The increases that members of the opposition PPP/C received on their parliamentary salaries are being placed in a special bank account in the name of the opposition, PPP/C Chief Whip Gail Teixeira told the National Assembly yesterday.
The issue came up during Junior Communities Minister Valerie Adams-Patterson’s contribution to the budget debate.
Adams-Patterson pointed out that a lot is often heard of the salary increase ministers received—one government MP said it was “well-received”—after entering office last year but the opposition MPs also received increases.
She claimed that the opposition members had told the House that they will be putting the money in a special bank account to be refunded to the National Assembly. On the prompting of one of her colleagues, she quickly corrected herself and indicated that the opposition had said the monies would have gone to a charitable organisation. By this time, Teixeira was already on her feet objecting, on a point of order.
Teixeira said that Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs has letters instructing that the $23,000 increase that the opposition MPs received should be deducted from their salaries and be placed in an account under the opposition. She did not, however, indicate what the money was being used for.
Last year November, the PPP, in a statement, had said that its MPs were expected to deposit their salary increases into an account in the name of the party. The PPP had said that the party would not be accepting hikes which were instituted in tandem with the controversial 50% salary hikes for government ministers.
