Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar, who pre­vi­ous­ly de­scribed salary in­creas­es for par­lia­men­tar­i­ans as “ob­scene,” says she has no choice but to ac­cept the pay hike be­cause of the Gov­ern­ment’s de­ci­sion.

When asked if she planned to take the raise yes­ter­day, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said: “I was ad­vised by my MPs and oth­ers that I have no choice (but to ac­cept). It is not some­thing I can re­ject be­cause the Gov­ern­ment has tak­en that de­ci­sion and it is in the hands of the Gov­ern­ment.”

Speak­ing fol­low­ing the fu­ner­al of UNC stal­wart at Ra­mai Trace, Debe, Per­sad-Bisses­sar re­peat­ed her op­po­si­tion to the in­crease, cit­ing the eco­nom­ic chal­lenges fac­ing the coun­try.

“So call­ing on me not to ac­cept, they told me I can­not do that. I think once be­fore we tried to refuse an in­crease and it didn’t hap­pen. It is ful­ly in the hands of the Gov­ern­ment.”

In No­vem­ber 2024, the Salaries Re­view Com­mis­sion (SRC) rec­om­mend­ed sig­nif­i­cant salary in­creas­es for top gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials. The Prime Min­is­ter’s month­ly salary was pro­posed to rise from $59,680 to $87,847, a 47 per cent in­crease, ef­fec­tive Oc­to­ber 1, 2023. The Pres­i­dent’s salary was set to in­crease by 26 per cent to $81,170, ef­fec­tive April 1, 2023. The Op­po­si­tion Leader’s salary was rec­om­mend­ed to in­crease from $29,590 to $52,159, a 76 per cent hike, ef­fec­tive Oc­to­ber 1, 2023.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar pre­vi­ous­ly op­posed the in­creas­es, stat­ing, “I don’t be­lieve the Prime Min­is­ter should get an in­crease at this time. I don’t be­lieve the Pres­i­dent should get an in­crease at this time. I don’t be­lieve that Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar, the Op­po­si­tion Leader, should get an in­crease at this time—no, no! Now isn’t the time when you’re of­fer­ing peo­ple one per cent, two per cent, four per cent—it’s ob­scene! It’s dis­re­spect­ful at this time.”

She main­tained that salary in­creas­es should go to judges and pub­lic ser­vants rather than politi­cians, par­tic­u­lar­ly as oth­er pub­lic sec­tor work­ers re­ceived min­i­mal rais­es.

The pro­posed in­creas­es sparked pub­lic de­bate, par­tic­u­lar­ly in light of Gov­ern­ment’s re­cent of­fer of a five per cent pay in­crease for pub­lic sec­tor work­ers for the 2020-2022 pe­ri­od. The new salaries for the Prime Min­is­ter and oth­er pub­lic of­fi­cials are set to take ef­fect at the end of this month.