Daily Times

During general discussion on the federal budget for FY22 on Tuesday, ‘blame game’ by lawmakers from treasury and opposition benches continued as both sides accused each other of being responsible for bad economic policies.

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry suggested that both government and opposition should work jointly while putting back the past and all kinds of differences in order to develop the country. He said the country direly needs joint strategic policies for a real development. “Instead of criticism, suggest to us how to move forward to boost progress of the country,” he said, while pointing towards the opposition benches.

Besides, he said, there is a need for the government and the opposition to discuss and reach a consensus on electoral reforms, adding that it would benefit both sides. He informed the House that the government has invited the opposition to discuss electoral reforms while keeping mutual differences aside. “But since they (opposition) can gauge that they wouldn’t even have enough candidates to contest on all seats, which add up to around 1,100, they are already promoting the narrative of the next elections being rigged two years before the polls are scheduled,” he claimed.

Lamenting at Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, Chaudhry said that the PML-N leader was vocal about the need for the government and the opposition to set aside their differences and engage in talks to address the country’s main issues during his speeches in the House, but it seemed he had little say in his party. “It looks like someone else makes decisions in the PML-N and they need to first decide on who has that authority. That person could then represent them in talks with the government,” he remarked.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal hit back at remarks of the information minister and also criticized the budget while saying that the government presented an anti-people budget for consecutive three years. “We need real accountability of the system due to which the country has been facing an economic crisis for the last 50 years. We have to think out-of-box to boost economy,” he suggested.

Shazia Marri of the PPP said that on behalf of her party, she rejects the budget which is totally based on lies and baseless statistics. She said that the finance minister like his government is making tall claims but on ground the facts state otherwise. She said the common man is passing through difficult economic circumstances due to skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.

Legislators from treasury and opposition benches also recommended the federal government to increase the salaries of government employees from 10 to 20 per cent in the budget for fiscal year 2021-22.