The honoraria saga liveblog

The background - What is the Labour honoraria motion? | DATA: salaries and honoraria | Why this vote is important for Lawrence Gonzi | What are people in the public sector paid? | Ministers' declarations of assets in 2008

Vote taken on amended motion: motion is passed. 35 in favour, 34 against.

Labour motion as amended does not pass. Opposition calls for division.

Vote taken on PM's amendment to motion: amendment is passed. 35 in favour, 34 against.

PM's amendment to the motion. Opposition calls for division.

Vote taken on Labour amendment to motion: amendment is not passed. 34 in favour, 35 against.

Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando addressing House. "Mr. Speaker, I was intending to vote with the Opposition on this motion to be coherent with the people's sentiment, however I will now be voting for the Prime Minister's counter-motion, after his clear admission of embarrassment and his promise to be more transparent and his proposal for a discussion within the Select Committee, whereby the salaries increase will be pinned to the House of Commons model."

Labour's amendment to its motion and Opposition calls for division: vote to be taken in 20 minutes.

Whips, Leader of the House discussing amendments with Speaker of the House.

12:37 Labour MP Helena Dalli asks for ruling by the Speaker on claims in her regard by Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia which "remain unsubstantiated".

12:31 Joe Mizzi moves Opposition's amendment to the motion.

Joe Mizzi resumes address to the House.

Prime Minister: "We will be moving an amendment to the motion: substitute censure and instead move to refer the matter to the Select Committee to evaluate the system used in the House of Commons of the UK and see whether this should be applicable in the payment of honoraria to members of the executive."

12:14 "I was quoted by MaltaToday saying that it was not opportune timing for this salary increase. David Agius got his dictation wrong this time... I am being portrayed as having agreed with this salary increase."

12:12 "Back in May 2008, in an interview to the Times the Prime Minister announced that ministers would be getting their honorarium. But in November, another newspaper [MaltaToday] announced that these ministers would actually be taking a higher honorarium."

12:05 "If this parliament had to adopt the Commons' system it would be the prime minister's MPs who resign first with all the corruption and conflicts of interest in this government."

Labour whip Joe Mizzi addressing the House.

12:03 Opposition leader Joseph Muscat: "We are insisting on our motion to go ahead if the Prime Minister is not intending to go back on the salary increase."

12:02 Prime Minister: "No. What I am proposing is that we study the UK Commons' system of regulating salaries, and use this as an opportunity to re-enter the Select Committee for the Strengthening of Democracy."

12:01 Opposition leader Joseph Muscat: "Will you go to the Select Committee and renounce the salary increase?"

11:58 "We must go back to the Select Committee for the Strengthening of Democracy and study whether the UK House of Commons' system of regulating the salaries of political office-holders."

11:52 "You [the Opposition] keep throwing the salt on the wound by hitting out at ministers' salaries and their assets... don't tell me you didn't know of this salary increase, when it was even revealed by the newspapers."

11:50 "If I had to ask lawyers and architect in this House what their profession earns them, it would be ten times this salary raise... what are we doing wrong by telling ministers that they will keep earning their honorarium as MPs for serving the country?"

11:46 "We legislated to pay former ministers and the Opposition leader a transitional salary for six months because of the difficulties they encounter in searching for a job after their political career... have we done something wrong by rewarding those who gave themselves to serving society?"

11:43 "I felt that an Opposition leader should also take home a salary that recognises his role as Opposition leader and MP; and giving the choice to a Speaker who is full-time and does not retain his private profession, to take home the same salary - which is what we gave to former Speaker Louis Galea, who was paid both the Speaker's salary and an MP's honorarium."

11:38 "There is a limit to what I can defend what has been in the interest of Opposition MPs who retained their employment in the civil service, and who did not even say whether this was good or not. Why was this anomaly, which I challenged and changed, good for the Opposition but not for ministers who previously had to forgo their MPs' honoraria?"

11:36 "Nobody stood up to protest the fact that by giving MPs the right to retain their employment in the civil service, had automatically given them a large raise."

11:34 "I didn't find it right that MPs lose their private earnings to just live by their honorarium."

11:32 "Opposition MPs have twisted this story and given a false narrative of what happened... this decision was taken in May 2008, and the way the Opposition leader seems to be pushing the line that this decision was just taken recently. This is false."

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi addressing the House.

Alfred Sant ends his address to the House.

11:27 “The way the salary saga was conducted created an ugly precedent… not even the Speaker of the House was aware of this increase. If there was ever a case where MPs were ridiculed and held in contempt, then this was it… these increases were not part of the House’s budget even though they were honoraria and not salary increases.”

11:25 “Last January, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi sounded just like a shop-steward when he tried to argue that since MPs from the civil service where allowed to retain their employment, then so should ministers be paid their honoraria… I’ve never such an arrogant way of characterising the duty us MPs should be carrying out that us. It was a manifest of greed for Cabinet ministers.”

11:22 “People are asking that while they are making sacrifices, decision-makers are honest and open and also make sacrifices… austerity also exists among us with the increase of fuel and energy prices, and the Air Malta redundancies. If we want to be honest today, we have to ask whether we want to discredit parliamentary democracy by ploughing ahead with these increased salaries.”

11:16 "MPs should not enter politics so that they can further their private or family's interests... ministers should accept criticism of their decisions, and they should not hide their decisions, because they are duty-bound to make such decisions openly and honestly. This is the kind of democracy that attracts people to politics."

11:14 "The income for a Cabinet minister should reflect the importance of this role, even though public service should be recognised as a duty to society rather than satisfying some ambition for private gain."

11:12 "This saga has increased the negative perception of the political class... reversed the perception of politics working towards the common good rather than personal gain."

11:10 "Irrespectively of what we've heard so far, this salary raise has been sensational in itself. It gave ministers a higher MPs' honoraria and a 20% duty allowance. Additionally, the raise was not given to the Opposition leader and the Speaker, whose salaries are indexed with those of the Cabinet. So did they know of this salary raise?"

Labour MP Alfred Sant addressing the House.

Tonio Fenech ends his address.

11:07 "Labour talks of the increase in utility prices as if I, Tonio Fenech, have been going to OPEC and telling them to raise their oil prices. If Labour is elected to government they will turn Malta into another Greece with their promises and the way they play to the gallery."

11:05 "The Opposition is saying this is a vote between Gonzi or families... they should tell the people what the families in Spain, Greece, Portugal and the UK are passing through right now. We worked to save jobs and create employment. We worked in the last three Budgets to reduce the burden of taxation, reducing income tax twice in a row."

11:03 "None of us is here for the money... I have no doubt that the money is being made outside of politics. So don't we want to attract the best minds to this House, people who have made a success of their careers and encourage them to enter politics?"

10:58 "It's not the aim of Budgets to announce salary raises, but for MPs to vote for budgetary estimates. The salary raises are administered by one office of the finance ministry... they were not hidden, and there was a newspaper that published the story of the salary raises."

10:56 "The message of this motion, and the spirit of the Opposition's debate today is telling people not to enter politics, and sending a message to people that politicians do not deserve such a raise."

10:55 "If there is hypocrisy in this motion, it's that Labour is hoping that a committee will increase salaries for ministers because they are hoping they will be in government next time around."

10:54  "When the decision was taken back on 5 May 2008 to raise the salaries, we were not facing the recession prompted by the international financial crisis."

Finance minister Tonio Fenech addressing the House.

Francis Zammit Dimech ends his address to the House.

10:51 "My other appeal is that it's high time for us to see whether all MPs have the right tools to carry out their duties

10:49 "Certainly there had to be engagement with MPs from both sides and the general public. I have to appeal to the government to be more conscious of the need for serious and effective communication on all aspects of its work. There is a wide gap between the enormous work government makes - and its results are setting the island apart from other countries - and the it is communicated effectively."

10:47 "What happened in this parliament was that MPs with an executive role should retain their parliamentary honoraria. What happened in Malta is something that should have been ages ago... now we must see how we as a political class, should move forwards. Undoubtedly, my criticism is that there were mistakes of communication, engagement, or ownership."

10:45 "When you have MPs like Joe Mizzi, passing remarks in parliament back in 2009 like 'since when ministers have taken an increase in their parliamentary remunerations we've been moving backwards'... so my question to all MPs is: if those who claim they didn't know of the increases are referring to the ministers' honoraria they way they do today, then what should we say of those Opposition MPs who knew of the salary increase?"

10:35 "This motion reminded me of a TV advert, in which a child in the back seat of the car tells his mum that he wants to stay in front. Because this motion is sounding like child's play... and now the Opposition is trying to remove all the references to the Opposition leader, the reason for the motion."

10:30 "This entire motion, from beginning to end, refers to the fact that Opposition leader was not paid the increased salary. The way it has been constructed starts from the May 2008 decision to increase salaries."

10:29 "The Opposition knows this attack will always work against the government, and it is trying to gain mileage from this attack by proposing this motion."

Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech addressing the House.

Anglu Farrugia ends his address to the House.

10:22 "Tonio Borg seemed to be telling us yesterday there was nothing wrong for the Cabinet to raise salaries by 500 euros a week since there is no other independent body to do it... but us both being lawyers, I say I have never heard that a lawyer acts like a judge. That's why we came to the House Business Committee to propose an independent commission with the Auditor General, the Ombudsman and the Chief Electoral Commission to propose a salary scale for all political office-holders, and then decide the mechanism of how these salaries should be increased and forget this raise for this legislature."

10:20 "The Opposition leader has decided to give this raised salary to charity through a commission chaired by Judge emeritus Philip Sciberras... and we told you that this is wrong, something morally wrong."

10:19 Addresses health minister Joe Cassar, a psychiatrist: "I had a couple whose son is disabled, who happened to also have been patients of Dr Cassar... and I ask him whether he will be accepting to take the double salary after seeing the hardship of this family."

10:14 "You are trying to justify something you knew was wrong, which is why you hid it... and this no mistake, this is a crime Mr Speaker - the crime of taking money from the people and trying to justify it here by giving the money to your colleagues, us as well."

10:13 “There was never any reference to the double salary they had been taking since 2008 in any of the last three budget votes, because we didn’t even know we were voting money into ministerial budgets for this raise.”

10: 12 "As soon as the PN won the general elections and parliament had not even been summoned, “Gonzi’s club” unilaterally decided to increase their salary two-fold, accompanied by a series of allowances."

10:11 "Is it normal to have politics done this way? Why did the honoraria increase have to be hidden? All things related with financial issues, where payments are made using public funds must always be debated and approved by parliament."

10:07 "This motion speaks to the conscientiousness of MPs... we're in politics to reflect the people's will. This is a matter of conscience, something we've heard being mentioned a lot recently. Today it is the national test for this House for that everyone of us really judges whether the government's actions on salary raises have been correct or not, and how this has led up to the motion of today."

10:06 Session resumes: Labour deputy leader Anglu Farrugia addressing the House.

Labour MP Joe Debono Grech winding-down speech. Parliament ends tonight. Session continues Saturday morning.

Tonio Borg ends his address to the House.

21:04 "There is no doubt that this issue has been raised for partisan reasons... it's not right that what we extended to civil servants who were elected MPs, and MPs who take home their private salaries, should not be granted to ministers. I don't think this debate should take such a 'demogogic' turn."

20:55 "Do we want to attract the best people to this parliament? I understand that if you are not ready to make sacrifices this job is not suitable for you... there shouldn't be a wide gap between what you earn in the private or public sector, and what you earn as a minister."

20:53 "It is always the Cabinet that must effect these salary raises, and a similar one was done by the Mintoff government, because we never created a body to regulate these affairs."

20:49 "In the British House of Commons, all ministers and other junior ministers and whips do not lose the honorarium because they are still elected as MPs by the people." [Borg has laid a paper on the table of the House that details these salaries].

20:47 "Every MP can continue with their private professions or civil service employment while ministers cannot since this would be an obvious conflict of interest. When the honararium was added to ministers' salaries, the same principle was being applied: to have MPs retain the salary of their public role, this time as ministers."

20:44 "There is quite an element of hypocrisy that this debate is taking place some three years after the change in salaries took place. It really is a partisan debate and which serves to have people question whether ministers should be paid or not the honorarium."

Deputy prime minister Tonio Borg addressing the House.

David Agius ends his address.

20:40 "I think it is political irresponsibility that we are being treated like punching bags, and the people out there are understanding this irresponsibility. They understand that the Opposition is harping on the difference between the €500 weekly raise for ministers and the €1.16 cost of living increase..."

20:36 "I ask the Opposition what its benchmarks are going to be for its ministers if it will be in government? Will it be the Ombudsman or the Auditor General to set this benchmark?"

20:33 "Lawrence Gonzi's hallmark is the quality of education for our children, our free healthcare, the European standard of our roads, the lowest level of unemployment in the EU, our quality of environment... this is never mentioned by the Opposition. It only tries to win a few votes by criticising Gonzi, so that it wins the next election."

20:31 "It is important to understand the work that our ministers and parliamentary secretaries do is a service to our country. And this service must be remunerated decently. We heard Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca talk of the sacrifice involved in seeing to the electorate's concerns... shouldn't MPs be paid decently?"

20:29 "Labour is trying to sow class envy... they are trying to paint this motion as a choice between Gonzi and the Maltese family. They should know better about what the Prime Minister has done for families."

20:24 "Mizzi should be reminded that he was aware of the salary raise, as was the Opposition leader, and that he pointed this out in parliament before this motion was presented... you are trying to gain political mileage, and trying to win the next general election by capitalising on the emotions of the people."

20:21 "MaltaToday, in November 2008, had published the story of the salary raise on its front page... and on 3 December both Joe Mizzi and myself were asked to give our opinion on this matter. Mizzi was quoted saying 'ministers deserve a raise' and that he 'agreed in principle with the increase in salaries but should be accompanied by a greater sense of accountability.' Why didn't Labour file a motion back then?"

20:19 "Today we have less ministers and a lower salary bill, and parliamentary secretaries have much more work to do today than ever before. Even Labour whip Joe Mizzi said us MPs are paid worse than Bangladesh MPs."

20:18  "What is exactly Labour's solution in its motion? Is this censure the only thing that the Opposition feels about this issue?"

Nationalist Whip David Agius addressing the House.

George Vella ends his address to the House.

20:14 "Anyone who votes against this motion is an accomplice of the government and against democracy..."

20:07 "The biggest problem here is the insensitivity of the timing... how can one drink champagne in front of somebody dying of thirst? I understand Jean-Pierre Farrugia's hysteria today. He was correct when he rebelled against his government, and when he felt insulted that backbenchers like him were ignored by the government. But I disagree with him that the Opposition is trying to reap political mileage, that this motion takes us nowhere, or that the Prime Minister 'ceded' some part of this honorarium. He's caught between a rock and a hard place."

20:05 "I hope the Accountant General will look into whether the MPs' honoraria payable to ministers could be paid from ministerial budgets and not from a general vote to the House of Represenatives."

20:03 A brief spat between Vella and the Nationalist whip David Agius. Vella tells Agius to "go quote some dissertation" (a polite reference to the whip's plagiarism during university examinations."

20:02 "I don't agree with the Speaker of the House when he said the raise was not in contempt of parliament... the same MPs of this government did not even know about these salary raises. The Prime Minister knows that this is not the way things are done. This was an insult to the House of Representatives."

19:58 "The argument is not whether ministers must be paid more or pocket their MPs' honorarium... what is being discussed is the opacity of the way things were carried out. It was two years after the salary raise was effected that the government officially informed the House of these salary raises."

19:53 "Karl Gouder calls this a comedy of errors and he still won't condemn... this motion by the Opposition is motion of censure against the government and its condemnable actions. We have a Cabinet that hid these salary raises, arrogantly effected an immediate raise, and withheld this raise for the Opposition leader and the Speaker of the House; and a lack of sensitivity to the realities of the people."

Labour MP George Vella addressing the House.

Karl Gouder ends his address.

19:49 "I cannot understand how this issue has come to this point... we may not agree, but we must administer this country and move forward. To me this motion takes us nowhere... it's just a motion that serves to embarrass the government. I'm surprised that some Opposition MPs are expecting, if not pleading, government MPs to vote for this motion."

19:45 "We need experienced and well-trained individuals, even people with experience in the private sector where efficiency is key, to be encouraged to run for parliament."

19:43 "It was a public relations mistake not to announce the raise... And there's never a good time to announce such a raise. But if must lead this country, with the big challenges we face, then we need good people, people who are qualified and who have vision for our country. Those who run for politics have a vocation."

19:40 "This government was one of the most hard-working of governments in helping people cope during the tough times internationally... and the results are there for all to see."

19:39 Nationalist MP Karl Gouder addresses the House.

Coleiro-Preca ends address with final words: "I'm proud to be Labour, and I'll be Labour until I die."

19:36 "I am certainly no thief... nobody can argue that because five years ago, us civil service employees were allowed to retain our employment as MPs, we've been getting a handsome salary. We give our service to citizens without any concern for our salaries."

19:31 "We've had careworkers being paid rubbish for a salary by their employment agencies... the reply to my PQ was that the same government was not even paying their contractors enough to pay the overtime on the weekend for these workers. Of course, this contractor is just another friend of the government, while the care-workers are breaking their backs in hospitals and homes for the elderly."

19:29 "It is not the time for these salary raises, and not just because of the situation of families out there... it is just not the time. Today families are not even going out to a restaurant to eat a pizza."

19:27 Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is talking of attacks from the press on her (she mentioned MaltaToday in her Facebook status today) and said she takes the 'attacks' "like a duck to the water" [sic].

Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca

Helena Dalli ends her address.

19:21 "We're paying taxes for Enemalta's efficiencies... we pay €500,000 for the Air Malta chief executive... we see money in the public sector going to quangos on the premise that the government department is not efficient: they are quangos without the rules of the civil service, and they just create jobs for those who help them stay in power."

19:17 "If Jean-Pierre Farrugia is serious he should now vote with this motion."

19:14 "Gonzi knows he cannot keep throwing money at his problems... even the last general elections were bought with promotions, jobs in the public sector, and MEPA permits. The government was elected through these abuses and keeps stumbling from one crisis to the other with a one-seat majority."

19:13 "In a bid to keep the peace, the Prime Minister gave some MPs the job of 'parliamentary assistant' or chairmanships... now Jean-Pierre Farrugia tells us that some parliamentary assistants are not even attending parliament."

19:11 "The PN media and PBS have reported the Prime Minister's visit to British prime minister David Cameron but nowhere did they mention that Cameron effected pay cuts in his ministers' salaries due to the cutbacks of his government."

19:09 "The scandal here is that the government is telling people to make sacrifices because of the international financial crisis... while the Cabinet is taking a salary raise. The Prime Minister tried to patch it up by paying back the increased honorarium."

19:07 "I could see the Hon. Farrugia's face go white when Joseph Muscat said he would be amending the motion and remove all references to the Opposition leader, because he stole the carpet from under his feet... it removed all obstacles for him to vote for this motion."

Labour MP Helena Dalli addressing House.

Jean-Pierre Farrugia ends his address.

19:05 "I didn't know what ministers' salaries and allowances were before the raise so I couldn't compare... I appeal to the Prime Minister to reconsider to ask the Cabinet to decrease its duty allowance [20% of the salary as a top-up on the ministers' salaries].

19:02 "We have to be wary of creating a brain drain in politics... we saw a Speaker like Louis Galea going to Brussels [Galea was appointed a member of the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg by the Prime Minister]."

19:00 "Nobody from the Opposition talked about the increased honorarium that was paid to ministers two years ago... it's true they knew back in 2009 that ministers and parliamentary secretaries were being paid their honorarium."

18:56 Opposition calling out to Farrugia to name parliamentary assistants (MPs assisting minister) who are not attending House sittings. Helena Dalli heard calling out 'chicken' at Farrugia.

18:55 "I've seen the comments posted on news websites saying that MPs don't attend parliament... I ask the Prime Minister whether he knows that a parliamentary assistant has been pocketing his salary and missed out on 28 sittings since January."

18:49 Farrugia elicits laughter among the Opposition benches with some wrong statistics on the Cabinet ministers' raise. Some sparring with Helena Dalli taking place.

18:48 "I am not voting with an Opposition that has been chaotic on this motion from the start... I said I would vote with the Opposition. I must say that within less than 24 hours after that declaration, the Prime Minister met me, and other MPs... the Opposition knew for the past two years of the so called 'double salary' and none of you ever said anything, and left it until this year to move this motion. All the Opposition is interested in is power."

18:44 Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia addressing House.

Joseph Muscat ends opening address

18:43 "If there was ever a vote on conscience, this it it - and for MPs it will be either a vote in favour of the prime minister or Maltese families."

18:42 "We're separating the boys from the men: I am presenting an amendment to the motion to remove all references to the Opposition leader. This discussion, this vote is not simply about the honoraria, about a bad decision that was mistakenly made and then covered up. This vote is about the credibility of this institution - not government's - but the highest institution in our country. A vote for our future... and youths who want to enter politics."

18:39 "It is incredible that this Prime Minister is defending the salary raise for him and his ministers when there are families who find today's cost of living impossible... when we come to voting tomorrow afternoon, anyone who votes with this prime minister will be cut off from the reality of this country's people."

18:34 "The finance minister has the same characteristics of the Prime Minister and his government... the lack of transparency in the proven corruption of his private secretary, who was paid money to waive fines for contractors, and the lack of accountability in the VAT fraud investigation, which in a normal country would have led any decent politician to resign."

18:32 "Recently parliament was asked whether the jobs of the Selmun hotel's employees were safeguarded... finance minister Tonio Fenech in November 2010 said the buyer of the hotel had to employ the workers as well. Today he is throwing them away. Is the way one promotes families?"

18:30 "(Parliamentary Secretary) Chris Said's address to the ILO said economic development should not come at the expense of social justice... while this speech was taking place in Geneva, the government was announcing lay-offs and redundancies in Malta."

18:28 "If Gonzi's legislature had the Euro as its hallmark in 2008, this time it is his lack of accountability in giving ministers a raise... this is a symptom of a government being built in the image of its prime minister."

18:27 "Government tarnished all its MPs, with the resultant damage it created in public perception... the prime minister's irresponsible action made MPs the object of public ridicule."

18:25 "The salary raise was effected without parliament voting for it during the budgetary votes, because the raise was being paid from ministerial budgets... this is a case of lack of transparency."

18:24 Opposition leader Joseph Muscat addressing parliament.