Chairman of the United Progressive Party D.Gisele Isaac has accused Prime Minister Gaston Browne of trying to “save face” after he claimed that Opposition parliamentarians were included in the 14 percent salary increase that he and his ministers awarded themselves.
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The Browne Administration recently circulated the 2024 Recurrent Expenditure for Parliament as proof that the Opposition Benches were to be included in the pay hike.
However, Isaac challenges the prime minister, asking how Opposition parliamentarians could have been granted a raise when they neither knew about nor have seen any such salary increase.
According to the UPP Chair, if everything had been above board, the matter would not have been shrouded in secrecy. She adds that, prior to the Administration’s circulation of the Expenditure page, no Cabinet Notes or any other information from the Government had announced that any such raise was to
take effect for parliamentarians.
Even more telling are two separate circulars – one dated December 29, 2023, and the other January 17, 2024 – that were signed by the financial secretary and addressed to the clerk to Parliament.
The documents explicitly excludes parliamentarians and ministers from the January 2024 public-sector salary increases.
Isaac notes that, in a further cover up, the prime minister claimed there was a “glitch” in the relay of information from the Parliament.
The UPP chair explains that any such “glitch” is unlikely – since, with the December 2022 dissolution of Parliament, the term of office for all parliamentarians – Government and Opposition – was ended.
All elected persons would then have begun a new term in office on January 18, 2024.
Therefore, if any such salary increases had been put in place for all parliamentarians, Isaac says, the Opposition lawmakers would have been included.
SOURCE: REAL News
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