Daily Times

The demand of parliamentarians to bring their salaries at par with those of BS-22 officers stand void after the finance minister rejected the recommendations of four standing committees of the Senate and the National Assembly in this regard. The motion was unanimously passed by the members of National Assembly despite several differences on different issues. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani had opposed the proposal for an exorbitant increase in the salaries of parliamentarians, chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate, and Speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly. Furthermore, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairperson Imran Khan had also opposed the proposal by government by terming it as unjustified. The ministry of finance did not incorporate the motion into the finance bill, leaving parliamentarians with a mere 10 percent increase in their salary. Under the law, parliamentarians would get a pay-raise on par with government employees in every budget. Hence, there would be an increase of Rs 7,000-8,000 increase in the basic salary of each member of parliament. A sum of Rs 1.89 billion has been allocated for salaries and allowances of parliamentarians for the next fiscal year.

According to the statistics, every member of parliament gets Rs 79,534 per month as the basic salary. Both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had rejected the exorbitant raise in salaries amid severe criticism by media and the general public. At the time when government is embroiled in controversies including the Panama leaks as well as the recent corruption scandals unearthed by the National Accountability Bureau, such a move on the part of government officials was unexpected. Prime minister cannot afford to give any more space to the opposition in the wake of Panama leaks.

According to recent reports by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), the attendance figures of the majority of the members of parliament have been poor. This begs the question: why is there a need to raise the salaries of parliamentarians if they are not going to attend to the business of the house? Blame also goes to the prime minister and other leaders from both treasury and opposition benches for missing the National Assembly and Senate sessions. The attendance record of Prime Minister Sharif and Imran Khan’s is one of the worst in the past three years. The attendance details along with contribution of parliamentarians to the business of the house should be made public to make the process more transparent. This will make the members of parliament accountable to the public they represent at the national level. *