After Members of Parliament approved a whopping SSP800000 salary increment to themselves, the African People’s Congress (APC), a youth-led party, has called for a 10,000 per cent pay rise for the country’s civil servants.

On Monday, members of parliament in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) passed their own emoluments bill, awarding themselves with SSP800, 000 for over 550 lawmakers, an amount equivalent to $2,500 from the previous SSP 9,500 monthly.

However, in a document shared with The City Review, the APC said the appointed MPs have become more selfish and have relinquished the roles they are to play to alleviate the suffering of the civil servants.

“APC observes the recent development in the R-TNLA in which parliamentarians have decided to award themselves salary and privileges totalling more than SSP800,000 while ignoring medical doctors, nurses, teachers, and members of the armed forces, among others.”

“We condemn the selfish acts of appointed members of parliament, APC rejects selective increment of civil servants’ salaries and calls for an immediate inclusive pay rise of 10,000 per cent for all civil servants, whether at the national or state level,” the statement read in part. 

They appealed to all government employees to demand a 10,000 per cent pay rise.

“They have openly undermined you, the civil servants, medical doctors, nurses, and teachers, so it is up to you to demand your rights,” it added.

They said instead of tackling the entire pay rise for all the civil servants, ‘‘the illegitimate (without the people‘s mandate) Members of Parliament chose to pay themselves handsomely in total disregard of the suffering civil servants’’.

The South Sudan National Police also came out on Tuesday to criticise MPs for considering themselves the first people in the country while forgetting the vulnerable groups of people in the country.

The Deputy Police Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. James Dak said there were better bills that could make things change in the country in terms of peace, but the ‘‘selfish’’ MPs ignored them and rushed to pass what could be last first.

“Our people are hoping for better things from MPs, but see what the MPs are doing. They have just passed the emoluments and privileges bill of their rights instead of looking at other important bills. “We are really facing problems,” Brig. Dak said during his remarks on one day of discussions on women’s access to health rights in Juba.

He revealed the bills that MPs could consider first, such as the country’s budget, gender-based violence, security bills, and permanent constitutional amendment bills.