Temistocles Montas, a leading PLD member and Guillermo Caram, a former Central Bank governor and leading member of the PRSC, told reporters on Saturday that the PLD was not contemplating any overall salary increase at the present time. Montas called President Mejia’s comments on the subject “demagoguery,” in reference to Mejia’s statements that the tax reform proposals would provide for a general 30% increase in public employee wages. Both men said that there was not enough income for the government to provide for such an increase at present. Montas, one of the key figures in the PLD transitional team, said that President Mejia had no idea from where the money for a salary increase would come. He added that his PLD party was of the opinion that a salary adjustment should be presented as a specialized case with specific resources destined only for that purpose. Caram said that instead of the government proposing a raise in salaries without backing, they should push for a fiscal reform that would lower expenditures.