Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and foreign minister, has declined to address the National Assembly about the budget.
Bilawal refuses to address NA budget session: Syed Naveed Qamar, the PPP’s legislative group leader in the National Assembly and the federal minister for commerce, told The News on Monday at Parliament House that Bilawal would not address the budget in the NA.
Notably, Bilawal refrained from participating in the high-level, two-round negotiations with the PML-N regarding budget plans, specifically the IMF’s allocations for Sindh. The two coalition partners recognize these allocations as one of the contentious topics.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif led and presided over the first session, which concluded on Monday night. The session aimed to find a solution to the disagreement regarding funding allotments for Sindh’s flood victims and other fiscal issues.
The PPP and the ruling PML-N see the recently discovered disagreements as a “setback” in the development.
In their statements to the NA, the PPP MNAs have criticised several areas of the national budget, although they have not yet planned to introduce cut motions for the financial allocations.
If one of their members submits such a plan, that would be the equivalent of playing the opposition.
Updates on General Budget Discussion and Amendments in Pakistan Election Act
The organizers of the general budget discussion decided to extend it for an additional two days in anticipation of Bilawal’s statement, despite its original scheduled end date of last Saturday, June 17.
The authorities have rescheduled the approval of the budget to Saturday, June 24, instead of a day earlier, due to the postponement of the adoption of the finance bill and supplementary budget by one day.
According to sources, they would introduce the Pakistan Election Act modification in the National Assembly this week. The modification, which the Senate approved last week, reduces the disqualification period for running in elections to five years for any offence.
They would likely present this amended measure on Saturday, coinciding with President Alvi’s departure for Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.
The sources recalled that it is very likely that the acting president will give his approval for it to become law.
Dar pledges $11 billion for flood victims in Sindh.
Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar announced that they would settle the issue of rehabilitating flood victims in Sindh and other regions of the country in an amicable manner. Furthermore, they plan to invest approximately $11 billion in Sindh province for that purpose.
Dar called for working towards completing a “Charter of Economy” after the federal budget session of the house concluded. He stated that there were no divisions between the PML-N and PPP.
The finance minister stated, “I believe that after passing the budget, we should make all-out efforts to prepare a ‘Charter of Economy’ to emerge from the quagmire in which the country has just become mired.”
He stated that it was time for everyone to work together and move the national economy towards a growth trajectory, as it had achieved stability after the decreasing trend. He believed that, by the grace of Allah Almighty, this goal could be accomplished.
Further, He expressed that the current financial crisis exceeds the severity of the one the nation experienced in 1999 when nuclear tests were conducted and international sanctions were imposed. However, he added that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) administration swiftly recovered from it.
The minister stated that the Charter of Democracy (CoD) originally had a “code of conduct” which stated that no one should undermine the person elected to power.
Additionally, He claimed to have contributed to the four-year process that produced the 18th Amendment, NFC Award, judicial reforms, and truth and reconciliation commission after civil-military relations and constitutional modifications.
However, Dar said that he had always argued for and offered to draught a “Charter of Economy” to ensure that whoever gained power followed it in the best interests of the country.