BAGHDAD – Iraq’s government on Tuesday proposed new legislation that would slash the salaries of politicians and top officials, just days after MPs approved smaller pay cuts in a bid to head off protests. The mooted changes are the latest attempt by authorities to respond to demonstrations that have taken place across Iraq in cities that are variously Sunni, Shiite or Kurdish, railing against corruption, poor public services and high unemployment.
“The cabinet has decided to approve a draft law on salaries and allocations… and sent it to parliament,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. The proposals would cut the salaries of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi by more than 50 percent, from 35 million Iraqi dinars ($30,000) a month currently.
All of their various deputies would also receive similar pay cuts, as would MPs, ministers, and top civil servants. The statement did not specify exactly how much the cuts would amount to, what the salaries of ministers and officials salaries were or whether the new law would be an addition to cuts instituted by MPs days earlier. Dabbagh did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP.
Pensions rules were also tightened. Previously, any MP or minister was entitled to 80 percent of their final salary with no conditions regarding time served. The new law, however, institutes a sliding scale of pensions payouts that start at 30 percent for those with less than one year on the job, up to 80 percent for those who have spent more than five years. The legislation comes amid violent protests in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah that have left three people dead since February 17.
Demonstrations have also taken place in Baghdad, in the mostly Sunni city of Ramadi, as well as in the southern Shiite cities of Kut, Nasiriyah and Basra.
