MPs were still being paid at the old rate. He also says “heads must roll” over the mishandling of this “unprecedented mess”.
January 17, 2011: All ministers and parliamentary secretaries reply to questions by The Times where they ignore Dr Farrugia’s criticism, justify their increase and deny it was given in secrecy by saying all the information was public in 2008.
January 18, 2011: Dr Farrugia threatens to back a Labour motion to repeal the raise, a precarious move given the government’s one-seat majority. Dr Gonzi holds an emergency evening meeting with Dr Farrugia at PN headquarters to reach a compromise.
January 19, 2011: Dr Gonzi reads out a statement in Parliament where he retracts part of the controversial decisions taken by his Cabinet almost three years before. He says any changes to the honoraria will be postponed until they are agreed upon by consensus at the House Business Committee. Meanwhile, ministers and parliamentary secretaries will refund the difference they have been receiving but retain their double pay.
February 1, 2011: House Business Committee meets. Labour suggests the setting up of an external body to propose changes to the salaries of all politicians, which could then come into force next legislature. Government does not refuse the proposal but insists any such committee must focus only on MPs’ honoraria. Both parties plan to continue discussions later.
February 2, 2011: Foreign Minister and Leader of the House Tonio Borg issues a statement to clarify media reports, stressing that there was no agreement to any of Labour’s proposals.
February 16, 2011: At the end of the following House Business Committee meeting, which was overshadowed by the divorce issue, Labour asks Dr Borg about the honoraria issue. Dr Borg says the government rejected Labour’s proposals.
April 26, 2011: The Times reveals that Opposition leader Joseph Muscat never got paid his honorarium and the government has refused to explain why.
April 27, 2011: The government tells The Times Dr Muscat will not receive the pay because the Opposition and the government reached no compromise in the House Business Committee meetings so the whole “package” is now closed.
April 28, 2011: The Prime Minister criticises The Times’ story and says Dr Muscat’s honorarium is included in his pay. Unlike ministers and parliamentary secretaries, he says, Dr Muscat is “not a government employee” and so is not entitled to an honorarium.
April 28, 2011: The Times sends a series of questions to the government to clarify the inconsistencies in Dr Gonzi’s arguments but the government has “nothing to add”.
April 29, 2011: The Times asks for an updated breakdown of the salaries of each political role but a spokesman for the Finance Ministry refuses because the information is “publicly available”.