ISLAMABAD: Recently reinstated members of the national and provincial assemblies on reserved seats are set to receive their basic salaries for the entire duration of their suspension, Dawn has learnt.
Sources said that a total of 77 lawmakers were suspended on May 13, 2024, with their salaries halted immediately after the issuance of suspension notifications.
Of these, 22 were from the National Assembly, including 19 women and three minority representatives. So far, 19 of them have been reinstated, with notifications for the remaining three still pending.
Sources in the National Assembly Secretariat said that a formal decision on salaries of the reinstated MNAs will be taken by the National Assembly’s finance committee, headed by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, upon his return from a foreign visit.
They said that the reinstated MNAs would receive only basic salaries — excluding TA/DA and other allowances — from May 13 to December 31, 2024, at a rate of Rs150,000 per member. From January 1, 2025, until the date of the Supreme Court’s ruling, salaries will be paid according to the revised pay scale.
Similarly, 55 reinstated members of the provincial assemblies on reserved seats will be compensated as per their respective assembly acts.
On July 2, the Election Commission of Pakistan had restored 74 of the 77 lawmakers, including 19 members of the National Assembly, 27 of the Punjab Assembly, 25 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and three of the Sindh Assembly.
The ECP had in March 2024 notified the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, which were claimed by PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), to other political parties. The move came a day after the election watchdog rejected SIC’s petition seeking the allocation of reserved seats following a ‘merger’ with the PTI for this specific purpose.
The ECP was requested to allot the seats on the basis of the inclusion of PTI-backed candidates in their party. However, the commission distributed the reserved seats for women and minorities among other political parties.
The ECP’s decision to restore 74 out of total 77 suspended lawmakers came days after a landmark 7-3 majority decision by a 10-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, which had last week overturned a previous 8-5 verdict delivered by a 13-member bench on July 12, 2024. The earlier judgement had ruled in favour of PTI’s eligibility for reserved seats.
Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2025
