The President of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee, Luiđ Škrelja, said that he will most likely decide by the New Year whether to approve a 20 percent salary increase for the heads of parliamentary services, including the President's Cabinet.
The heads of 12 parliamentary sectors, i.e. organizational units, are seeking to change the decision on determining salary supplements for performing work in certain workplaces.
"The request for a salary increase has reached the Administrative Board, and we are yet to make a decision. By the end of the month, that is, another session will probably be held," Škrelja told "Vijesta".
The organizational units of the Assembly Service are the office of the president, the office of the secretary general, the sector for supporting the legislative and supervisory functions of the Assembly, the sector for research, documentation and IT network, the public relations department, the protocol department, the internal audit department,
Department of Personnel and General Affairs, Bureau of Human Resources Management.
Also the Bureau of General Affairs, Office, Service for Financial Affairs, Material Accounting and Maintenance and Public Procurement Affairs, Financial Affairs Bureau, Material Accounting and Maintenance Bureau and Public Procurement Bureau.
The Assembly recently introduced an allowance of 30 percent for its internal auditorsThe Assembly recently introduced an allowance of 30 percent for its internal auditors, stating that they do complex work.
And in the request for a salary increase for the service heads, it is written that their jobs are complex and that they deserve an increase.
The representative of the Ministry of Finance, Bojan Paunović, repeated two days ago at the Parliamentary Committee for the Political System that in 2019 there is no question of increasing the budget in any sector when it comes to wages.
If the Administrative Board were to accept the proposal of the heads of the assembly, it would mean a higher salary starting next year. The planned budget for the parliament for 2019 is nine million, and 3,1 million euros are projected for salaries.
This year's budget was 10,3 million, and 4,3 million went to salaries. Last year, the employees of the Assembly received their 13th salary before the New Year holidays.
Since the constitution of the new convocation of the Assembly at the end of 2016, the number of officials and employees has increased by about 10 percent, even though the state proclaimed a reduction in the number of employees in the public administration, and the European Commission in its reports insisted on its depoliticization. The President of the Assembly, vice-presidents and 81 deputies are currently followed by 210 officials.
The budget for the next year is planned for 201 employees, according to the government's proposal.
In the first half of the year, the Assembly distributed 180 euros for housing loans for parliamentary officials, although this was not foreseen in the 2018 budget.
Among the officials who received loans, there are also those who declared in their property records that they have at least two apartments. The advertisement for granting loans to improve housing conditions was announced in January, and a total of 300 euros was intended for the granting of loans.
The Law on Salaries in the Public Sector is also in force, increasing the salaries of MPs, which reach up to 2.000 euros.
They have not yet decided on the fees for the selection board
Luiđ Škrelja said that they did not receive anything regarding the formation of the Secretariat of the Committee for Amendment of Electoral Legislation. He explained that the Administrative Board only approves the fees.
The President of the Legislative Reform Committee and the Deputy President of the Assembly Branimir Gvozdenović (DPS) has already written in a letter to the members of that body that he was seriously working on the formation of the secretariat. Earlier, Gvozdenović, on his own initiative, "published an advertisement" in which he invited employees of the parliamentary professional service to apply for work in the Committee's Secretariat, which includes work in all 14 subcommittees. For now, it is not known whether compensation will be paid to board members and the professional service, and if this intention is realized, it would be a violation of the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector, which abolished compensation for work in committees, and MPs' work in working bodies is taken into account in monthly earnings. It is not known how many parliament officials are after
Gvozdenović's self-initiated ad got additional work.
Fines remain for DF MPs
The Administrative Committee rejected requests for annulment of decisions on fines, which were submitted by DF MPs Milan Knežević, Jovan Vučurović, Branko Radulović, Marina Jočić and Janko Vučinić. As published on the website of the Assembly, the Board stated that it made decisions on fines in accordance with the Rules of Procedure. They were punished for inappropriate statements in the parliament, while the decision for Nebojša Medojević was postponed because he was in prison.
Most of the deputies' statements concerned the work of the prosecution and SDT Milivoj Katnić.
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