ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: After coming under fire over the introduction of a trio of bills, seeking to increase the perks of former and future heads of the upper house, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani defended the move, saying that the draft laws would not place any additional burden on the national exchequer.

However, in a statement issued on Monday, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said it rejects the bill and could not support it given the economic realities facing the country.

Last week, the Senate adopted three bills that increased the privileges enjoyed by former and current Senate chairmen, de­­puty chairmen, and members of the upper house of parliament.

The bills, which were moved by over 40 senators — including former Senate chairmen Farooq Naek and Raza Rabbani — received severe flak after details of the additional perks were revealed.

Among other privileges, the draft law envisioned the provision of a full security detail of at least ten personnel to former chairmen, provisions for government-sponsored travel of their domestic staff as well as family members. As per the new bill, monthly expenses of chairmen or deputy chairmen offices have been increa­sed from Rs6,000 to Rs50,000.

In a statement issued on Monday, Mr Sajrani clai­med that the it was meant to put things in order and address audit issues. He also reiterated that the proposed law wou­­ld not put any added burden on the national exchequer.

The old Act — The Cha­i­r­­man (Salaries, Allo­wan­c­­es and Privileges) Act, 1975 — has been rectified as per the decisions of Senate committees from time to time.

Mr Sanjrani claimed a suggestion was made for the official residence of the chairman and deputy chairman as currently, the chairman was residing in a house owned by the Mini­stry of Housing and Works.

The Senate chairman who chose to reside in his own residence was entitled to Rs 100,000 per month in house rent, which has now been increased to Rs 250,000.

Under the 1975 law, an amount of Rs6,000 per month was set aside for the office expenses of the chairman which has been increased to Rs50,000. Similarly, the daily allowance for the Senate chairman has been increased from Rs1,750 to Rs10,000.

The travelling allowance, which was just Rs75 has been raised to Rs5,000. The tickets of all airlines can now be purchased for domestic travel while in the past, only PIA’s tickets were allowed.

He also clarified that the requisition to charter a plane was only for occasions when the Senate chairman becomes acting president.

The chairman and deputy chairman’s discretionary fund has been propo­sed to be raised from Rs600,000 to Rs1.2m and from Rs300,000 to Rs600,000, respectively. He claimed that the bill was passed without taking the members into confidence.

However, Mr Sanjrani’s clarification failed to placate some members as deputy chairman Saleem Man­dviwala criticised the bill.

Separately, PPP leader and cabinet minister Sha­zia Marri issued a statement on Monday, distancing her party from the “controversial legislation”, saying the PPP would oppose such move in the parliament “not acceptable amid serious economic challenges.”

In a brief statement, Ms Marri said the PPP rejects the bill called ‘The Chair­man Senate (Salar­ies, Allowance and Privileges) Act, 2023.’

Talking to Dawn, she said the party had conveyed “to its members and allies loud and clear” that it won’t support any such legislation at a time when the country is facing serious economic challenges.

“The bill proposes un­­just privileges which is not acceptable at all,” she said.

“So whatever the content of the bill is, if it proposes such privileges to any member of the parliament, it would be opposed by the PPP. We can’t afford such legislation when the country is facing a serious economic crisis and people are struggling to make both ends meet.”

When asked about the possibility of action against those PPP senators who were among the movers such bills, she said the party had a strong accountability system and “their cases would definitely be taken up at the right forum”.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023