It started with a simple question — “Whose money is this?” — and ended in full-blown comedy inside Pakistan’s National Assembly.During Monday’s session of the National Assembly in Islamabad, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq found ten PKR 5,000 notes on the chamber floor and called for the owner to identify them.
“Whose money is this? Whoever it belongs to, please raise your hand,” the Speaker asked, waving the bundle of notes in the air. Within seconds, 12–13 MPs raised their hands to claim the money. On seeing this, the Speaker quipped, “There are 10 notes, yet 12 owners.” Proceedings were briefly halted amid the laughter and confusion. A video of the episode went viral on social media, with many Pakistanis mocking their lawmakers. According to the viral video, the money was later retrieved by Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, an MP from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, who collected it from the Assembly office. As the video gained traction, critics called for the MPs who raised their hands to be held in contempt of Parliament and dismissed. “The Speaker missed 25 calls from Sharif brothers,” tweeted Mahnoor Asif. Another user commented, “They take salaries and perks in millions, yet this is their state.” A user said, “This is the time of the Parliament and the parliamentarians present in the Parliament Five thousand notes, one person’s pocket and claimants of money—12 members of the National Assembly have raised their hands. This is the moral standard.”
