Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel on Monday handwrote a draft bill to cut Turkish Cypriot ‘MPs’ salaries by 10 per cent during a session of the Turkish Cypriot legislature.

Members had been discussing the north’s rising cost of living and matters related to income equality, with opposition party CTP member Devrim Barcin pointing out that year-on-year inflation of food prices was recorded as 40 per cent over the last year.

He said that given the high rates of inflation, “increases in gross salaries mostly end up being paid as tax in the end”, and accused the ruling coalition of “taking money from the right pocket and putting it into the left”, given that as a result of those increased tax payments, Turkish Cypriots’ disposable income has not increased.

In light of this, he said tax rates should be reset at least once a year, rising in line with inflation, and that the coalition had not accepted proposals he had made to this end, while a committee formed to review tax rates “has not even met once”.

“Today, whether in the public or private sectors, an employee with a gross income of 100,000TL [€1,870, monthly], and a person with a gross income of 400,000TL [€7,478], should not both pay income tax at a rate of 37 per cent,” he said.

Ustel then responded, saying that he will ensure that the committee will convene on Wednesday, before calling on all members of the legislature to “immediately” support the plans to reset tax rates once a year.

Having said this, he then pointed out that “everyone’s eyes are on the politicians”.

“The people who receive the highest amount of the cost-of-living allowance are the politicians, the undersecretaries, and the political officers. Since that is the case, let us be the first. The unions say that politicians should be the first to pull their weight. So, we will pull our weight. Let’s cut 10 per cent from the politicians’ salaries,” he said.

He then asked one of the legislature’s clerks to bring him a piece of paper, and said, “I shall be the first to sign here”, before taking out a pen and drafting a bill while continuing his speech.

“If all MPs are here, I will be the first to sign this proposal. I will be the first to sign it here, in the presence of MPs in the public, and then I will expect the second signature to come from Barcin… Yes, yes, I have signed first, my friends,” he said, showing the now signed piece of paper to his 48 fellow members of the legislature.

The piece of paper was then signed by ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu and ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli, the leaders of Ustel’s party the UBP’s two coalition partners the DP and the YDP, but opposition figures remained unconvinced.

CTP deputy leader Asim Akansoy said that while he agrees with the premise of cutting politicians’ salaries, signing a handwritten note is not the way he or his party believes it should be done.

“Let there be cuts for politicians as well, and for high-ranking bureaucrats. The CTP is not avoiding this. However, it cannot be done this way. Prepare a proper bill and we will make our proposal. Let us sit down and discuss this in parliament within the next 10 days,” he said.