New Delhi: A moment of comedy unfolded in Pakistan’s National Assembly Monday when Speaker Ayaz Sadiq picked up ten PKR 5,000 notes from the chamber floor, waved them in the air and asked, “Whose money is this? Whoever it belongs to, please raise your hand.” In response, a dozen members promptly lifted their hands.
“There are ten notes and twelve owners,” the Speaker quipped in Urdu before briefly halting the session’s formal proceedings. The cash eventually found its way to its rightful owner—PTI’s Muhammad Iqbal Afridi.
But before that, the speaker’s clip has already gone viral. Now, Pakistanis are angry, ashamed and embarrassed.
“Muslim League fakeer theiy hy aur rhengei… De deite na inkou nihari. Maryam Nawaz ke slim issues me kaam aenge (PMLN is a poor party, should have given them the money, it would have been helpful in slimming Maryam Nawaz),” a Facebook user named Razia Sultan wrote.
Another Facebook user Shahnaz Khalid added, “Shame on MNA’s attitude. How honest our parliament is can be seen by this scenario.”
Several people expressed deeper cynicism. Facebook user Muhammad Saleem Memon claimed the incident proved lawmakers were “THUG OF PAKISTAN AND PPP.”
Other users invoked the oft-cited “Form 47” political meme.
Form 47 is the election form for tallying of votes. It became a political meme after PTI MNA’s accused PMLN of rigging elections and stealing Form 47 from PTI constituencies.
Also read: Pakistanis panic over an interview that never happened—deepfake targets Imran’s sister
Penalty for the 12
The video also ignited a debate on the state of Pakistani politicians. X user Kalim said, “the problem that plagues Pakistan, small petty thieves in big offices formulating laws like lifetime immunity and brown nosing a military dictator. What’s even worse is what is says about the military dictator.”
Most were not surprised at the state of affairs. “They take salaries and perks in millions, yet this is their state—alas,” X user Farhan wrote.
Others had observations. “This means the public is right when it says that everyone in the assembly is a thief,” X user Abrar Khan wrote.
“Speaker missed 25 calls from Sharif Brothers,” a sarcastic PTI supporter Mahnoor Asif wrote.
Some feel that on technical grounds, all the 12 MNAs who raised their hand should be held in contempt of parliament and be dismissed. They feel it is an insult to the “parliament of Islamic republic of Pakistan.”
While some lamented on how corrupt each of them were, one disgruntled user simply wrote, “An average day in Pakistani Politics”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)