MPs agree to wage cut

A LAW proposal to cut MPs’ annual pay by 10 per cent for two years was yesterday unanimously approved by the House Plenum.

The proposal was submitted to the plenum yesterday morning, before it began marathon discussions on 105 bills and law proposals.

The proposal, submitted by the House President and Director of the House, was passed as a matter of urgency.

All parties except AKEL had agreed to the cut, with the ruling party saying it would submit its views during the plenary discussion.

AKEL leader Nicos Katsourides yesterday said his party believed the matter shouldn’t be regulated by law but instead be left to individual MPs’ discretion to take a pay cut.

“But taking into consideration the will of the vast majority of MPs, AKEL decided to vote in favour of the law proposal,” said Katsourides.

The measure is expected to save the state around €100,000 a year, while each MP will have around €341 cut from their basic salary.

Speaking at the plenum yesterday, DIKO deputy Nicholas Papadopoulos, despite hailing the law as a positive gesture, said the savings were a drop in the ocean, and again proposed reining in the civil service payroll.

He said the 1,200 new jobs approved in the civil service last year amounted to an additional cost of €22 million for the state, while increases in civil servants’ wages as a result of CoLA (Cost of Living Allowance) would burden state coffers with an additional €80 million.

“So the €97,000 are not going to save us. We need more cutbacks,” Papadopoulos said.

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