Opposition leader Joseph Muscat this evening put pressure on Nationalist MPs by announcing that the Opposition would amend its own motion on the raise given to ministers, by removing any references to the Leader of the Opposition.

Speaking in parliament when the debate on the motion opened, Dr Muscat noted that some Nationalist MPs had argued that they would vote against the opposition motion because, they said, the focus was that the Leader of the Opposition had also not received the raise.

Therefore, he said, the Opposition would move an amendment to remove all references to him in the motion.

This vote, he said, was not just about the hidden raise given to ministers but a matter of credibility - the credibility of Parliament itself. 

This, therefore, was a vote according to the conscience of MPs like no other, Dr Muscat said.

Earlier in is speech, Dr Muscat said that that there were three issues are the heart of the current controversy on the raise the ministers had given themselves - good judgement, transparency and accountability.

He said the raise of €500 per week was bigger than what many workers and pensioners earned in a month.

The prime minister, he said, had taken a wrong decision, and at a bad time He kept it hidden, and he was not shouldering responsibility for it.

Dr Muscat was speaking in parliament on an opposition motion, presented on May 10, expresses disapproval at the way ministers' compensation has been raised, describing the Cabinet's decision as 'insensitive, arbitrary and lacking transparency'.

The motion notes that the Cabinet on May 5, 2008, decided that the Prime Minister, Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries, among others, were to start being paid the MP's honorarium along with their ministerial salary.

It was also decided that the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition would also be eligible for the honorarium along with the salaries of their posts.

A letter by the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, dated May 7, 2008, said that the allowances and honoraria were to be given to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker with effect from March 11, 2008.

The Prime Minister, Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries had since been receiving the compensation as decided on May 5, with modifications to the honoraria announced on January 19, 2011 after a public outcry. This compensation also included an increase in allowances compared to the previous legislature.

The motion expresses concern that the honoraria being given to the Prime Minister, Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries was not being issued from the funds allocated to Parliament, as required by regulation, but from other funds 'without parliamentary approval'.

It notes that the Leader of the Opposition had declared that he would transfer his raise to charity, but the raise has not been issued to him.

The motion says the government's attitude, particularly the attitude of the Ministry of Finance, reflected a lack of respect to the House.

In the light of the current economic situation and the resultant hardship on ordinary families , the motion calls on the House to disapprove the Cabinet's "insensitive attitude, arbitrary actions and the lack of transparency".

WRONG DECISION

Dr Muscat said that through his decision, the prime minister undermined the people's confidence in the most important institutions of the country. Every prime minister to date had been very careful with regard to the remuneration of politicians.

Dr Gonzi's actions had harmed his own Cabinet, but he had also harmed the people's confidence in politicians in general.

The decision was taken at a wrong time, at a Cabinet decision on May 5, 2008, just after the general election during which Dr Gonzi had said that he saw problems on the horizon.

This was a decision taken at the same time as the Cabinet was deciding to ignore promises of job security made to the workers at the dockyard and public transport. This was the same time when the government commissioned a report which recommended payment for health services.

At the same time, the government was removing the surcharge on utility bills and shelving the promise of reducing income tax.

How could a wise prime minister decide on a raise for himself and his ministers when families were burdened with heavy burdens? Dr Muscat said.

The bad situation was made worse by lack of transparency, with this decision having been kept hidden.

Dr Muscat insisted he was not given even the slightest indication at the time that the prime minister had taken this shameful decision, even though he was supposed to be involved.

Of course, he had never received a cent of the raise. Not that he wanted it, and he had declared that any raise would be handed to charity.

The raise was even kept hidden from parliament and the increase to the ministers was paid out of ministry funds, not parliament. That parliament was misled or not informed was a very serious matter, Dr Muscat said.

This was in stark contrast to how small businesses were hammered when they mistakenly filled in some tax return.

This whole issue, Dr Muscat said, would mark the Gonzi administration in history.

SELMUN WORKERS

It was not only pre-election promises which were not being kept, but also promises made after, Dr Muscat said.

Last November Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said in reply to a parliamentary question that the jobs of the workers at Selmun Palace Hotel were secure, and whoever bought the hotel would have to take on the workers.

Yet now these workers had been dumped by a minister who had been given a raise of €500 a week. This minister was therefore either misinformed or incompetent. Indeed, this minister had a track record which included corruption involving his personal secretary, fraud at the VAT Department which should have caused his resignation, and an overseas trip with friends on a private jet. Air Malta, Enemalta, the permanent residence scheme and the state of government finances were further evidence of his incompetence.

The minister was also messing up on compensation to families for the increased utility prices and had been contradicted by the trade unions.

It was incredible, Dr Muscat said, that at a time when families were suffering under heavy financial burdens, the prime minister was showing how cut off he was from reality by defending the raise given to himself and the ministers.

Those who voted with the prime minister tomorrow would be showing that they too were cut off from reality, Dr Muscat said.

He noted that some Nationalist MPs had argued that they would vote against the opposition motion because the focus was that the Leader of the Opposition had also not received the raise.

Therefore, he said, the Opposition would move an amendment to remove all referenced to him in the motion.

This vote, he said, was not just about the hidden raise given to ministers but a matter of credibility - the credibility of Parliament itself.