By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday distanced himself from the massive hike in the salaries of senior parliamentarians including himself, saying he was not consulted before the raise was approved.
The government recently approved a fivefold increase in the salaries of the Senate chairman and Na-tional Assembly speaker, taking it to Rs1.3 million a month. A May 29 notification revealed that the Senate chairman and NA speaker’s salaries have been raised from Rs205,000 to Rs1.3m, besides 50pc of the revised salary (Rs650,000) as the sumptuary allowance. The hike will take effect from January 2025.
“I have full respect for the defence minister. I have nothing to do with my salary increase,” Gilani told reporters at the Senate building when asked about the hike amid an economic crisis and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s criticism of the move.
The PPP stalwart said the decision regarding the raise will be made by the government. When asked if he would refuse the salary hike, he replied, “I didn’t say about withdrawing. I have no connection with it.”
Gilani added he was not consulted when the hike was approved.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the increase in the salaries of the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairman and sought a report from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
The decision has drawn criticism from within the ruling PML-N as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif public-ly criticised the move. In a post on X, the senior PML-N leader termed the massive hike in salaries a “financial obscenity, urging lawmakers to “keep in mind the life of a common man.”
During an appearance on a TV show, the defence minister de-fended his stance, saying that while the hike will not have a significant financial impact, it reflected poorly on the image of the ruling elite and the parliament.
He said the salary hike was approved by the National Assembly’s finance committee despite govern-ment resistance. When asked if the prime minister opposed the move, Asif said it was “logical” to as-sume so. He added that the salary increase was not included in the budget.
The defence minister said the ruling elite should practice austerity and simplicity, noting that the prime minister does not receive a salary and poses no burden on the exchequer. However, Asif defended the increased expenditures of the President’s House and PM’s Office.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb defended the steep hikes in the salaries of parliamentarians.
During the post-budget press conference on Wednesday, he insisted the hikes should be seen in the context that the salaries were last adjusted in 2016, compared to annual increases in the wages of em-ployees in public and private sectors in line with inflation and other factors.
“Had these been adjusted on an annual basis, there would have been no sudden jump,” he said.
Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique had earlier slammed the pay raise, calling it “incomprehen-sible” and lacking moral justification.
In a post on X, Rafique said: “A sudden increase of many times in the salaries of the Chairman Senate and Speaker National Assembly and a 50 per cent increase in allowance is an incomprehensible move.”
