The ruling Saenuri Party will consider applying the "no-work, no-pay" principle to legislators in a bid to meet public demands for political reform, a party lawmaker said Thursday.

The measure calls for cutting off the salaries of legislators when they are unable to work, such as when they are under arrest or when the parliament is out of work due to a standoff between rival parties.

It also calls for reducing the salaries of lawmakers who fail to attend parliamentary meetings without legitimate reasons.

The measure was discussed during Wednesday's meeting of a party committee responsible for drawing up reform proposals, committee spokeswoman Rep. Min Hyun-joo said.

Details of the measure will be discussed further and proposed to the opposition parties, she said.

A public survey conducted by the party's think tank on Oct. 15 showed that 53.1 percent of the 2,058 respondents said reducing salaries should be the top priority in efforts to reduce privileges and benefits given to lawmakers.

About 18 percent called for abolishing a law that prevents lawmakers from being arrested while the parliament is in session, while 16.4 percent called for introducing a public recall system against legislators.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.16 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. (Yonhap)