The opposition members in the Upper House of parliament on Wednesday termed the budget for fiscal year 2018-19 ‘anti-people’ and ‘rich-friendly’, before staging a walkout against the absence of ministers from Senate on Wednesday.
The ruling party pleaded that announcing the annual budget was a constitutional requirement while opposition was of the view that unveiling budget for four months only and allowing the next government to adjust it according to their requirements would have been a much better option.
Both Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gave tough time to government during budget debate in Senate.
Taking part in the debate, PTI leader Azam Khan Swati stressed the need for enhancing tax base in the country. He emphasized the need for reforming and facilitating the agriculture and energy sectors. He regretted that the government took no measures to curtail circular debt, promote agriculture sector and provide relief to education and health sectors. He claimed that corruption was the biggest challenge for the incumbent government.
PTI leader Faisal Javed said that indirect taxes had been increased in the budget. He said the government failed to introduce measures to provide relief to the common man. He said that the number of tax filers was on decline. He also stressed the need for taking steps to curb corruption in order to revamp Pakistan’s economy.
PPP leader Sassui Palijo said that nothing significant had been announced for Sindh and other smaller provinces in the new budget. She said the budget was presented without approving the new National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. She said it was also regrettable that the budget was presented by a non-elected person. She said a huge cut of billions of rupees was made in the share of the smaller provinces.
However, Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan came down hard on the PPP. Addressing PPP’s newly elected senator from KP, Behramand Khan, he said, “You became senator by purchasing loyalties of several members.”The minister continued that when a campaign for supporting then military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq was launched in the country, it was Zardari family which supported it. The minister’s statement sparked a commotion in the House, with members from both sides targeting each other’s leaders.
Ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Lt General (r) Abdul Qayyum said that the government had presented a pragmatic budget. He said the PML-N government had added 12,230 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by completing various energy projects, including Neelam-Jhelum hydropower project, enhancement of Tarbela power station, LNG-based power projects, coal-fired power plants, and nuclear and renewable energy projects. He said several other projects were in the completion phase.
Commenting on huge foreign debt, the minister said imports usually increase when development projects like energy and connectivity get underway. He said the government welcomes constructive criticism from the opposition benches but they must refrain from hurling baseless allegations. When the government tookover in 2013, the GDP rate was 2.3 percent while today it has climbed up to 5.8 percent, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Sitara Ayaz said that the newly announced budget could not be called pro-poor. She said the government should facilitate smaller provinces to bring them on a par with developed parts of the country. She criticized an allocation of Rs 24 billion in the annual budget for development of FATA, terming it just a peanut keeping in view the miserable condition of the area. She said that revenue collection target was also an exaggerated figure, which looked difficult to be achieved.
PML-N leader Ghaus Khan Niazi said the government launched tax amnesty scheme to facilitate overseas Pakistanis so that they can bring back their money and invest it in Pakistan. He said nobody will invest in Pakistan if he is not sure of protection of its money.
Opposition Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman pointed out that not a single federal minister was present in the House and announced walkout against the government behaviour. The entire opposition staged walkout which compelled Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to adjourn the proceedings.
The House would meet again at3 pmtoday (Thursday).
Published in Daily Times, May 3rd 2018.
