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".

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