Multiplying €500 a week by 52 works out at €26,000, which, if I am not mistaken, is the annual ‘honoraria’ of any Maltese MP who is not Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, minister or parliamentary secretary.
Government backbenchers and Opposition members retain their employment or profession and, rightly so, receive remuneration for their ‘second job’ as honourable MPs. For obvious reasons, the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, ministers and parliamentary secretaries cannot retain their employment or profession and, like every other worker, draw salaries according to their role. They do not receive remuneration for their ‘second job’ as do MPs.
While I believe that action to correct matters may not have been timely and/or made public in the way one should have expected, the fact remains that, unlike their colleagues, some MPs are carrying out their parliamentary duties for free. Whoever heard of equal pay for equal work?