Senate turns down bill proposing increase in legislators' salaries.

ISLAMABAD -- The Upper House of the Parliament on Monday rejected a bill proposing an increase in the salaries of lawmakers after an intense debate on whether parliamentarians should give themselves a raise in the current economic situation.

Only 16 votes were cast in favour of the Chairman and Speaker (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, while 29 senators voted against it. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan opposed the bill, citing the country's weak economy, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) declared their support.

Further, two other bills including the Deputy Chairman and Deputy Speaker (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were rejected through a voice vote.

The Chairman and Speaker (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill 2020 proposed an increase in the salaries of Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker from Rs225,000 to Rs879,000 to match the salaries of Supreme Court judges and a rise in the remuneration of the Senate deputy chairman and National Assembly deputy speaker to match those of high court judges.

Furthermore, a second bill, sought to increase the salaries of parliament members from Rs150,000 to Rs300,000. It also called for the travel allowance of parliamentarians to be increased to cover the cost of business class air tickets and AC class train tickets.

The draft bill also demanded 25 business class tickets to be allocated for each lawmaker and for the option of these tickets being used by the members' spouses and children to travel within the country to be available.

The Senate session was held under the chairmanship of Senate Chairman Mir Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Monday.

PTI's Senator Faisal Javed Khan, PPP's Sherry Rehman and PML-N's Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq rejected the bill. However, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan's (MQM-P) Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif voiced his support for the bill.

As the bill to increase the salaries and privileges of parliamentarians was presented in the Upper House of the Parliament, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) opposed the bill.

Speaking on the floor of the Upper House of the Parliament, Leader of...

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