With a computer, the citizens can only see the ministers’ expenditures, but not their salaries

We are introducing measures that will enable any citizen to check on the computer the salary of any government minister, whether and how much they have been indemnified for travel and other expenditures and so on. This shall be an important step toward preventing the abuse of office. Everybody will be aware that the control is not only in the hands of some government unit, but also in the hands of any citizen in Macedonia.

[SOURCE: The Electoral Program of SDSM – “Plan for Life”, page 231, date: December 2016]

EXPLANATION:

In the run-up to the snap general elections held in December 2016, SDSM, among others, gave the promise of  introducing measures that will enable any citizen to check on the computer the salary of any government minister, whether and how much they have been indemnified for travel and other expenditures and so on… SDSM’s promise was given in its electoral “Plan for Life in Macedonia”, specifically in the chapter “Plan 180 – Urgent Reform Priorities of the New Government in the First 6 Months” (page 231). Thus far (9 November 2018), it has been only partially fulfilled.

The Accountability Tool for the Expenditures of the Public Officials, inaugurated in a press conference of the Government in March 2018, provides information on the expenditures of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers, the Deputy Ministers, the Government`s Secretary General and the State Secretaries in the ministries. However, this software does not tell the salaries of the Prime Minister and the Ministers.

The citizens cannot get information on the salaries of the aforesaid officeholders via their computers as easily as the Social-Democrats promised. Neither Government’s website nor Ministries’ websites give data on the salaries. Not just on the main menu, such “button” cannot be found anywhere on these institutions’ websites.

Truthmeter queried the Government whether there is a unique tool apart from the Accountability Tool for the Expenditures of the Public Officials that enables the citizens to see Ministers’ salaries, but we were told that such tool doesn’t exist.

Albeit there was no separate tool that shows the income of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s team, the Government adds that “the amount of Ministers’ salary is public” and obtaining it should not be a problem. Therefore, Government’s spokesperson, Mile Boshnjakovski, attached a list with the net salary of the Prime Minister and Ministers of his Cabinet, which ranges from 1.070 euros for the Ministers and nearly 1.300 euros for the Prime Minister.

Source: Government of the RM (Minister Oliver Spasovski’s salary is not on this list)

However, the idea of this promise is not for the citizens (media, NGOs) to submit special requests for obtaining public information or to calculate the Ministers’ salaries. Instead they should be able to do so in a simple manner, by using a software placed on an easy-to-see spot. A check that still isn’t a click away. However, since one part of the promise has been implemented, we deem that the launch of the Accountability Tool for the Expenditures of the Public Officials is only partially fulfilled.

**** Note

Ministers’ salaries are governed by the Law on the Salaries and the Other Indemnities of the Representatives in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and Other Elected and Appointed Officials in the Republic of Macedonia, which lays down a coefficient of 3.7 for the Ministers and 4.5 for the president of the Government (same is the coefficient for the President of the state and the President of the Parliament), while the base for the calculation is the average monthly salary per employee for the previous year. According to the data of the State Statistics Office, the average salary in December last year was 23.850 denars, but the Government clarified to us that the base for calculating the salaries of Ministers from 2009 onward is the amount that is nearly twenty percent lower than the average salary, i.e. in today’s conditions – approximately 18.000 denars.

SOURCES:

• Electoral Pogram of SDSM (2016) „План за живот“,стр.231 [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Government of the RM – Алатка за отчетност за трошоците на носителите на јавни функции [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Time.mk (21 March 2018): Алатка за отчетност: Владата соопшти дека во првите шест месеци потрошила двојно помалку од составот во 2014 [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Makfax (21 March 2018): Алатка за отчетност: Владата соопшти дека во првите шест месеци потрошила двојно помалку од составот во 2014 [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Ministry of Labor and Social Policy – Законот за плата и другите надоместоци на пратениците во Собранието на Република Македонија и другите избрани и именувани лица во Републиката [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Grid.mk (6 November 2018):Заев: Мојот приход не е толку голем, јас земам 87.000 денари
  [Accessed on 9 November 2018]
• Press 24 (6 November 2018):Заев: Мојот приход не е толку голем, јас земам 87.000 денари
  [Accessed on 9 November 2018]

Assessed by: Olivera Vojnovska

All comments and remarks regarding this and other Vistinomer articles, correction and clarification requests as well as suggestions for fact-checking politicians’ statements and political parties’ promises can be submitted by using this form