Islamabad: The National Assembly has approved the “Members of Parliament Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill 2025” by a majority vote on Tuesday, which proposes a 138% increase in the salaries of parliamentarians.
According to the bill, the salaries of Members of Parliament will be raised from Rs 218,000 to Rs 519,000, bringing them in line with the salaries of federal secretaries. The bill has already been approved by the Senate and will come into effect after receiving the signature of the President of Pakistan.
The bill was tabled by Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) member Romina Khurshid Alam, and there were no objections from any members of the government or opposition parties regarding this significant salary increase.
Consensus Support from Political Parties
Interestingly, all political parties in the parliament, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and others, put aside their political rivalries and agreed to this salary hike.
The bill amends the 1974 Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act. On January 26, the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, under the chairmanship of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, had recommended the approval of the bill.
Salary Increases in Punjab Assembly
It is worth noting that the Punjab Assembly had also passed a bill in December, significantly increasing the salaries of its members, raising them from Rs 76,000 to Rs 400,000.
Additionally, the salaries of provincial ministers in Punjab have been increased from Rs 100,000 to Rs 960,000.
The Speaker of the Punjab Assembly’s salary was raised from Rs 125,000 to Rs 950,000, while the Deputy Speaker’s salary was increased from Rs 120,000 to Rs 800,000.
Other increases include:
- Parliamentary secretaries’ salaries raised from Rs 83,000 to Rs 451,000
- Advisors to the Chief Minister’s salaries raised from Rs 100,000 to Rs 665,000
- Special assistants to the Chief Minister’s salaries raised from Rs 100,000 to Rs 665,000
Context of Economic Crisis
These salary hikes come at a time when Pakistan is grappling with an economic crisis, and the public is bearing the brunt of inflation.
