Despite resigning, many MPAs still receive salaries

Resignations submitted in violation of the rules have not been accepted, says assembly secretary

KARACHI: Many members of the Sindh Assembly, who resigned after switching political parties, are still receiving salaries.

According to officials, the salaries are being released due to technical reasons, as the resignations of many MPAs, most of whom were elected on the ticket of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), have not yet been accepted. However, when contacted, those MPAs maintained that they should not be paid salaries and that they are not utilising the money.

Sources in the Sindh Assembly told The Express Tribune that Irum Azeem Farooque, who resigned as an MQM MPA after party founder Altaf Hussain's anti-Pakistan remarks in August, 2016, still gets paid around Rs73,000 per month as salary. She has recently jumped ship to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and has been criticising her former party. However, the salary is still deposited in her bank account. According to Farooque, the issue was not of her doing, as the salary was transferred to her account without her approval.



"I have tendered my resignation twice. I have not withdrawn the salary [from the bank account] and will return it to the government. The speaker should accept my resignation," she said.

Bilqees Mukhtar is another former MQM lawmaker still receiving a salary. She resigned in April, 2016 from the reserved seat for women to join the MQM's dissident faction, the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP). She also said the issue was not her fault, adding that the assembly secretariat should stop issuing her salary. "I have sent my resignation to the speaker but he has not accepted it yet," she explained. "The amount is added to my account, but I don't utilise the funds."

One former MPA, who has resigned, said, on the basis of anonymity, that he still gets the salary. "I am not a liar and always believe in the truth. The money is transferred to my account and I utilise the same," he said, adding that since he is no longer an MPA, the speaker should accept his resignation and stop the salary.



Another former MQM MPA is Abdullah Shaikh, who has resigned and has not been attending assembly sessions but is still receiving his salary. He was elected from PS-97, Gulshan-e-Maymar, in the last general election and resigned in March this year, joining the PSP.

MPAs Irtiza Khalil Farooqui and Khalid Bin Wilayat parted ways with the MQM and joined the PSP in April this year. The assembly records available with The Express Tribune reveal that both the former MPAs are still being remunerated for being members of the Sindh Assembly.

Syed Hafeezudin represented the PTI in the assembly but later joined the PSP and gave up his assembly membership. "I receive the salary, but it is not my fault. The speaker should accept my resignation and ask the Election Commission of Pakistan to announce by-polls on my seat. This chapter will be closed," he said in his defence.



Rule-breakers

When contacted, Sindh Assembly Secretary GM Umar Farooq said that all these MPAs did not follow the prescribed rules when resigning from their seats. Hence, their resignations have not been accepted and they are still being paid. Moreover, since all of them are legally provincial assembly members, they will be receiving the increased salaries according to the new law passed by the assembly.

"The assembly has now passed a law to revise the salaries and allowances of the lawmakers. We have finalised the list and will increase the monthly salary of each MPA from Rs73,000 to Rs145,000. The MPAs whose resignations have not yet been accepted will be entitled to the increased salaries," said Umar.

The assembly secretary added that these MPAs have either faxed their resignations to the speaker or sent it through courier service, which is against the rules. "The rules are very clear on resignations.  A member of the assembly should come to the speaker's office and submit their hand-written resignation to him but no one has followed these rules."



However, Mukhtar did not agree with the assembly secretary. "We have resigned. I want to know why the assembly secretariat has not yet intimated us if we have violated the rules in submitting resignations," she said, adding that the speaker and assembly staff have been adopting delaying tactics.