A little noted communique has been published confirming the “finiquitos”, or severance pay, that Spanish members of Congress and the Senate who loose their seats in the November elections can look forwards to.
The finiquito, which is based off their average monthly salary of 2813€ a month (plus 1823€ “expenses” for any MP who is based outside of Madrid). They will get 8,200€ in a lump sum to compensate for loss of earning during the 52 days between the ending of the current parliament and the convocation of the new session in January 2012. If the MP in question has a higher base salary (ie, sitting on a committee, being a spokesperson, minister, or general fat cat) the lump sum increases in proportion to their monthly salary.
And if they don’t get back in after the elections, they can continue to claim up to 2,800€ a month for up to two years- up to 67,000€ each.
Officially, this is because ex-MP’s are barred from holding certain offices in public life during the 24 months after leaving office (an anti-corruption measure, you understand, which is to prevent them walking out into lucrative consulting jobs).
However, they must return their official laptop, or else pay 100€ to purchase it from the state. However, they are allowed to keep their official phone (blackberry or iphone) which they got when taking office, thanks to an agreement with the telephone company – although the government has made it clear that they won’t be paying the phone bill after dissolution.
(Via El Mundo).