PM Wong, Chan Chun Sing to speak in Parliament on salary review for MPs, political office holders

Parliament will debate the Government's response to an independent committee's recommendations on salaries for Members of Parliament and political office holders, when it sits this week.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing will deliver ministerial statements on the matter on Tuesday (Sept 8).

Following which, the matter will be debated on Thursday.

Earlier in January, Chan, who is also Minister-in-charge of the Public Service and Minister for Defence had informed Parliament that the salary structure and benchmark of political office holders will be reviewed by an 8-member independent committee .

The committee is chaired by Gan Seow Kee, who is chairman of Singapore LNG Corporation and a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers.

The wages of political office holders — including the President, Prime Minister, Speaker, MPs and NMPs — have not been adjusted since 2012.

That year, the current salary framework for political office holders was established by a review committee, which also recommended that the framework be reviewed by an independent committee every five years.

A subsequent committee in 2017 found the framework sound, but recommended that political wages be adjusted annually in line with the movement of benchmark salaries.

Political salaries benchmarked against private sector

The scheduled review in 2023 was deferred given the uncertain external environment and downside risks in the global economy.

Under the current framework, political salaries are benchmarked against the private sector, with ministerial wages benchmarked to the median top 1,000 Singaporean earners, with a 40 per cent discount to reflect the ethos of public service.

The salaries of other political office holders are, in turn, determined based on ratios to ministerial salaries.

On May 6, the coordinating minister, in a written parliamentary reply to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam, said the Government has decided to defer consideration of the committee's recommendations due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

The review was completed in April, according to Chan.

In his response, Chan said the recommendations will be considered when the impact of the conflict on Singapore is clearer.

This, he said, will allow MPs to review them together "for a more meaningful debate".

本周议会将就政府对独立委员会关于议员和政治官员薪酬建议的回应进行辩论。

总理黄循财和公共服务统筹部长陈振声将于星期二（9月8日）就此事发表部长声明。

随后，该事项将于周四进行辩论。

今年1月初，兼任公共服务部长和国防部长的陈先生曾向国会表示，将由一个8人组成的独立委员会审查政治职务持有者的薪酬结构和基准。

该委员会主席是颜绍基，他是新加坡液化天然气公司董事长兼总统顾问委员会成员。

自 2012 年以来，包括总统、总理、议长、国会议员和非选区议员在内的政治官员的工资一直没有调整。

那一年，审查委员会制定了现行的政治官员薪酬框架，并建议由独立委员会每五年对该框架进行一次审查。

2017 年，一个后续委员会认为该框架合理，但建议政治薪酬应根据基准工资的变动每年进行调整。

政治薪酬与私营部门的薪酬进行比较

鉴于外部环境的不确定性和全球经济的下行风险，原定于 2023 年进行的审查被推迟。

在目前的框架下，政治人物的薪酬以私营部门为基准，部长级官员的工资以新加坡收入最高的 1000 人的收入中位数为基准，并打 40% 的折扣，以体现公共服务的精神。

其他政治官员的薪水则根据与部长级官员薪水的比例来确定。

5月6日，统筹部长在给马西岭-油池集选区议员严正信的书面国会答复中表示，由于中东冲突持续，政府已决定推迟审议委员会的建议。

据陈女士称，审查工作已于4月份完成。

陈先生在回应中表示，将在冲突对新加坡的影响更加明朗后考虑这些建议。

他说，这将使议员们能够一起审查这些文件，“以便进行更有意义的辩论”。