The lower house of the parliament on Tuesday passed the Members of Parliament Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill 2025 — already approved by the Senate — with a majority vote, increasing the salary of the parliament members.

Brushing aside criticism over a proposed increase in their salaries, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a major raise for parliamentarians last month.

Consequently, the National Assembly Speaker, Ayaz Sadiq, notified the raise, following the prime minister’s approval.

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman strongly criticised the approval of a massive increase in parliamentarians’ salaries, calling it a “betrayal of the public amid economic hardships”.

The National Assembly’s Finance Committee, headed by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, approved the proposed increase of the monthly salary of each MNA and senator to Rs519,000. Previously, lawmakers received a monthly salary of Rs180,000.

The bill — passed by the NA today — was tabled by Romina Khurshid Alam. Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar did not oppose the proposed legislation, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

The bill, which seeks to amend the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act, 1974 [The Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2025] has already been passed by the Senate.

In December, Punjab Assembly also passed an amendment bill making a hefty increase in financial perks and privileges of elected members, the speaker, deputy speaker, ministers, parliamentary secretaries, special assistants and advisers.