Islamabad:
The president of the National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, clarified on Friday that he had no role in the phenomenal increase in the salaries of the custodians of the upper and low house of Parliament, and that those who had given that increase could also withdraw it.
Sadiq was responding to a comment about the opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, who during the budget session on Friday, said the government speaks of austerity but is committing “financial obscenity.”
The phrase, the financial obscenity, was previously used by the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, to describe a 500% increase in the wages of the president and vice president of the Senate and vice president.
A report that cited Fuentes had stated that the president of the Senate Yousaf Raza Gillani, which belongs to the PPP, presided over a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives for a few months to approve the increase in his own salary, as well as that of the vice president, Sardar Syedaal Khan Nasar of the PML-NN.
He also said that the president of the NA, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, of the PML-N presided a similar meeting of the Finance Committee of the RA Chamber for “in silence” the green light in his own salary and that of the attached president of Na, a position in the hands of Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah of PPP.
In response to Omar’s comment on Friday, Ayaz Sadiq said that neither finance committees nor they increased their salaries. “Those who have raised our salaries can also withdraw that increase. The government can reverse any increase in our salary if you wish,” he added.
Meanwhile, the president of the Senate, Yousaf Raza Gilani, also distanced himself on Friday from the massive walk in the salaries of the upper parliamentarians, including himself, saying that he was not consulted before the increase was approved.
A notification of May 29 revealed that the president of the Senate and the salaries of the speakers of NA had been raised from RS205,000 to RS1.3M, in addition to 50% of the reviewed salary (RS650,000) as the sumptuous allocation. The walk came into force as of January 2025.
