ISLAMABAD: In an unusual sight, the opposition benches in the National Assembly on Friday presented a deserted look due to the absence of a strong opposition in the house as the dissident lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Raja Riaz – the opposition leader in the NA – did not put up any resistance, paving the way for the government to present the federal budget for 2022-23 comfortably.
With smiles on their faces, the PTI dissidents kept coming to the seat of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to greet him, while Raja Riaz – who was supposed to give a tough time to the government – also remained tight-lipped throughout the budget session and kept passing smiles to the leader of the house.
The prime minister, who remained present in the house till the end, seemed quite comfortable and kept thumping desk whenever his Finance Minister Miftah Ismail criticised his predecessor, Imran Khan, for his government’s three and a half years of “flawed economic policies”.
Ismail was equally upbeat and said the coalition government had two options – either to go for fresh elections or take responsibility to fix the fragile economy – but it opted for the latter under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the best national interest.
Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said to be the mastermind behind the no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan – did not turn up in the house. His son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – the scion of Bhutto dynasty – who is the foreign minister in PM Sharif’s Cabinet, also remained conspicuously absent.
The overall environment of the National Assembly remained “cordial and conducive” as Ismail delivered a rather lengthy speech, mispronouncing some key Urdu words and sipping water every now and then.
On several occasions, during his about two and half hours long budget speech, he showered heaps of praises on his self-exiled party supremo Nawaz Sharif and his party leader Shehbaz Sharif for their vision to turn the fate of the country, but he remained totally mute on the spiralling inflation in the country.
Meanwhile, the former ruling party – the PTI – went jittery over the “anti-poor budget” and handed it an outright rejection in a jiffy.
PTI leader Hammad Azhar said the inflation will increase by two to three per cent in the country and the gross domestic product (GDP) will be halved — dropping from six per cent to 2%-3%.
Azhar, a former finance and energy minister, said there was a lot of instability in Pakistan’s economy and the country was on the brink of default – a notion which the finance minister, Ismail, rejected a few days ago.
“In the budget, we did not see the direction that we needed to take the country out of the economic crisis and clear the uncertainty that the incumbent government has created,” Azhar said, adding that Pakistan would face more unemployment.
He said that the budget was passed in a hurry and does not hold any importance.
PTI secretary-general Asad Umar wondered at what rate would the inflation rise when it witnessed an increase of 24 per cent as compared to the last year.
He said that Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s claim to bring down inflation is nothing but “a white lie”, adding Miftah had said that the price of petrol should not be more than Rs137, but a couple of months after coming into power, the petrol is being sold at Rs210 per litre.
“These are the things which show how sincere this “imported regime” is about the issues faced by the masses as its claim of bringing down inflation is nothing but to befool the masses,” he added.
The PTI leader and ex-science minister Shibli Faraz said a “handicapped” Parliament did not have legal or moral grounds to present the country’s budget as they have “deteriorated” the economy within two months after coming into power.
“We reject this budget. Each day this government remains in power, it will be a burden on the masses. There is only one solution to this: hold early elections,” the ex-science and technology minister said.
Talking to journalists outside the Parliament, Senator Shahzad Waseem said since the incumbent government came into power, the price of petrol and all other essential commodities have increased.
“This budget does not have anything but sorrows for the people. A voice matters more than numbers in the Opposition. We will expose this government every day,” the PTI senator added. PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry said the government unveiled a “people-enemy” budget and the nation would deal with the rulers themselves.
PML-Q Senator Kamil Ali Agha, in a press conference, said today’s budget was just a “formality” as the coalition government has already increased the prices of all commodities.
“The (finance) minister, in his speech, repeatedly mentioned that the common man will pay tax through their bills,” he added.
The PTI dissidents who are enjoying power with the coalition government were all praise for the budget, saying the government will steer the country out of the prevailing economic crises.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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