ISLAMABAD: Lawmaker from the opposition benches in the National Assembly on Sunday cursed the government for presenting an anti-people budget.
The bashing received a sharp response from the treasury benches, which justified the budget a result of the “precarious economic situation” it inherited from the previous government.
The government’s ally, JUI-F, also called it a “capitalist budget”. However, it pointed out numerous steps, which it believed were positive for the economic development, and suggested various steps that could improve the budget document.
The budget debate in a thinly attended House also witnessed a brief verbal clash between Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and members of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) when the former deplored that the opposition party had turned into a regional one.
The minister was responding to PPPP leader Ayaz Soomro’s complaint on the shortage of water in Sindh and criticised the PML-N for adopting a step-motherly treatment towards smaller provinces.
“We should not use references that are not in national interest. The PPPP is a federal party. But it is behaving like a regional party,” Iqbal pointed out, triggering a protest from the PPPP benches who objected to the language of the minister.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq tried to calm the PPPP members down and remarked that the minister did not use any derogatory language, and gave the floor to PPPP’s Nawab Yousaf Talpur, who said that the 1991 Water Accord should be implemented in letter and spirit. The brief uproar died down with Talpur taking the floor.
Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain deplored that the speech of opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah on budget was a traditional one.
Earlier, Ayaz Soomro, taking part in the budget debate, said that the people had been crushed through the budget, and remarked that the party of industrialists had no feelings for the poor of the country.
He pointed out that the word “labourer” could not be found in the entire budget because the ruling party was not from this class.
ANP’s Ameer Haider Khan Hoti taking the flour noted that a realistic approach was not adopted in the development budget. He said that only a few million rupees had been allocated in the budget for projects worth billions.
On the announcement of the government to end circular debt in 60 days, Hoti said that this issue would not resolve through the clearance of debt unless the tariff difference, line losses and theft in the energy sector were tackled.
He called upon the government to announce its energy policy as early as possible to deal with this crisis effectively.
Hailing the government for abolishing secret funds, JUI-F’s Akram Khan Durrani felt that the budged had many good things in it. He, however, pointed out that the issue of secret funds of political agents in FATA had not been addressed.
JUI-F’s Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani said that the increase in the ratio of budget would crush the masses financially. He said that a budget based on interest-based foreign loans could not bring a positive change.
PTI’s Raja Amir Zaman said that a 10 percent raise in the salaries of government employees was meagre, keeping in view the inflationary trends.
He also urged the government to focus on direct taxes rather than increasing the ratio of indirect taxes, like GST, which would burden the common man.
PTI leader Amjad Ali Khan’s support for the Benazir Income Support Programme earned him cheers from the PPPP as well as his PTI colleagues.
The House was adjourned until 10:30am today (Monday).
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