A BA resident has asked why Government agreed to approve a pay increase early in its term, especially when it was critical of the “excessive” salaries received by the FijiFirst administration.
Paul Seforana told the Meet the Press event in Ba that when the Government was elected and sworn in, one of the first actions of its MPs was to approve an increase in salaries and allowances. He said the issue was big on the campaign trail.
He also wanted to know whether the current government — if re-elected — would seek to increase the perks it currently received.
In response, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said salaries, particularly for MPs, was an issue that Parliament itself handled and not the Government.
“In fact, sometimes when they come up with recommendations, the Government may hold back on it or ask them to reconsider, depending on the situation,” he said.
“The one that we have received recently was given an improper, probably wrong profile, because it came behind or after a big reduction, an across-the-board reduction in the previous government’s salaries and allowances because of the COVID effect.”
Mr Rabuka said the Parliament’s emolument committee, led by Information Minister Lynda Tabuya, recommended an increase that factored in both a restoration of a previous amount and an additional raise.
“It was a very lively debate, but in the end, our members carried it through. But we, I believe, properly justified the increases through what we had said in the debate in Parliament.”
Adding on, Transport and Public Works Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau said this could be reviewed.
“It’s subject to review and that’s something that we had discussed, to be re-looked at.”
