Rulers’ pay hike

This letter refers to the news report ‘National Assembly passes bill to raise MPs’ salaries with amendment’ (February 12, 2025). I strongly and vehemently condemn the huge self-granted salary hike for the parliamentarians of Pakistan. We are citizens of this poor and beleaguered country, where millions are starving, where the percentage of people living in poverty has gone up, where we are plagued with huge international and domestic debts. Given these conditions, how can publically elected representatives even think about giving themselves a pay hike?

The founding fathers of this country (when we were in similar dire straits) considered it a privilege to be elected to represent the masses and many of them, including the Quaid-e-Azam, refused to draw a salary or accepted only a token salary. But the representatives we have now seem entirely opposed to such principles and ideals. I think all parliamentary salaries and perks should be frozen until the country has well and truly recovered from its present financial woes. While parliament is indeed ‘sovereign’, it is not at liberty to squander public financial resources so prodigally upon itself.

Ilyas MB Khan

Mansehra