LAHORE: Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmed Tuesday urged the Punjab government to present a people-friendly budget for the next year and if it failed they would not allow the chief minister to enter the House.

Addressing a news conference at the assembly cafeteria, he said an appreciable raise be made in salaries of government employees which should also be in accordance with salaries to be enhanced by the federal government in its upcoming budget.

He said what a pity the Punjab budget was around the corner and the chief minister was looking for an appropriate legislator to deliver the budget speech.

He regretted the Punjab budget had been given final touches but neither the opposition nor the cabinet had been taken into confidence for its preparation.

He said provincial affairs were being run on a dictatorial pattern and an example of bad governance was being set in the province. He said the PPP would never compromise on people's interests.

He said that billions of rupees which the Punjab government had received under NFC award were being doled out to favourites. Besides, he said, billions of rupees were embezzled in the Aashiana housing project.

He aslo dubbed the Danish school project a complete fraud. To a question, the opposition leader said the Sharif brothers were criticising the federal government for the energy crisis but they could not add even a single megawatt to the national system during the last four years.

"Leading politically motivated demonstrations against loadshedding is unethical and unfortunate," Riaz added. He said whenever a conspiracy was hatched against the PPP government, the PML-N was always part of it.