Albanian President Bajram Begaj on Monday signed three new laws for increasing salaries, including that of his own, making him the highest-paid head of state in the region with a wage of €3860 a month.
The government recently tabled laws that would pave the way for the first increase in public administration salaries since 2006. Those impacted by the laws include not just the president, but senior officials, heads of institutions, and MPs and ministers.
Initially, MPs were not included in the pay rise, but protests in parliament resulted in their inclusion. Currently, members of parliament receive just under €1000 a month in salary, plus a similar amount in expenses.
In October 2022, Prime Minister Edi Rama was steadfast that salaries would not increase, but he changed his mind a few months later. The draft law to raise wages was voted on last week, with 97 in favour and two against.
The salary of MPs will now reach €2812 per month for ministers to €2889 per month, around €3625 for the prime minister and speaker of parliament. The latter previously received some €2066 a month, meaning their pay packet has increased almost 1.5 times.
Socialist MP Erjon Brace said that the salary increase must also be accompanied by increased efficiency.
The package of three laws approved in Parliament foresees an increase in the competencies of the Council of Ministers in determining salaries in the public sector, salary increases for judges and prosecutors, and a new salary increase scheme for the public administration, respecting what is known as the salary hierarchy, where the highest salary is for the President.
“The salary levels are not determined based on whim. But based on specific expertise. There is a salary pyramid. The President of the Republic cannot be paid less than a teacher, and we cannot have prosecutors who are paid more than the President,” said Rama, who did not vote to increase the salaries of MPs.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha also expressed opposition to the deputies’ salary increase.
He said that doubling salaries for high-ranking officials is a “shameful act” and that the government’s scheme does not increase salaries in the public sector, considering the level of inflation.
Although the law comes into effect in June, the beneficiaries will receive a salary increase starting in April.
But the new laws have not gone down well with everyone, as protests took place outside parliament on the day the laws were voted. Protestors threw eggs and deputies and held banners saying “Don’t get full” and “thieves”.
They call the salary increase disgusting when the minimum pension is just €72, with the average at €136.
Recent civil society and the ombudsman calls to introduce a minimum basic income level at which no person receiving state support should get less than have been ignored.
Meanwhile, the minimum wage in Albania increased from 1 April to €350 so “Albanians can lead a more dignified life and cope with rising prices”, but some argue this is not enough to fight inflation and increased cost of living.
(Isaac Dupree| Exit.al)
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