President Asif Ali Zardari has returned the Salaries and Allowances Amendment Bill 2025—which aimed to raise the salaries of MNAs and senators—to parliament, citing objections. He argued that increasing the pay and benefits of parliamentarians falls outside the remit of the Finance Committees of both the National Assembly and Senate.
The bill, passed by the National Assembly on February 11 and by the Senate on February 17, proposed raising the salaries of MNAs and senators from Rs218,000 to Rs519,000, excluding the speaker and deputy speaker. Its implementation was scheduled for January 1, meaning that National Assembly members had already started receiving the increased pay before the president’s assent, while Senate members were still awaiting approval.
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President Zardari backed his objections by citing constitutional provisions. He referenced Clause 1(b) of Article 75 and Clause 2 of Article 66, which state that the determination of parliamentarians’ salaries and allowances must occur through proper legislative processes. Additionally, he noted that Article 88(1) limits the role of the Finance Committees to expenditure control rather than approving salary hikes.
With the president’s objections in place, parliament now has the option to re-pass the bill in a joint session and resubmit it for approval. If President Zardari continues to refuse to sign, the bill will automatically become law after 10 days, in accordance with constitutional provisions.
