Daily Times

A day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari rejected the recently unveiled budget, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday stressed that coalition partners should discuss government decisions in the cabinet instead of criticising them in political rallies. The differences among the ruling coalition over the federal budget came to the fore on Saturday when the foreign minister indicated that his party would not vote for the budget unless their concerns were addressed. Bilawal passed these remarks during a rally in the Khwazakhela area of Swat. He said the prime minister had promised to keep funds for the rehabilitation of flood-hit people in the budget, but some members of his team “were not fulfilling those promises”.

He further claimed that the budget presented in Parliament had very little input from the PPP, especially on the issues of climate change and rehabilitation of those affected by floods, for which sufficient funds were not allocated. In an apparent response to the foreign minister today, Iqbal asserted that the prime minister always resolved concerns raised by coalition partners. “We should all refrain from talking in rallies and instead discuss [issues] in official meetings of the cabinet so that political uncertainty – which was [PTI Chairman] Imran Khan’s forte – is avoided,” he said during a ceremony in Narowal. “When Imran’s front is closed, we should refrain from opening another front between us … It is our responsibility to act as a team and take Pakistan out of this crisis,” he said.

During his address, Iqbal highlighted the importance the premier gave to his coalition partners. “Under the PM’s leadership, we strive to take all the decisions after consultation. When there is a coalition [government], there are both advantages and disadvantages. “Consultation takes time. But the advantage is that the decisions are backed by support. That’s why PM Shehbaz always includes coalition partners in all policy decisions,” the minister said. He added, “Even during the budget preparation and approval, all the coalition partners were involved.” Iqbal maintained that the government always aimed to take decisions after consensus. “Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone to guard these decisions and take equal ownership,” he added.

“When the climate disaster hit last year in Sindh and Balochistan, the government, despite limited resources, disbursed more than Rs80 billion through the Benazir Income Support Programme to the flood victims. “Even the National Disaster Management Authority spent Rs15-20bn on procuring tents, and items of need were sent to provinces apart from foreign aid,” he said. Iqbal concluded that the issue of flood victims in Sindh and Balochistan was also raised in Geneva and it was decided to expedite the relief efforts. The foreign minister had previously also raised his reservations against the federal government over the issues of funds for flood affectees and their relief and rehabilitation. Fissures within the ruling coalition were visible in the National Assembly on Friday when lawmakers belonging to the PPP, while taking part in the debate on the federal budget, assailed the ruling PML-N for not providing promised funds to the Sindh government for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas and “denying” the province its due share from the tax amount.

The PPP lawmakers in their speeches had blamed the PML-N for not taking sufficient measures to provide relief to the poor, reduce prices and resolve the energy crisis and expressed concern over the ambiguity regarding the allocation of development funds. Holding the PML-N responsible for all the ills and defects in the budget, the PPP lawmakers had claimed that the credit for the increase in salaries and pensions of government employees went to former president Asif Ali Zardari upon “whose insistence the government agreed to give the raise”. Similarly, a number of PPP MNAs had praised FM Bilawal for a “successful” foreign policy and for getting assistance for the flood-hit areas while effectively raising the climate change issue at the international forums. No one from the PML-N, however, had given a direct response to the PPP members, but in their speeches, they had kept on praising PM Shehbaz and Dar for presenting the “best possible budget” under the prevailing economic conditions.