Following the announcement by Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke on Tuesday for the biggest increase of almost 300 per cent in salaries for parliamentarians, and not objecting, the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) now says it strongly objects.

It has sparked confusion among the public, as immediately following the announcement in Parliament, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson said “The Opposition takes no issue with what the minister has announced.”

However, that has now been trumped by a statement issued by the PNP Media Unit Wednesday morning saying “This decision was made by the Government, without any consultation with the Opposition other than to seek our political non-objection to the decision when it was already made.”

This was knocked by Information Minister Robert Nesta Morgan during Wednesday morning’s post Cabinet press briefing, where he noted that the members of the opposition were consulted and that a few expressed the need for an increase in salaries.

According to the statement issued by the PNP, it reads, “While some parliamentarians work diligently and deserve an increase in remuneration, it is morally indefensible to grant such a significant raise while so many of our dedicated public servants have seriously lost out and are utterly demoralized by the lack of equity in the recent salary restructuring.”

In that regard, the PNP demanded that the Andrew Holness-led government immediately return to the negotiation table with the unions representing public servants and provide a fair and just remuneration package for all public servants.