It would be perfectly fine if the Prime Minister's salary were among the highest paid from the budget, because the responsibility required of him is the greatest possible, but it is also in the interest of citizens to pay officials for their work and to control that work from every possible angle. .
This is what he assessed for "Vijesti". Srdjan Peric from Preokret, answering questions about whether the Government, that is, the Ministry of Finance, published a list of the 1.000 highest net salaries paid in December due to populism and whether it is acceptable that the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic be at the very bottom.
"The prime minister is the first person in the executive power, according to the Constitution, the person with the widest scope of executive power, so if he will have a lower salary than, say, an independent officer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) or the general secretary of the Assembly, then it is clear that the existing, both legal and by-law the framework is neither balanced nor appropriate", said Perić.
He said that if an efficient and sustainable system is desired, then the salary ratio must also follow the degree of responsibility, in accordance with the budgetary possibilities.
The list of the 1.000 highest earners in December, which the government announced on Wednesday, includes leading people in the country - the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, Spajić and the first man of the Assembly Andrija Mandić.
However, their salaries are significantly lower than the salaries of certain doctors, prosecutors, presidents of courts or state secretaries, which exceed 3.000 euros.
On the Government's list, 63 people received over 3.000 euros in December, while 787 of them received a salary in the range of 2.000 to 3.000 euros.
Milatović's December salary was 1.932 euros, Spajić's 1.813 euros, while Mandić received a salary of 2.597 euros last month.
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Perić said that the salary or any privileges that any official receives should enable him to function in order to provide the most in a certain position and thus be the most useful to the community that pays him.
"Then when you see that the prime minister's salary is in the 1000th place from the funds that, if I understood correctly, are paid from the budget, then it is clear that either he is not required to be overly active or the idea of the importance of his job is completely distorted" , said Perić.
When asked by "Vijesti" whether the Government, that is, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) omitted or added someone to the published list so that the Prime Minister would have the lowest salary and be the last on the list, the Government announced that they forwarded the questions to the MoF. There was no response from that department yesterday.
"When you let the information about that salary into the public space, as it has been done now, it is implied that the story of modesty and expected honesty is added to it - because only someone so modest and/or dedicated works exclusively with the idea of the common good. It is Montesquieu's thought that every man in power is tempted to abuse it, every one, in every time and space. Whether he will do it or not is a matter of character, quality of personality, circumstances...", said Perić.
He adds that it is precisely for this reason that it should be emphasized that both officials and citizens need to control their behavior, and not agree in advance to the framework that they do not necessarily have to account for everything they do while performing some of the umbrella functions in the state, because " they do it almost voluntarily, so the best intention is implied".
"Should we remember that the borrowing of 750 million euros was carried out in an illegal and non-transparent manner? We have another example, that, for example, prime ministers receive modest salaries for that job, but the travel expenses of the cabinet on a monthly level can transfer up to half a million euros," Perić pointed out.
He pointed out that it is in the interest of citizens to pay officials for their work and to control that work from every possible angle, and that in the end, the quality of life of all citizens often depends on the quality of that work.
When it comes to representatives of the Government, the list includes the Deputy Prime Minister for Labour, Education, Health and Social Affairs, Srđan Pavićević who received 2.071 euros in December and the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Economic Development Nick Djelosaj 1.823. Minister of Sports and Youth Dragoslav Šcekić he received December earnings of 1.889 euros.
Three independent advisers in the General Secretariat of the Government received EUR 2.203, EUR 2.183 and EUR 2.155 in December.
Last month, one of the vice-presidents of the Assembly received 475 euros less than the president of the Assembly, that is, 2.122 euros. The vice-presidents of the parliament are Zdenka Popović (Democrats) and Boris Pejović (PES).
General Secretary of the Assembly Aleksandar Klaric received 1.917 euros in December, and his deputies received 1.918 and 1.909 euros respectively. Klaric's pronouns are Milena Vuković i Lidija Grdinić.
When it comes to representatives of the judiciary and prosecution, the highest salary of 3.997 euros is received by the temporary head of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT). Tatjana Begović.
Acting President of the Supreme Court Vesna Vuckovic received 3.801 euros in December, President of the Court of Appeal Musika Dujović 3.351, the state prosecutor in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office 3.319 euros, two judges in the High Court who act in cases of organized crime, corruption, and money laundering, terrorism and war crimes 3.258, that is, 3.256 euros, a judge of the Supreme Court 3.147 euros...
Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović he received 3.600 euros.
When it comes to judges of the Constitutional Court, two judges received 2.442 euros each, one 2.466 euros, and their colleague who received 2.185 euros is also on the list.
The Secretary General of the Constitutional Court received 2.139 euros in December.
There are also 20 deputies on the list
There are also 20 members of the Assembly on the Government's list of the highest earners. Of these, there are ten MPs who received earnings above 2.000 euros, and nine who had earnings in the range of 1.833 to 2.000 euros. The Assembly has not yet published the list of MPs' salaries for the previous month on its website.
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