We're ready to accept less, lawmaker says
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum said yesterday they were open to accepting pay cuts, but stressed there had always been an independent mechanism that kept their pay in line with the Consumer Price Index.
Unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said: 'Institutionally, we have always stood shoulder to shoulder with the people. If the mechanism says we need a cut to reflect the market, then we have to accept it,' he said. 'It's only the appointees [Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's politically appointed advisers] who have been paid too much in the first place. You can't really compare the pay between lawmakers with the political appointees.'
Yet, lawmakers said they were open to the idea, and would not oppose it if there was a consensus.
In 2007, the chief executive in council adopted a recommendation by the Independent Commission on Remuneration for Members of the Executive Council and the legislature to increase the pay of lawmakers elected from the beginning of last year. It was the first pay rise for lawmakers since 1991, barring annual adjustments, according to the CPI.
Last term's lawmakers received HK$56,750 a month, but after a 15 per cent increase and the latest CPI adjustment, lawmakers receive HK$68,200 a month. The Legco president receives double that figure.
The lowest-paid government political assistant is paid more than HK$134,000 a month, while Mr Tsang gets more than HK$371,000 a month.
A spokesman for the Administration Wing, which oversees the commission, said yesterday: 'In accordance with the established adjustment mechanism, the remuneration of Legislative Council members will be adjusted in accordance with the movement [both down and up] of the CPI.'
