Officially the gross monthly salary of a Greek Member of the Parliament is 5.700 euro. However unofficially the salary is much higher and thus more than 8,000 euro.
Nea Dimocratia MP Fotini Pipili revealed the real income of MPs, reading out of her own payment declaration: 8,217 euro.
Basic Salary: 5,700 euro
Office organization: 935 euro
Postal service: 1,136 euro
Travel expenses: 363 euro (probably fuel cost).
Subtracting several deductions (like 20% contribution for the political party) the total amount comes down to 6,408 euro
Speaking to Skai Tv on Thursday morning, Pipili said that MPs have suffered several income cuts that amount several thousands of euro per year. (news247.gr)
MPs participating in several parliamentary committees receive compensation of 150 euro per meeting. Not ot mention the other benefits like free car, free telephone etc.
This will be cut down to 105 euro with the new austerity package. The new austerity will cut also the MP’s salaries bringing their monthly basic income down to 5,300 euro. The total saving will be 1,899,700 euro. (iefimerida)
PS What do we learn from this news? That what MPs pockets as office expenses are considered as ‘salary’ and land in their own pockets? Furthermore, I was reading recently on Greek internet claims that scientific assistants of MPs often have to pay a part of their salary (2,500 euro gross/month) to the MP who hires them.
And all of this does of course not include “directorships” and “advisory positions” with probably a multitude of companies and organisations. All, of course, capped with a handsome pesnion if the play nice and do as told.
It shows as you say, that there is something very, very wrong with the way these people get paid. It also shows that this is the only way to get them to behave the way they should. How about including a “morality” clause in their contracts? And accountability for their actions, or non-actions as the case may be?
Pay-to-pay politics, as in my country (US), allows politicians to be elected to represent ‘the people’ when in actuality the rich and businesses are paying them for special treatment in legislation (tax cuts, exemptions, etc.) Countries which prohibit or severely limit private donations to campaigns such as the Scandinavian nations have democracies which maintain financial growth in the lower classes and thus end up with a much better society (less crime, higher educational levels, longer life expectancy, etc.)
Any chance Greek MPs can be shamed into ‘leading by example’ and lowering their own salaries to a decent level, say twice the average salary of a working Greek, and giving up some of the more obscene perks? Somehow I doubt it.
me too
One thing politicians anywhere in the world don’t have a single notion of is “Shame”.
Secondly, why should a “hardworking politician” earn twice a much as a “hardworking cabinet maker”?
On the evidence available in society so far, the hard working cabinet maker works a lot harder, and produces a lot more useful stuff than the politician ever did.
The proof is his labour is out there, for all to see. Let the politician produce proof of any work, leave alone hard work, and in the absence thereoff, stop paying them completely. Now there’s a savings scheme for the Troika to consider…