ISLAMABAD – A video of a Pakistani opposition politician claiming PrimeMinister Imran Khan’s salary has increased threefold in 2020 has beenviewed thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook. The claim ismisleading; the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement denying Khan’ssalary had been increased; official legislation shows the Prime Minister’ssalary was last increased in 2012.
The video was published here link Facebook onJanuary 30, 2020, and it has been viewed 9,300 times and shared 849 times.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post
The post’s Urdu-language caption translates to English as: “Federal Cabinethas made a 300 percent increase in Prime Minister’s salary. He was not ableto make ends meet in 200,000 rupees, now his salary is 800,000…..UzmaBokhari.”
“Uzma Bokhari” refers to Pakistan opposition politician Azma Zahid Bokharilink.
The caption is a direct quote of comments made by Bokhari during the NadeemMalik Live programme on the local television network Samaa TV on January29, 2020; as seen from the 45-second mark of the video.
She is heard saying: “Today the important news is that for which this wholedrama is being created to hide a news and the news is that the federalcabinet has approved an increase of 300 percent in Prime Minister’s salary.Now he was not able to make ends meet in 200,000 rupees, now reportedlythat salary will be 800,000 rupees.”
A similar claim about a hike in Khan’s salary were shared herelink, here link, herelink here linkFacebook.
Read Top Stories
The claim is misleading. On January 30, 2020 Pakistan’s Prime Minister’sOffice issued a statement herelink its websiteand herelinkits Facebook page, denying Khan’s salary had been increased.
Part of the Urdu statement translates to English as: “A spokesman of PrimeMinister’s office, while strongly contradicting the news about increase inPrime Minister’s salary, has said that at a time when the Prime Minister iswaging a campaign to bring down government expenditure by every possiblemeans and he has started it from himself, publication of such baseless andfabricated news is highly regrettable.”
Below is a screenshot of the statement from the website of the PrimeMinister’s Office:Screenshot of the statement from the website of the Pakistan PrimeMinister’s Office
The Prime Minister’s Salary, Allowances and Privileges Act of 1975 dictatesthe salary of the Prime Minister in Pakistan.
AFP found that the last amendment to this act was August 2012 and therehave been no changes since. The amendment was published in thislinkofficialgazette on August 13, 2012.
Below is a screenshot of the relevant clause of the act that stipulatesKhan’s monthly pay is 107,280 rupees per month:
