US refuses to comment on Punjab pay raise

State Dept spokesperson says US wanted rule of law respected in Pakistan

US State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller on Wednesday refused to comment on the increase in the salary of Punjab ministers, telling the questioner at his regular briefing that the appropriate forum to reply to this question was the government of Pakistan.

Miller said that the US had made it clear in its engagements with the Pakistanis time and again that Washington wanted to see human rights and rule of the law respected the country. He added that this stance had also been taken publicly by the US.

Miller interrupted the question about the pay raise for the Punjab ministers, who claimed that the Pakistan government sought assistance from the US and gave 900% increase to the ministers. Miller replied that it was not a question for the US to reply.

"I think the appropriate pay of government officials inside Pakistan is a question for the people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan to answer, not a question for the United States," he said. "We don't typically opine on the relative pay of government officials anywhere around the world."

When his attention was drawn towards Congressman John James statement regarding the Pakistani authorities' crackdown on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters in Islamabad on November 26, Miller replied that the US had been very clear on this matter.

"Every time you ask me a question about this, I'm quite clear – that we want to see human rights and the rule of law respected inside Pakistan. We make that clear publicly. We make that clear in our engagements with the Government of Pakistan," he added.

Replying to another question about a slain Pakistan journalist, who was denied the US visa, Miller expressed his unawareness to this particular incident and the reasons he did not get the US visa, adding that the State Department did not discuss matters of an individual in public because of privacy reasons.