The Nationalist Party said this evening that there was nothing new in an Opposition motion in Parliament on the raise given to the members of the Cabinet.
It, however, raised questions about how a man who had been designated by the Opposition leader as his personal driver was working for the Labour Party and being paid from public funds.
The Opposition motion was presented to the Clerk of the House this afternoon by Opposition whip Joe Mizzi (See - http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110510/local/opposition-moves-house-motion-against-ministerial-pay-raise.364644 .
The PN said all information on the income of the members of the Cabinet had been presented in parliament and therefore there was transparency.
What had emerged from the Opposition motion, the PN said, was that Joseph Muscat had had a change of heart and now wanted the raise in this legislature after having said he would taken it after the next general election.
The PN noted that Parliament had agreed that before any changes were made to the honoraria of the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition and MPs, agreement had to be reached in a Parliamentary Committee.
Dr Muscat was now involving charity in the issue when it was well known that those who really wanted to donate to charity did so quietly and not for political reasons, the PN said.
As for the Opposition complaints about lack of transparency, the PN said that when Dr Muscat became Leader of the Opposition, he had selected an employee of the public service to become his driver, while being paid by the government. Yet this person was now working for the PL.
The PN said Dr Muscat needed to explain what this person was doing while he was paid from public funds. The agreement which, it said, Dr Muscat had not honoured, was for this person to work as his driver and not for the PL to save itself a salary.