Daily Times

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lashed out at the government on Friday, claiming that both the budget and the budget session of the PTI-led government were “illegal.”

Speaking at the National Assembly said it seemed that the government was playing the role of the opposition instead of running the country.

Bilawal went on to say that associating a country which is being ruled by an “illegitimate government” to the state of Madina is not appropriate.

Speaking about the budget he said the masses are aware of the fact that “claims of four percent growth are based on lies.”

“I think both this budget and the budget session are illegal,” he said, adding that ever since the government has taken over, no new National Finance Commission (NFC) award has been given to provinces.

The NFC award is meant to distribute financial resources between the federal government and the provinces.

“Every budget will be unconstitutional until the NFC award is given,” said Bilawal.

He said that people will never forgive the government for further pushing them below the poverty line.

“If the budget raises petrol, gas, and electricity prices, then every Pakistani has to bear the burden of the government’s incompetence,” said Bilawal, adding that had there been economic growth, so many people would not be unemployed.

“The prime minister had promised to grant 10 million jobs to people, but on the contrary, even those who were previously employed have now been rendered jobless,” the PPP chairman said.

Bilawal questioned that if the country has seen economic growth, as claimed by the PTI-led government, then why does it have to “beg before the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?”

He said that inflation in Pakistan is higher than in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India. Inflation was also there in the PPP era, there was a global economic crisis at that time, Pakistan was fighting terrorism, Pakistan faced two major floods but the PPP introduced Benazir Income Support Program and did not leave the people at the mercy of the situation. There were several social uplift programs in the BISP like Waseela-e-Rozgar, Wassela-e-Haq, Waseela-e-health. The government talks a lot about Ehsaas (feelings) but it has no Ehsaas. There is a historic rise in inflation, poverty, and unemployment Benazir Income Support Program budget has only a slight increase.

Bilawal also said that as per the economic survey, if nothing else, the population of donkeys has increased in the country, for which Prime Minister Imran Khan’s policies must be lauded.

Bilawal further said that the PTI government did not even spare Azad Jammu and Kashmir and burdened the people there with the imposition of taxes.

He said that only Rs12 billion had been earmarked for the agricultural sector, which is the backbone of the economy.

Reacting to Bilawal’s comments, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar delivered his speech during the National Assembly session and challenged the opposition, saying: “If they are brave enough to listen to the truth, then they should stay in the House till the end.”

Mocking the way Bilawal kept switching between English and Urdu during his speech, Hammad Azhar implied that oratory skills are not enough to remove the stains of corruption from someone’s character.

“Those who have never done anything to improve the country’s economy delivered an immature speech on the government’s budget and economic policies,” he said.

He asked the opposition to go through the budget documents once again and point out what taxes, as they claim, have been levied in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Azhar said that the rate of inflation was higher during the tenure of the PPP government, adding that it was the PPP that went to the IMF more than any other government in the past.

Hammad also said the country’s economy has entered into the growth phase with foreign exchange reserves standing at six years high. Referring to the bumper crops of wheat and sugarcane and maize, he said the benefit of this directly reached the farmers as we ensured that they get the due price of their produce.

The minister said we had a comprehensive plan to address the capacity payments in the power sector. He said the present government enhanced the capacity of power transmission system and one hundred billion rupees have been allocated in the budget to further improve it. He said that federal government was giving 550 MW electricity to the K-electric on daily basis.

A day earlier, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif had also delivered his speech after three days of chaos in the National Assembly.

Shahbaz, referring to the 21 government bills that were passed on June 10, had said the lawmaking done a few days ago had flaws in it.

The opposition leader criticised the government, saying the budget was “fake”, as the pockets of the poor people were “empty” and they were not able to feed their families.

“In three years, 20 million people have been pushed below the poverty line, while the growth rate has come down drastically in the last year,” he had said.

Shahbaz, further slamming the government, said it had devoted its energy to revenge instead of accountability. “The opposition has been subjected to the worst kind of revenge.”

PPP’s Khurshid Shah, his son, and PML-N’s Khawaja Asif remain behind bars till date, Shahbaz lamented.

Shahbaz said during the PML-N’s government the International Monetary Fund’s programme had been completed, but now, the progress has reversed during PTI’s three years.

Shahbaz, pointing towards the prime minister’s seat, said: “This seat remains empty when there is a discussion on Afghanistan; this seat remains empty when there is a discussion on Palestine and Kashmir, this seat remains empty when there is a discussion on inflation and unemployment; this seat remains empty when there is a discussion on coronavirus.”