Daily Times

The opposition in Punjab Assembly led by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) rejected the Supplementary Budget for the year 2020-21 on Monday.

Criticizing the supplementary budget, the PML-N reminded the ruling PTI that its Chairman and incumbent Prime Minister used to term this supplementary budget as ‘political bribe’. “How has this become legitimate now as your leader used to term it as political bribe in the past,” questioned senior PML-N leader and former Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal.

“The Finance Minister is talking about the subsidy on flour worth 86 billion rupees but the masses are unable to get the flour bags,” said Rana Iqbal. He further added that Nawaz Sharif made this country an atomic power, but it is really shameful that the people of an atomic power are unable to get flour bags just due to the inefficiency of the incumbent rulers.

“The DAP fertilizer bag for farmers was just 2,500 rupees in the tenure of PML-N, but now it has increased to 5700 rupees,” said Rana Iqbal. The former Speaker also praised the incumbent Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for completing the building of Punjab Assembly.

Earlier, the session of Punjab Assembly started after a delay of more than two hours from its scheduled time with Speaker Elahi in the chair.

The blame-game between the opposition and treasury benches was the hallmark of Monday’s sitting as both the camps kept criticizing the economic policies of each other. While criticizing the PML-N members, the treasury benches said that, had PML-N done anything good during their tenure, the PTI government would not have to approach the International Monetary Fund for aid. The present government has presented a people friendly budget, said treasury MPAs.

Pakistan People’s Party parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza demanded accountability of politicians as well as bureaucrats, adding that if both were not held accountable then Pakistan would not progress. “We politicians say thieves to each other. The time should come when the blunders of bureaucrats must also be held accountable,” said the PPP leader. He questioned, how is it possible that an officer of the Deputy Secretary rank can become a member of Gymkhana but an MPA can’t.

Parliamentary Secretary Nadeem Qureshi said that those who have ruled for thirty five years were not happy that the present government had allocated historical funds for the development of the province. PTI MPA Seemabia Tahir said that the country has come out of crisis due to the policies of the government.

The session was later adjourned by the Panel of Chairman Mian Shafi to meet again on Tuesday afternoon.