MPs salary review expected to be tabled in Parliament next year - Shahidan

The salary review for Members of Parliament (MPs) is expected to be tabled in the next Parliament sitting, next year.

However, the quantum of the salary increase was still being discussed and subject to the country's finances, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who is the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs.

He said the Dewan Rakyat House Committee had submitted a proposal to the Government on the matter recently and that "the move to raise MPs' salaries will be debated by the House in next year sittings."

Malaysian MPs were among the lowest paid in the world, he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby, Thursday.

Currently, MPs basic salary is RM6,508.59 per month with RM5,000 monthly allowance for entertainment expenses, driver fees, travel and mobile phone bills.

They are also paid a RM200 daily meeting allowance when the Dewan Rakyat sits, and another RM150 daily allowance for meetings with government agencies.

In 2011, the government withdrew a proposal to raise the salaries and allowances of 222 MPs after receiving objections from opposition MPs.