Parliament cursed, not salary

ISLAMABAD: Singing the chorus of Imran Khan’s 'curse' for Parliament, the PTI MNAs have endorsed his statement but surprisingly they are not willing to sacrifice their perks and privileges of the same house.

Khan’s PTI has a total of 32 members in the Lower House and seven in the Senate. But apparently none of them is willing to return the salary worth millions of rupees they have withdrawn from the 'cursed' Parliament. These MPs receive a hefty amount up to almost Rs3 million salary and other perks and privileges annually.

Talking to The News, PTI MNA from Swat Murad Saeed said he fully endorsed Imran Khan’s statement regarding cursing Parliament as this is nothing but a debating club. However, about the question of returning the salary which he obtained from the cursed Parliament, the PTI MNA gave no answer. n“How could this House be sacred and why should we not curse it if it is used only to protect the culprits. Today I came to the Lower House with a hope that its members might have learnt lessons from past mistakes. But I am really disappointed that nothing have changed under this PML-N leadership. Imran Khan will hopefully be the next prime minister of Pakistan and he will restore the dignity of the Parliament”, commented Murad.

When asked whether he would return the salary and other perks and privileges of the 'cursed' institution, Mr Murad who thought he was talking with a news channel then realised that he committed a mistake, and was talking to a wrong person.

All of a sudden Murad asked if the this correspondent from ‘Geo’. This correspondent informed him that he was from The News. Murad said he thought he was talking to other news channel. However after knowing he was talking to The News’ scribe, Murad chose not to respond to this question.

Talking to The News, another PTI MNA from Nowshera Imran Khattak said he too fully endorsed Imran’s statement as this Parliament was being used to protect Sharif family and not the people’s interest. However regarding returning the salary which they received from this cursed house, he said why they should return something that they were entitled to.

“We have tried our best to perform our duty as a parliamentarian and highlight the issues people are facing in our constituencies. But Parliament is not more than a debating club as it is being used by the ruling party to protect Sharifs' interests”, he remarked.

Amjid Ali Khan — a PTI MNA from Mianwali -- said he too fully endorsed Imran Khan’s 'curse' for Parliament. However, he said he would not return the perks and privileges he received from Parliament as this was their right and they would not get it forfeited.

It is pertinent to mention here that Imran Khan has cursed the same Parliament which paid him almost Rs2.5 million annual salary and other perks and privileges from January 2017 to January 2018 despite attending only two NA sittings in the fourth parliamentary year.

Interestingly, Imran Khan has not only received his salary and other perks and privileges without even attending the NA session but he even received his 10-month salary from August 2014 to June 2015. The PTI chairman and his MNAs remained absent from the Lower House for ten months during the time of sit-in and when they submitted their resignations. Each PTI legislator received Rs850,000 as salary, daily allowances and perks and privileges which were transferred to their accounts.