– The timing is not right, says the Labor Party’s Kari Henriksen to news. She is a member of the Storting’s presidency, which on Monday issued a recommendation on the matter. It states that the government partner the Center Party will secure a majority for increased remuneration together with the Conservatives and the Progress Party. When the case later goes to court, the Liberal Party and probably also KrF will join this majority. SV and Rødt will tighten, while the Labor Party will postpone the question to the committee that reviews the executive salaries in the state has completed its work. The Labor Party’s Kari Henriksen is a member of the presidency of the Storting. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – The Presidency has also on its own initiative taken action to assess our own schemes in the Storting. It will therefore be very strange to change our salaries now, says Henriksen in the Labor Party. Astonished The reasoning of the Labor Party is met with astonishment by the government partner the Center Party. – The Storting has already decided that the executive salaries in the state shall not be used as a basis when calculating the remuneration of politicians. It is the general wage development that should be governing. The Labor Party even voted for this in May last year, and then it is surprising that they have changed their position, says Nils T. Bjørke who is Sp’s representative in the presidency. The Center Party’s Nils Bjørke believes it is reasonable to increase the remuneration after wage freezes and postponements. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB The Labor Party’s Kari Henriksen believes that executive salaries are relevant to include in the calculation, before the Storting takes a position on the issue. – As the situation is now, with increasing differences, it is important that we see the development in context, she says. Bikker million The Storting decided not to regulate remuneration from 2020. This will therefore be the first salary increase for the Storting representatives since 2019. Since 1 May 2019, the remuneration for Storting representatives has been NOK 987,997. But when the majority in the Storting now votes in favor of the proposal from the so-called remuneration committee, the sum will exceed NOK 1 million, with effect from 1 May 2022: Then Storting representatives will receive NOK 1,064,318 a year, ministers NOK 1,518,999 a year and the Prime Minister 1,869 .761 a year. – To give parliamentary representatives million income will be to go in the completely wrong direction. We would rather cut the Storting’s salary. It is a small but important measure to reduce the differences in society, says Rødt’s Bjørnar Moxnes. The Liberal Party’s Sveinung Rotevatn sees it differently and points out that the remuneration has been frozen since 2019. The Liberal Party and Sveinung Rotevatn are voting for increased politicians’ salaries. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news – We believe that the compensation should neither motivate nor demotivate people from being elected, and that it is at an appropriate level today. And then you have to adjust in line with wage developments elsewhere in society in the years to come, he says. Delay In the report from the Remuneration Committee, which is based on a majority in the Storting, politicians’ wage growth is estimated at 5.1 per cent this year. This is far more than what employees in the industry received, where the limit for the wage settlement was estimated at 3.7 per cent. At the same time, politicians did not get wage growth last year, when the wage settlement in industry ended at 2.7 percent. This is the basis for the calculations, the committee writes. – The committee has followed the wage development and the wage settlement, and submitted proposals on the basis of it. We in the Conservative Party think it looks real, Conservative Svein Harberg told news earlier this month. The FRP will also vote in favor of the wage increase. Storting President Masud Gharahkhani and FRP member of the Presidency Morten Wold do not agree on the matter. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB SV is alone in the presidency to want to cut politicians’ salaries now. In total, the party puts forward seven proposals, which also include new rules for how large the politicians’ total remuneration can be, for example when they hold office at different elected levels at the same time. When the matter is discussed in the Storting on Wednesday, Rødt will also put forward proposals for tightening. Neither Rødt, MDG, KrF nor Venstre are part of the presidency.
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Increases parliamentary salaries to over one million – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
