Palestinians Promise to Cancel Secret Salary Hikes

YERUSHALAYIM
peace process
Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The Palestinian Authority has promised to cancel secret pay raises to its ministers following an exposé of the payouts, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said that recently installed PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh assured him that the matter would be rectified.

“At a time when the Palestinian people are struggling with economic hardship, when salaries were cut in Gaza, such decisions defy logic and rightly anger people,” Mladenov tweeted in reaction to the news of the salary increase.

“I spoke to Dr. Shtayyeh who committed to end this practice immediately and investigate.”

Shtayyeh, who succeeded Rami Hamdallah in April, was not immediately available for comment.

Documents leaked online by an anonymous online group known as “Against the Current,” appeared to show that in 2017, PA President Mahmoud Abbas had quietly agreed to increase monthly salaries of ministers from $3,000 to $5,000, as well as the prime minister’s salary from $4,000 to $6,000.

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