A new approach to the remuneration of members of parliament
"Progressive Bulgaria" has submitted a draft resolution to the National Assembly that sets a new framework for determining parliamentary salaries. The proposal is for them to be equal to three average monthly salaries in the public sector, based on official data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) for March 2026.
Details of the proposal
The change is included in the draft for the new Rules of Procedure for the 52nd Parliament. In the section "Financial rules for the budget of the National Assembly," it is stipulated that:
- The basic remuneration shall be directly linked to incomes in the public sector.
- The NSI data for March 2026 shall serve as the basis for the calculations.
- Payments must be made via bank transfer.
"The basic monthly remuneration may be increased in accordance with the income policy in the budgetary sphere as provided for in the State Budget Act," the document further states.
Context and motives
The leader of the "Progressive Bulgaria" parliamentary group, Petar Vitanov, emphasized that the party is aiming to eliminate the automatic salary growth and ensure solidarity in limiting remuneration in the state sector. The delay in submitting the proposal to "freeze" salaries was due to technical reasons – the methodology from the Ministry of Finance arrived after the deadline for amendments to the rules of procedure.