Parliamentary Caucuses to Get €35 Monthly per MP also in 2017

Bratislava, January 23 (TASR) – Parliamentary caucuses will get €35 monthly per member, just as they did in 2016, Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) decided on Monday.

The highest sum will go to the Smer-SD caucus which has 49 members and will thus get €1,715 monthly from the Parliament Office’s budget. The next highest is the 21-strong caucus of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party with €735 and the 19-strong caucus of OLaNO-NOVA with €665.

The SNS and Most-Hid caucuses with 15 members each will receive €525 monthly. The fourteen-strong caucus of Kotleba-People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) will get €490 monthly and the eight-strong We Are Family caucus will get €280. Altogether, the Parliament’s Office will thus spend €4,935 per month on caucus MPs. The remaining nine MPs are independent and thus are not eligible for this contribution.

Meanwhile, Danko urged the chairs of each caucus to follow the Rules of Caucuses’ Management while spending the money determined for caucuses.

The current rules have been in force since November 2010 when Richard Sulik (SaS) served as the parliamentary chairman. A caucus can only use the money on expenditures related to its operation.

The contribution for the operation of caucuses is not meant for political parties. Parties that succeeded in the elections receive millions from the state within a contribution for votes, a contribution for operation and a contribution for MP mandates they gained. A part of these is paid immediately after the elections, while the other is paid gradually over the entire electoral term. If the current government is sustained for the whole four-year term, Smer-SD will thus gain €16.7 million in total, SaS €7.5 million, OLaNO-NOVA €6.8 million, SNS €5.4 million, LSNS €5.04 million, We Are Family €4.1 million and Most-Hid €4.04 million.