SINGAPORE - The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) released a paper yesterday outlining its proposals on the salaries of political office holders, which the Opposition party said would be sent to an eight-member committee undertaking the review.
In its 14-page paper, titled Ethical Salaries For A Public Service Centred Government, the SDP set out five recommendations: To peg ministerial and presidential pay to the allowances of members of Parliament, to establish an independent salary commission and anti-corruption board, to discontinue variable bonuses and to provide allowances for ministers.
The SDP said the paper took four months to produce and was put together by a working group of about 10 people from the party's policy unit. Studying eight countries, the SDP suggested a formula where the President would take home 4.5 times what Members of Parliament (MPs) earn, and the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers four times and three times respectively.
The salaries of MPs would in turn be linked to the mean wage of the bottom 20th percentile in Singapore, which is S$1,400 according to the latest Ministry of Manpower statistics, said the SDP.
"This percentile has not seen an effective salary increase from 2001 to 2010," said Dr James Gomez, head of the SDP's policy unit.
"So because we want our elected political office holders to be sensitive to the people that have been ... left behind. So the yardstick of their performance is to uplift that 20th percentile."
The Opposition party also suggested the establishment of an independent anti-corruption board. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) should be moved out of the Prime Minister's Office and "answerable directly to Parliament as an independent agency", the SDP argued. Its annual reports should also be made public.
The SDP also suggested that all salaries, adjustments, pensions and claims entitlements by present and former office holders "be determined and reviewed" by an independent commission comprising non-partisan and non-government representatives. It should publish the salaries and their breakdowns yearly, the paper said. Ministers should also declare their commercial interests, shareholdings, directorships and other financial interests to this committee.
Finally, the SDP recommended that ministers would be allowed to make claims for any expenses relating to their official duties. "The claims ministers should be governed by a schedule, similar to Civil Service regulations, which should be published by the salary commission to ensure transparency and accountability," the paper said.
The SDP added that they would send the paper to Mr Gerard Ee, who is helming the official committee to review ministerial salaries here. Mr Ee had said in September that the committee had expected to complete the review before the end of the year.
In its 14-page paper, titled Ethical Salaries For A Public Service Centred Government, the SDP set out five recommendations: To peg ministerial and presidential pay to the allowances of members of Parliament, to establish an independent salary commission and anti-corruption board, to discontinue variable bonuses and to provide allowances for ministers.
The SDP said the paper took four months to produce and was put together by a working group of about 10 people from the party's policy unit. Studying eight countries, the SDP suggested a formula where the President would take home 4.5 times what Members of Parliament (MPs) earn, and the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers four times and three times respectively.
The salaries of MPs would in turn be linked to the mean wage of the bottom 20th percentile in Singapore, which is S$1,400 according to the latest Ministry of Manpower statistics, said the SDP.
"This percentile has not seen an effective salary increase from 2001 to 2010," said Dr James Gomez, head of the SDP's policy unit.
"So because we want our elected political office holders to be sensitive to the people that have been ... left behind. So the yardstick of their performance is to uplift that 20th percentile."
The Opposition party also suggested the establishment of an independent anti-corruption board. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) should be moved out of the Prime Minister's Office and "answerable directly to Parliament as an independent agency", the SDP argued. Its annual reports should also be made public.
The SDP also suggested that all salaries, adjustments, pensions and claims entitlements by present and former office holders "be determined and reviewed" by an independent commission comprising non-partisan and non-government representatives. It should publish the salaries and their breakdowns yearly, the paper said. Ministers should also declare their commercial interests, shareholdings, directorships and other financial interests to this committee.
Finally, the SDP recommended that ministers would be allowed to make claims for any expenses relating to their official duties. "The claims ministers should be governed by a schedule, similar to Civil Service regulations, which should be published by the salary commission to ensure transparency and accountability," the paper said.
The SDP added that they would send the paper to Mr Gerard Ee, who is helming the official committee to review ministerial salaries here. Mr Ee had said in September that the committee had expected to complete the review before the end of the year.
