When the legislators in Pakistan consider and approve a raise in their own salaries and perks, they don’t want to enter into the nitty-gritty of the prevailing economic situation and believe that only sky is the limit for such a consideration. In an unexpected move, the treasury and opposition members in the Punjab Assembly joined in a rare show of solidarity when it came to increase in their salaries and other perks. No MPA opposed it to the delight of assembly members as the bill was aimed at increasing the salaries of the Chief Minister, ministers, speaker and deputy speaker, chairman of the committees, advisers, special assistants and all the members. The bill seeks to increase the monthly salary of the speaker from the existing Rs 37,000 to Rs 200,000, of the deputy speaker from Rs 35,000 to Rs 185,000, of the chief minister from Rs 39,000 to Rs 300,000, of the ministers from Rs 35,000 to Rs 185,000, of advisers from Rs 30,000 to Rs 185,000 and of MPAs from Rs 18,000 to Rs 80,000. Their utility bills’ entitlement was also to go up to Rs 200,000 instead of Rs 120,000 per month. The fiscal adjustment was not opposed by any member in the house and the bill was passed within a few minutes. According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, “the emoluments of public representatives of the province of Punjab are not at par with the sister provinces and the federal government. Keeping in view the recent spells of price hike and devaluation, it is essential that the emoluments of the public representatives of Punjab are increased to a reasonable extent.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan was, however, not amused and expressed extreme displeasure over Punjab Assembly’s decision to increase salaries of its members, especially at a time when he was stressing the need for taking austerity measures to mitigate budgetary crisis. In a tweet, the Prime Minister stated that “I am extremely disappointed by decision of Punjab Assembly to raise pays and privileges of MPAs, ministers and specially the chief minister. Once prosperity returns to Pakistan, such a move could be justified, but now, when we do not have resources to provide basic amenities to all our people, this is untenable.” Imran khan also directed the Punjab Governor to send the Bill back to the Assembly instead of signing it. Many leaders of the ruling PTI who were earlier supporting the Bill took a U-turn after Imran Khan’s tweet and began opposing the salary increase. One of the bar members in Lahore was so much irked that he challenged the increase in salaries and perks before the Lahore High Court, pleading that the assembly members had passed the Bill with a mala fide intention in violation of the state policy of austerity measures and “no-one should be a judge in his own case.”
What will happen after all this fuss is difficult to predict but it is quite clear that there are different views on the matter in the PTI and nothing could be said with certainty at the moment. So far as refusal of the Governor to sign the Bill is concerned, he can send any Bill back to the Assembly for reconsideration but if the house passes the bill again, it becomes a law whether the Governor signs it or not. Therefore, a provincial assembly is fully entitled to raise the salaries and perks of its members, including the chief minister and speaker, despite the argument that nobody should be a judge when deciding its own case. On the other hand, Imran Khan is the undisputed leader and the father of the PTI and his opinion has to be respected by the party members. The arguments on both the sides are also equally valid. While the Punjab Assembly’s move could be justified on the basis of higher emoluments to the members of other provincial assemblies, a substantial devaluation of the rupee and the rising inflationary pressures in the economy, the contrary argument could be that higher inflation is more biting and painful for ordinary employees of the government and, as such, they deserve a comparatively higher increase in their salaries and perks. The decision will also put extra burden on the budget. In fact, the present austerity drive of the government and the financial constraints on the budget leaves no space for such lavish expenditures. The present cost cutting moves of the government include a series of measures which include saving of public money through a cut of 10 percent in current expenditures and imposition of a ban on the purchase of all types of vehicles. The country seems to be so much short of resources that the government has estimated the size of PSDP for the next year at Rs 675 billion which will be equal to the slashed allocation for the current year. The government could also become unpopular due to the grouse of taxpayers that their taxes are not used productively but squandered by the ruling class, including the parliamentarians. Besides, several hundred percent increase in salaries of the ministers, etc., in one go is against the glorious traditions and principles of state of Madinah which is supposed to be the popular slogan of PTI. In our view, it would be better if the proposed rise in the salaries and perks of the Punjab Assembly is thoroughly reviewed in order to make them at par with the other provinces but keeping in view the financial constraints of the budget, philosophy of the PTI and the per capita income level of other sections of society to avoid the heart burning likely to be caused to most of the Pakistanis.
