At the moment, deputies in Slovakia’s parliament are not speaking very directly about how they will tighten their belts in response to a proposal by Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, approved by the governing Coalition Council, asking that both MPs and Cabinet ministers judge the issue of accepting lower salaries and act according to conscience, the SITA newswire wrote.
Parliamentary caucuses have not spoken officially about the issue. The caucus head of the opposition Slovak National Party, Rafael Rafaj, told the SITA newswire that members of parliament have had their salaries frozen already for two years and the state saved over €8,800 per MP. He recommended that the current “marvellous” government activate its foreign friendships instead and attract investors who would increase employment.
The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) of the four-party ruling coalition said it supports the idea of saving funds but its deputy Mária Sabolová is not quite sure whether a reduction of MP’s salaries is the proper solution. She said that many directors of state companies have salaries many times higher but nobody is speaking about them taking salary cuts.
Ruling coalition parties Most-Híd and the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) have not yet met to discuss the issue.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
