MPs can receive up to 700 euros in addition to their salary, and the only criterion for this is that the Collegium of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro has assessed that they have "specially contributed" or "additionally engaged" in the work of the parliament or working bodies.
The decision on the variable part of the salary for members of the Parliament stipulates that for special contributions and additional engagement, they can be rewarded with up to 80 percent of the average net salary in Montenegro in the previous year.
According to data from the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Speaker of Parliament Andrija Mandic He made a special contribution and was additionally engaged during all 12 months, including August, during the collective annual holidays in the Parliament of Montenegro. The amount of the awards for his work is not known, because the first man of the parliament received 2.684 euros per month throughout the year.
"In accordance with Article 11 of the Law on Salaries of Public Sector Employees, the variable part of the salary is paid together with the basic salary. This is how it was reported to the ASK in the annual report. The President receives the variable for his work in the Collegium, and all members of the Collegium receive the same amount, as do all presidents of permanent working bodies, and in accordance with Article 3 of the Decision on the Variable Part of the Salary for Members of the Parliament of Montenegro ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 87/17), Mandić's Cabinet responded, adding that since the beginning of his mandate in that position, he has been "focused on rationalizing the costs of official activities, which includes the practice of not using per diems for official trips, or waiving the corresponding per diems."
A similar response came from parliament regarding the vice president. Zdenka Popovic.
"The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament duly reported all income, including variable income. Variables are paid together with the basic monthly salary, so the variable is included in the reported monthly income, together with the basic salary. In other words, the sum of the basic salary and the variable was reported," the response said.
Popović also received 2.228 euros per month throughout the year...
Suspended decision with fixed amounts
According to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, a deputy is entitled to salary, compensation, and rewards during the performance of his/her duties as a deputy.
This means that MPs have the right to be paid additionally for their work in the Collegium of the President of the Assembly, as well as in parliamentary committees. The Rules of Procedure also allow for the possibility of rewarding MPs for special contributions.
The Decision on Remuneration for Participation in the Work of the Collegium and Working Bodies of the Assembly was in force until the end of March 2016.
According to that decision, the President of the Assembly received 375 euros for his work in the Collegium, and members, deputy presidents of parliament and heads of parliamentary groups received 300 euros.
Chairmen of parliamentary committees were entitled to a compensation of 300 euros, and members to 150. If an MP was a member of two or more parliamentary bodies, he was entitled to a compensation of 225 euros.
Since December 2017, only the Decision on the Variable Part of the Salary for MPs has been in force, which, instead of fixed amounts, relies on average net salary.
That salary, at least according to official data, is growing year after year, and last year it amounted to 876 euros.
Last year, the State Audit Institution also questioned the method of paying variables to MPs in its audit report.
Associate in programs at the Center for Civic Education Nikola Mirković It is not surprising that "the Assembly uses the decision that is of greater benefit to the officials in this institution."
"The variable part of the salary is not unknown in the public sector, including among members of the Parliament, and it is defined by the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector. Unfortunately, we are starting to get used to, although we shouldn't, that public officials do not have a homely attitude towards state resources," he said.
According to the director of BIRN Vuka Marash, the system that existed in the Parliament, according to which MPs were paid additionally for membership in committees, the collegium..., was also "a way to extract more money than they are entitled to, because it is all part of the work of an MP."
"But there was a limit to what could be done," he emphasized.
How is the basic, not the “special contribution”, measured?
Mirković emphasizes that, in addition to the amount of variables, the criteria are questionable.
"That is, the method and calculation by which this variable part of the salary is obtained and how much it is deserved. In the Assembly's responses that could be heard in the media, it is a reward for extraordinary contribution, and we do not know how such contribution is measured. It is worth noting that for some MPs, the basic contribution, and therefore the basic part of the salary, is questionable, and we see them on the list of those who also received variable. However, it is clear that this fog that also allows for abuse suits a sufficient majority for this not to change," he points out.
He reminds that the CCE, in several waves, based on precise data, pointed to a significant number of actually inactive MPs in the plenum.
"Although activity in the plenum is not the only form of their parliamentary work, we are also witnessing a rather low intensity of that work through committees. Of course, honor to the exceptions who perform their parliamentary work with dedication, but the majority of MPs do not even attend committee sessions, but consciously boycott them, some appear for the sake of order and stay for a short time, and committees often fail to even have a quorum for work, let alone fulfill their control function," he emphasized.
Mirković says that the quality of the engagement of MPs and the decisions they make are questionable.
"It is forgotten to what extent decisions of the greatest interest are made in the Parliament, and there are too many bad decisions. For example, more than a third of the famous IBAR laws, which were celebrated as a great success of this government, are already in the process of being revised due to shortcomings, and not even a year has passed since their adoption. However, we see that those who raised their hands in a disciplined manner for such laws are also being rewarded, and it is to be assumed that many have not even read them," Mirković pointed out.
He also reminded that monetary rewards are not the only benefits that MPs enjoy.
"There are also daily allowances for travel in the country and abroad, allowances, official telephones, fuel, allowances for MPs who come from other cities, benefits of the parliamentary restaurant, official vehicles that are already commonly used as private vehicles... So, there is an undeniable need to differentiate the way in which the MP's function is performed and to more clearly define the system of rewarding contributions, but there should also be a mechanism that sanctions MPs who do not do their job. The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament are not sufficient here, because as a more technical document they do not have that power, but a Law on the Parliament is needed, which should offer solutions for these and many other issues in a draft, but that draft is nowhere in sight," he concluded.
When the "boss" pays the guild
Maraš warns that an MP does not have to be a member of the Collegium, president or member of an assembly committee.
"But that is also part of the job of an MP. However, our MPs previously found a way to increase their earnings through these additional fees, which had a certain limit. Since that was not enough, they resorted to a mechanism for determining variables, which is really pointless, because an MP does not have a boss in the Assembly. Their bosses are directly citizens," says Maraš.
According to him, the Speaker of Parliament cannot "determine which MPs are good and which are not."
"That's not his job. The entire system is designed to extract as much money as possible for themselves, without even thinking about whether these solutions are logical, whether they are collapsing the system, and whether they are sending a message that, if we were lucky and if we were a well-organized country, should be completely different," Maraš said, adding that "the MPs just continue to make the entire system in the country meaningless."
"This is one of the key pieces of evidence that personal interests are more important than anything else," he said.
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