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The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is calling for a delay in the implementation of the salary increase to parliamentarians until the outstanding issues related to other public servants are resolved.
Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke on Tuesday announced massive increases in pay for the political directorate.
The opposition had initially indicated in the House that it had no issue with the increase.
But a day later, after howls of protest from members of the public, the PNP released a statement saying it strongly disagrees with the level of increases.
Speaking at a PNP press briefing on Friday, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson explained that at the point when he stated that the opposition took no issue with the increase, members had "no knowledge of what we were going to receive" since "no details were shared with us prior to us going in Parliament".
He said after reflecting on the nature of the increases, the PNP realised that the hike was "significantly larger than anticipated" because the ministers have pegged themselves to $1 above the highest band on the scale for permanent secretaries.
Although by convention, ministers are tied to the pay scale for permanent secretaries, Mr. Robinson pointed out that this scale ranges from a low of $17 million to $23 million at the highest end - a $6 million difference.
The opposition spokesman has called for the government to readjust the alignment of a minister from being paid $1 above the highest band of the permanent secretaries scale.
"We are saying that that alignment should be more in the middle of the band," he said, adding that this mid-range would be about $19 million or $20 million.
He noted that this movement would "necessitate a downward adjustment in all other salaries since MPs earn a percentage of what a Cabinet Minister earns".
Opposition Leader and PNP President Mark Golding, who also spoke at the press conference, said the principle of equity was not adhered to in the determination of salary increases for the political directorate and the rest of the public sector.
Furthermore, he said the argument that the increases to politicians are to attract better candidates is hollow since "nowhere in the world is monetary compensation the inducement to enter politics and to give honest service to one's nation".
"What our country needs at this time is to attract, motivate and retain persons within our teaching profession, our nursing profession, our law enforcement professions, and so on," he insisted.
The opposition has maintained that anomalies and outstanding matters for the public sector must be resolved before parliamentarians benefit.
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