Pritam Singh agrees with one-off 9% wage raise for ministers, but maintains salaries should be pegged to MPs' pay
The Workers' Party (WP) concurs with the "more sober approach" to apply a one-time adjustment of up to nine per cent on the current wages of political office holders, party chief Pritam Singh said on Thursday (Sept 10).But he maintained the party's 2012 view that the MR4 benchmark figure should be determined based on "a more accessible reference point for the public" — the allowance of a Member of Parliament (MP). "We take the view that pegging Ministerial salaries to a multiple of an MP's salary, which is in turn derived from a public sector appointee, is preferred to one that bases Ministerial salaries from a discount to the median salary of the top 1000 earners in Singapore," he said in Parliament."Under our 2012 proposal, and with the passage of time, the increases to Minister's total salaries would be more modest."WP's formula includes a "more modest" variable component composition.