I was reading the business section of the Times of London, England, and found their list of the highest paid politicians.
After some further research, I found a press release from the Government of Singapore. This document (page 7) indicates, the 2008 salary of the President of Singapore at 3.87 million and cabinet ministers at 1.94 million in local currency per year. On another website, it indicates, the 30 top paid politicians in the world, all come from Singapore! I am not making this up! Also missing from the Times of London list, is the King, and cabinet ministers from Saudi Arabia?
None the less, the Times of London list, found below, is very interesting. The salaries are listed first in U.S dollars and then in the currency of the home country.
Our own Prime Minister, Stephen Harper comes in at a respectable 8th place.
1. Lee Hsien Loong - Singapore
Salary in dollars - $2.47 million
Salary in local currency - S$3.76 million
2. Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen - Hong Kong
Salary in dollars - $516,000
Salary in local currency - HK$4 million
3. Barack Obama - United States
Salary in dollars - $400,000
4. Brian Cowen - Ireland
Salary in dollars - $341,000
Salary in local currency - €257,000
5. Nicolas Sarkozy - France
Salary in dollars - $318,000
Salary in local currency - €240,000
6. Angela Merkel - Germany
Salary in dollars - $303,000
Salary in local currency - €228,000
7. Gordon Brown - UK
Salary in dollars - $279,000
Salary in local currency - £194,250
8. Stephen Harper - Canada
Salary in dollars - $246,000
Salary in local currency - C$311,000
9. Taro Aso - Japan
Salary in dollars - $243,000
Salary in local currency - Y24 million
10. Kevin Rudd - Australia
Salary in dollars - $229,000
Salary in local currency - A$330,000
