The proposal to save on additional payments was ultimately rejected.
In search of ways to save on administrative expenses, the opposition decided to target the incomes of the Prime Minister, ministers, and parliamentary secretaries. Thus, opposition deputies proposed to reduce the salaries of parliamentary secretaries or not pay them at all if they are also serving as deputies.
"Let me be forgiven by those deputies who, in the course of their dual roles, work as parliamentary secretaries. I sincerely sympathize with them because it is a titanic job. Imagine, at commission meetings, representing the ministry, asking heretical questions to the ministry representative, answering them yourself, and then dealing with the extremely difficult decision regarding voting. But I absolutely sympathize with them and appreciate their contribution to the good of our country.
However, I am not quite clear on what these so-called freed parliamentary secretaries are doing, whose task is exclusively to represent the respective ministry in the Saeima. Well, for such a salary — 6800 euros — I think they should be working here 24/7. Therefore, the proposal of the UNITED LIST is to equate the salaries of parliamentary secretaries to the salary of a deputy and to suggest that parliamentary secretaries who are also deputies can either truly perform this responsible duty on a voluntary basis or entrust it to, let’s say, other people who may not have other responsibilities for the good of this country. And let me remind you that the salary of this parliamentary secretary is 1300 euros more than that of the head of the responsible commission... for example, Ms. Čakša, who heads the commission. I do not think that this is really fair," said deputy Ilgmars Līdaka (United List) from the podium. However, his proposal was not supported, nor was the proposal of his party colleague Edgars Tavars regarding additional payments to the Prime Minister and ministers: "The minister's salary is 7670 euros. The Prime Minister's salary is 8659 euros. We do not touch it, and there is also a 20 percent bonus, a 20 percent monthly bonus as representative expenses, which is credited monthly to the account of the minister, the Prime Minister without a report. For the minister, this is an additional 1534 euros on top of nearly 8000, and the Prime Minister receives an additional 1732 euros monthly alongside a salary of almost 9000.
Colleagues, by refusing these 20 percent monthly representative bonuses, we can now save almost 300,000 euros. We start with such things.
