Parliament adopts new economic measures to relieve the impact of the coronavirus crisis
MPs debated the new economic measures to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus crisis and the amendments to the budget all day Monday until late at night.
The question of MPs’ salaries - which were up for a scheduled increase - began with controversy last Thursday, went through a normalizing phase over the weekend only to flip turn suddenly at the very end in a surprising proposal from the majority.
Last week the speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayanchev defended the increase and maintained freezing would be a populist move. Mere hours after Karayancheva’s remarks PM Boyko Borissov ordered the salaries be frozen, which quickly led her to apologize for insisting for the raise in the first place. If this was GERB sending out mixed messages, their position was consistent from there on in: salaries should stay at the level at which they are at the time. By then, over the weekend, many MPs apparently had developed strong opinions on the matter and would express them Monday, during the debates and vote.
GERB started off by proposing salaries remain at their current rate (3747 leva). The largest parliamentary opposition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, proposed salaries be cut to where they were at the end of Parliament’s last session (2976 leva), small right-wing parties recommended MPs receive either half what they get now, receive minimum wage or nothing at all. After some very lengthy debates on what MPs should or should not receive as reimbursement, GERB finally doubled down and proposed MPs get no pay untill May 13. Going in from the most conservative position (freezing salaries), moving on to reject more moderate ideas (cutting salaries by some extent), GERB ultimately went all in and decided on the other far end of the spectrum, canceling pay altogether.
The amount the budget will save will go to a special fund the Ministry of Health established to help with the coronavirus crisis efforts.
The question of MPs’ salaries - which were up for a scheduled increase - began with controversy last Thursday, went through a normalizing phase over the weekend only to flip turn suddenly at the very end in a surprising proposal from the majority.
Last week the speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayanchev defended the increase and maintained freezing would be a populist move. Mere hours after Karayancheva’s remarks PM Boyko Borissov ordered the salaries be frozen, which quickly led her to apologize for insisting for the raise in the first place. If this was GERB sending out mixed messages, their position was consistent from there on in: salaries should stay at the level at which they are at the time. By then, over the weekend, many MPs apparently had developed strong opinions on the matter and would express them Monday, during the debates and vote.
GERB started off by proposing salaries remain at their current rate (3747 leva). The largest parliamentary opposition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, proposed salaries be cut to where they were at the end of Parliament’s last session (2976 leva), small right-wing parties recommended MPs receive either half what they get now, receive minimum wage or nothing at all. After some very lengthy debates on what MPs should or should not receive as reimbursement, GERB finally doubled down and proposed MPs get no pay untill May 13. Going in from the most conservative position (freezing salaries), moving on to reject more moderate ideas (cutting salaries by some extent), GERB ultimately went all in and decided on the other far end of the spectrum, canceling pay altogether.
The amount the budget will save will go to a special fund the Ministry of Health established to help with the coronavirus crisis efforts.
Източник: mediapool.bg
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