Many lawmakers have contacted National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to complain that they have been paying rent for Parliament lodges, as well as electricity and gas bills, sources said on Sunday.

Despite paying rent and utility bills, they said that parliamentarians were disrespected.

This comes a day after reports that the energy ministry was working on reducing expenditures, including considering the elimination of free electricity provisions for judges, parliamentarians, and other institutions amid the opposition’s campaign against the power projects signed with independent power producers (IPPs).

Sources within the Energy Division told Aaj News on Saturday that the government has decided to work on an emergency plan to deal with the IPPs. The initiative has already been extended to other ministries as well, where efforts are under way to cut down on expenditures, they added.

In a post on X, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif rejected the impression that parliamentarians receive free electricity. “The parliamentarians do not get free electricity facilities. I can show my electricity bills of 35 years paid from my personal pocket,” he had said and suggested that judges and bureaucrats should be asked about their electricity benefits.

Parliamentarians criticised the NA speaker, saying that instead of the ministry responding to this campaign, it has chosen to remain silent, which the members considered a “criminal act.”

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The government and opposition members have submitted to the NA Secretariat a privilege motion against the ministry. The assembly members were of the view that the ministry should have “immediately refuted the fake news.”

“I am the custodian of the House and I will ensure the dignity of the members,” sources quoted the NA speakers as saying.