President Asif Ali Zardari has sent back the Salaries and Allowances Amendment Bill 2025 to parliament, raising objections over the proposed salary increases for Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and senators.
President Zardari noted that the authority to increase salaries and benefits does not lie with the finance committees of the National Assembly and Senate.
Instead, he pointed to constitutional clauses that mandate such changes must be made through proper legislative procedures.
Citing Clause 1(b) of Article 75 and Clause 2 of Article 66, President Zardari emphasized that salaries and allowances must be determined through appropriate legislative means.
Furthermore, Article 88(1) clarifies that the Finance Committees of both houses only control expenditure—not salary increases.
The bill will now be reconsidered by parliament in light of the president’s objections.
Proposed bill
The bill, passed by the National Assembly on February 11 and the Senate on February 17, proposed:
Increasing salaries of MNAs and senators from Rs218,000 to Rs519,000
Excluding the Speaker and Deputy Speaker from this raise
Retroactive implementation from January 1, 2025
NA members have already received the increased salary, but Senate members were still awaiting approval.
