KP governor calls for uniform law on legislators’ privileges

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has urged the country’s top parliamentary officeholders to bring the provinces onto one framework for lawmakers’ benefits, after controversy over a recently enacted KP law expanding assembly members’ privileges.

In a post on X on Friday, Kundi asked National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani to call a meeting of the speakers of all four provincial assemblies to settle a common approach. He said the aim should be one law covering legislators’ salaries, privileges and entitlements across Pakistan.

immediately convene a meeting of the speakers of all four provincial assemblies and agree on a single, harmonised bill governing the salaries, privileges and entitlements of legislators across Pakistan

Kundi’s remarks came after the KP Assembly passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026 on April 30. The measure widened the powers and immunities of provincial lawmakers, including lifetime official passports for members of the assembly and their spouses. The governor assented to the law on May 6 along with other legislation.

The law later drew public criticism, and KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi this week directed that its provisions be reviewed. Kundi’s intervention followed that backlash, with his proposal focusing on a single national standard rather than separate provincial arrangements.