Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khurshid Shah Friday said Prime Minister Imran Khan has failed to honour the promises he made with the nation during the election campaign.

“Imran Khan promised not to go to the IMF, but he approached it. He promised not to construct metro bus but he constructed. He said the value of dollar will not be increased, but it increased. He said PM House and governor houses will be converted into educational institutions but it could not be done. Same is the case with many more promises,” Shah said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly. “We should carefully make promises in the election campaigns,” he maintained, adding that politicians should have good reputation as people will stop believing in democracy if they continued to make fake statements.

Khurshid Shah said the PTI government has not fulfilled any of its commitments regarding welfare of people and improvement in the social sector. He also voiced concerns over increase in power and gas tariff as well as the prices of fuel and medicines. He suggested that 15 percent of the PSDP should be spent on the construction of dams.

Shah said PPP introduced National Finance Commission (NFC) Award in its tenure. “The dictator, who was ruling the country when we made government in 2008, was not ready to accept parliamentary system,” he said. “The incumbent government stumbles when it comes to raising 10 percent salaries of the poverty-stricken people. Promote agriculture sector if you want to give relief to the masses and boost economy of the country,” he suggested. “We are in favour of constructing dams but making this step a political move is not acceptable,” he added.

Taking part in the budget debate, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif opposed dissolution of PTI government and suggested that the federal ministers should become careful about their duties. He said the ‘doctors’ being called from foreign countries have badly destroyed country’s economy. Those changing loyalties are responsible for disturbing the decorum in the House, he said.

Kh Asif said withdrawal of zero-rated facility for export-oriented industry will not only cut job opportunities but also further decline the exports. The government should review this decision, he demanded. Parliamentarians from the treasury benches termed the budget as positive for people of the country that will be helpful in improving the economic situation besides changing the life of the common man. However, MNAs from opposition benches criticised the budget, suggesting the government to include inputs from the parliamentarians for further improving it.

Continuing the discussion on the budget, Sahibzada Sibghatullah described the budget as investment friendly. He said the country has been put on the right track and it will move forward on the path of progress and development.

Fakhar Imam said the agriculture sector should be uplifted to meet the current economic challenges faced by the country. Yousuf Talpur called for fair distribution of resources for development of all areas. He also called for addressing water-related issues on priority bases as the whole agriculture sector depend over it. Munir Khan Orakzai said the tribal districts should be given their share in the CPEC. He also called upon Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan to contribute three percent share of NFC for the war-torn merged districts of tribal areas. Junaid Akbar said it is for the first time that focus is being given to documentation of economy and duties on raw material have been reduced in order to revive industries and enhance exports.

Usama Qadri appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s firm stance against corruption. He said those who committed economic terrorism must be taken to task and held accountable. He called for establishment of a complete Islamic banking system in the country.

Fazal Khan said Prime Minister Imran Khan enjoys the trust and confidence of the masses. He said the prime minister also enjoys great respect at the world level. Aslam Bhutani said it is a matter of great satisfaction that the new budget envisages schemes for the development of Gwadar and Balochistan. He pointed out that Gwadar is faced with serious power outages and that the problem be addressed for fast-track development of the area. He said China plans to establish three hundred megawatts of power plant in Gwadar and efforts be expedited for early implementation of this project. Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said the present government has shown the commitment towards the construction of dams. She said it is for the first time that a pro-poor budget has been presented in which two hundred billion rupees have been earmarked for disadvantaged segments of the society. She said one hundred billion rupees have also been allocated for the welfare of youth. Barjees Tahir said the budget has not been prepared by the government but the IMF. He said the government has failed to achieve the revenue target for the current fiscal year. He said the PTI had promised to construct five million houses but instead has imposed additional taxes on the construction material. He said subsidy should be provided to the farmers on fertilizers and pesticides.

Khurram Dastagir criticised the government’s economic policies saying these have resulted in price hike and unemployment in the country.