Haxhiu: Transitional salaries costing 2 million euros are unfair, but legal

The Speaker of the Parliament, Albulena Haxhiu, has called it unfair that the 85 deputies of the 10th legislature, who have only worked for two and a half months, receive salaries of 2 thousand euros per month for an entire year. Haxhiu has said that she is ready to change the law if there are such initiatives.

The Speaker of the Parliament, Albulena Haxhiu, called it unfair on Wednesday that MPs who worked for only two and a half months should receive a transitional salary of two thousand euros per month for another year.

A day ago, KOHA reported that 85 MPs declared before the Assembly that they have no other financial income, in order to benefit from the transitional salary for 1 year, without working.

If they are not re-elected as MPs on June 7, their salaries could cost the budget around 2 million euros.

After the presidency meeting, which failed on Wednesday due to lack of quorum, Haxhiu said that, although this salary is legal, it is not fair. She also said that she is ready to discuss changes to the Law on the Duties and Responsibilities of the Deputy, if there are initiatives.

"It makes no sense for an MP to not even be an MP for 6 months and on the other hand receive a transitional salary for a year as foreseen by the legislation in force. But I am very willing that in the future if there are initiatives that want to change these legal regulations that we have found here for a long time, then we are very open to discussing them", said Haxhiu.

In Haxhiu's party, Vetëvendosje alone, 46 MPs have declared themselves unemployed.

In PDK 13, in LDK 8, in AAK 6, from non-Serb minorities 10 and from Serbian List 2.

The transitional salary is also being received by 15 deputies from the penultimate legislature, who according to the Constitutional Court had not even constituted the Assembly, but the verdict was issued without retroactive effect.

And this transitional salary, even retroactively, the Presidency of the Assembly has decided to give to Fadil Gashi, a deputy of the 8th legislature, whose mandate ended in March of last year.
The transitional salary is granted from the day of the end of the mandate for 12 months if the deputies do not receive financial income from any other source or do not retire.

Asked what legal basis the decision has and whether a precedent is being created for MPs to request this salary whenever they want, Haxhiu said that the request, led by former MP Gashi, was approved without her vote and that of her colleague from Vetëvendosje.

"We have requested a legal opinion from the Assembly Administration and the opinion that we have received from the Assembly Administration has not instructed us to approve such a salary. That is why I have abstained. My vote was an abstention. The vote of Deputy Speaker Gola was an abstention. But the other members of the Assembly Presidency voted in favor, which is why it passed," she said.

For 11 days, KOHA has requested from the Assembly the transcript of the presidency meeting where the decision to approve the salary for former MP Gashi was made, to see how it was legally justified, but this institution has not responded.