ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar Monday introduced a money bill in the National Assembly to fund the general elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, hours before the deadline given by the Supreme Court for disbursement of Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ends.
The finance minister tabled the money bill 2023 titled, “Charged Sums for General Election (Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Bill, 2023” in the National Assembly for introduction. Speaker National Assembly referred the bill to the concerned Standing Committee of the House.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment on April 4, had directed the federal government to provide Rs21 billion funds to the ECP in any case by April 10 for conducting the election in the country.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the minister said that the government is laying this bill before the House in light of the Supreme Court’s orders to release Rs21 billion to the ECP to hold general elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
IMF agreement to be inked soon, reiterates Dar in National Assembly
“Now, it is the responsibility of the Parliament to decide whether funds to ECP should be released or not,” he said.
He said that the Parliament had also passed a resolution that the apex court’s order into the suo-motu notice regarding holding elections in Punjab is a decision of 4-3 and the judgment of 3-0 is a minority decision and that should not be implemented.
He said that the federal cabinet, in its recent meeting, pondered over the Supreme Court’s orders and in view of this House’s resolution, has sought the will of the Parliament to take a final decision regarding the allocation of funds for general elections for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The minister said that the PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies under a “planned conspiracy” to create a constitutional crisis in the country. He also recalled that the PTI lawmakers resigned from the National Assembly, which was akin to disrespecting the public mandate.
He maintained that holding elections in the country was a constitutional responsibility but contended that it was important to hold polls across the country simultaneously under caretaker governments.
The minister claimed that the PTI is trying to stir a constitutional crisis in the country and “constantly trying to spread unrest and despair among the nation”. He further slammed the previous government for not only failing to implement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement but “also working against its terms and conditions”.
However, the finance minister assured the lower house of the parliament that the government had “employed all-out efforts to complete the IMF programme and the staff-level agreement would be signed soon.”
Referring to the recent price hikes and other policy decisions introduced by the incumbent government, Dar said, “If these decisions were not introduced, the country would already have defaulted. These decisions made the government lose political capital, as well (…) and now, we have set out towards development.”
He said that the government hopes to take the foreign exchange reserves to $13 billion in the next quarter.
The finance minister claimed that the PTI regime had brought the country to the verge of default by violating the sovereign commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that this also harmed the credibility of Pakistan.
Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its debt, with an IMF bailout programme stalled since November, while a bruising political battle is raging between the government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The minister also mentioned that from July 2022 to the present, Pakistan has repaid $12 billion in foreign debt. “We are paying each foreign payment in time,” he said.
He furthered that the country has $9.6 billion in foreign exchange reserves at present. “Pakistan reserves stand at a total of $9.60 billion — $4.10 billion available with the State Bank of Pakistan and $5.50 billion of commercial banks,” he added.
The minister said that a strategy had been devised by the government to increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves to $13 billion by June 30.
He said that the government, under the leadership of PM Shehbaz, had also improved its relations with friendly countries and international partners.
Further, the finance minister said that the government had also taken measures to stop the illegal flight of capital from the country, which were showing encouraging signs.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz had recently announced austerity measures that would be adopted to control the country’s expenditures.
He said that the government had designed a policy to end un-targeted subsidies and provide targeted subsidies to deserving low-income people. He said that funds for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had also increased from Rs360 billion to Rs400 billion.
Earlier, the National Assembly passed, “The National University of Pakistan Bill, 2023” moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi. MNA Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha and PTI disgruntled MNA Ahmed Hussain Deharr said while speaking on the floor of the House that the Parliament would protect the constitution at any cost and accept the decision of the majority of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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