Turkish PM Erdogan rejects deputy wage hike

It was one of the few times the deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) could see eye to eye.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sensing the fire he would face if he were to increase the deputies’ wages from their current TL 6.5 billion while the new minimum wage had recently been set at TL 350 million, rejected the petition. As a result, it was not included in the 2005 budget bill that was passed on Tuesday evening.

Hürriyet’s Fatih Altayli supported the deputies’ initiative, arguing that more than 100 deputies had credit card debts they couldn’t pay and as a result, were frightened to meet with their constituents because they couldn’t treat them to a free meal.
Altayli said the hundreds of thousands of people who earned money from the state without doing anything in return could bankrupt the state but that a modest wage increase for the 550 deputies wouldn’t.
He said the deputies are the people’s representatives and should dress and live accordingly.
He also said the deputies should get high wages while in office but shouldn’t get the excessive retiree wage accorded to all deputies, even those who serve for merely a single day.

When CHP parliamentary group deputy leader Haluk Koç was reminded that many CHP deputies had supported the initiative, he said: “The deputies should be independent. They should not be sponsored by anyone.” Koç noted that due to their status, deputies have to cover certain expenses, adding: “In order to understand this predicament, one needs to be a deputy. I believe deputies that have financial difficulties of their own making can’t contribute to the nation’s welfare.”
When asked about the initiative, True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said: “We can’t wage a populist battle. Everyone needs to share in the sacrifices made. If public servants, laborers and retirees didn’t get what they asked for, neither should the deputies.”