A moment of comedy or a moment of despair?
It’s hard to judge the scenes that played out in Pakistan’s National Assembly when the speaker picked up money that had fallen on the floor of the house and asked, “Whose money is this?”
What followed has amused many, while many others have been left embarrassed, claiming it’s reflective of the deep corruption that runs within Pakistan’s political circles.
So, what exactly happened in the national assembly?
‘Whose money is this?’
In scenes that have now gone viral on social media, on Monday (December 8), Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, picked up 10 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 turn, 12 Pakistani lawmakers raised their hands, claiming the money was theirs.
“There are 10 notes and twelve owners,” the Speaker quipped before briefly halting the session’s formal proceedings. The cash eventually found its way to its rightful owner — PTI’s Muhammad Iqbal Afridi. He later collected the cash from the Assembly office.
This is the National Assembly of Pakistan 🇵🇰🤦🤦 pic.twitter.com/1SEiTsyZu8
— IndiaWarMonitor (@IndiaWarMonitor) December 9, 2025
Pakistanis red-faced and humiliated
While lawmakers in Pakistan’s National Assembly were able to chuckle over the money incident — around Rs 16,500 — the common Pakistani hasn’t found the viral visuals funny.
The video has evoked strong emotions from Pakistanis, many of them calling it embarrassing for the country. One social media user noted, “How honest our parliament is can be seen by this scenario.”
Another said, “These are the characters sitting in the assembly. All frauds and corrupt. Pakistan can never prosper while these characterless are occupying the top slots.”
One social media user argued that the incident was reflective of a regular day in Pakistani politics. “They take salaries and perks in millions, yet this is their state,” noted the individual.
Even Maryam Nawaz Sharif found herself embroiled in the ‘note natak’ some dubbed it. On Facebook, Razia Sultan wrote, “PMLN is such a poor party. The Speaker should have given them the money, it would have helped get Maryam Nawaz slim.”
X user Abrar Khan also noted, “This means the public is right when it says that everyone in the assembly is a thief,” whereas Kalim wrote on the social media platform, “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.”
Some Pakistani social media users also said that the lawmakers who had raised their hands for the money should be dismissed, saying that the actions by the leaders seemed insulting to “parliament of Islamic republic of Pakistan.”
But not everyone was upset over the viral video. Some said that it was just a joke. As one netizen wrote, “In my opinion, the 11 other MNAs just did that for fun purposes.”
Pakistan’s political corruption
While the intentions of the lawmakers who tried to claim the money remain unknown, the incident reflects the current state of affairs in the country, where corruption runs rampant.
In fact, a new assessment by the International Monetary Fund in November found that corruption in Pakistan is behind an economic crisis driven by “state capture” – where public policy is manipulated to benefit a narrow circle of political and business elites.
In the 186-page report, corruption in Pakistan is “persistent and corrosive”, and eroding public trust and undermining fiscal stability. The IMF report further stated that “the most economically damaging manifestations involve privileged entities that exert influence over key economic sectors, including those owned by or affiliated with the state.”
The report argued that Pakistan stands to gain substantial economic benefits if governance improves and accountability is strengthened. Such reforms, it notes, could significantly lift the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), which stood at $340bn in 2024.
“Based on cross-country analysis of the reform experience of emerging markets, IMF analysis projects that Pakistan could generate between a five to 6.5 per cent increase in GDP by implementing a package of governance reforms over the course of five years,” the report said.
And it’s not just the IMF that notes the rampant corruption in Pakistan. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2024, which measures corruption based on expert and business perceptions, ranked Islamabad a low 135 with a score of 27 — the lower the figure, the more rampant the corruption.
It’s even more important to note that these same lawmakers, who were trying to claim the money in the National Assembly, are
well-paid employees of the government. Earlier, in June, the Pakistani government approved a staggering 500 per cent increase in the salaries of the National Assembly Speaker and Senate Chairman.
As a result of this, the National Assembly Speaker as well as the Senate Chairman draw a monthly salary of PKR 1.3 million (Rs 4.16 lakh), a sharp rise from their previous PKR 205,000 (Rs 65,700). Moreover, Pakistani lawmakers draw a monthly salary of PKR 519,000 (Rs 1.66 lakh), up from the previous PKR 218,000 (Rs 70,000) following a revision in February.
All of this, when the country’s
common man continues to struggle as a result of the struggling economy. So much so, that Pakistan has sought numerous loans from international organisations, including the
IMF. In fact, Pakistan owes the financial institution a whopping $8.96 billion.
Perhaps the lawmakers should think of this figure and the economic hardships of their people before they joke about money next time.
With inputs from agencies
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