MALAYSIAN OPPOSITION ENDORSED A PROPOSAL TO INCREASE MP SALARY

Amid the increases in fuel prices, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said opposition Member of Parliments have endorsed in principal a proposal to increase MP salaries, saying it is high time their pay is revised.

Later in the evening, Shahidan confirmed that opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to the salary increment.

They asked for not only the salary to be revised but also allowances be provided to cover expenses for offices and researchers, said the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department

An MP currently receives a basic salary of RM6,508.59 and a meeting allowance of RM200 per day.

Shahidan said the salary restructuring would only involve the MPs as the ministers would not be getting any pay increase.

“I am sad, but what can be done since I was told that the salaries of the ministers, including the prime minister and deputy prime minister, will not be revised,” he quipped.

He said this was the best time for everybody, including the opposition, to agree on the issue. The last increment of about RM700 for MPs was made in 2002.

Source: The Malaysian Insider