ISLAMABAD: As the members in the Senate Friday traded allegations on the present economic mess, a strong demand was made for doing away with perks and privileges for judges, generals, the bureaucracy, and lawmakers as a part of bids to rid the country of global lenders.
The Senate unanimously adopted the Money Bill recommendations to amend certain laws relating to taxes and duties through the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023, which the opposition saw as a recipe for the poor’s abolition.
Speaking on a point of public importance, Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad waved a document and then read from it that a retired judge gets around Rs 1 million a month in pension, whereas he also enjoys free phone calls worth Rs 3,000, 2,000 free electricity units, and 300 liters of free gasoline.
He noted as many as 60 bullet-proof luxury vehicles were being used by the cabinet members alone, besides many others in use by bigwigs, including judges, generals, and civil bureaucracy, while a land cruiser consumes as much oil as a truck does. He called for putting an end to this culture of protocol, perks, and privileges.
To the surprise of many, JI legislators said there are some 15 000 government vehicles across the country that are run on free gasoline, i.e., from the pocket of the common man. He disputed the government’s rhetoric that there was no other option but to go to the IMF.
Senator Mushtaq insisted there should be no free electricity, gas, or petrol for anybody, saying, “You always burden the poor; now put some burden on the elite.” He also called the incumbent 87-member federal cabinet the largest cabinet in the world and demanded a substantial reduction in its size.
In his remarks on the supplementary budget, he claimed it was a black document and a death warrant for the poor, prepared at IMF headquarters.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Dr. Shahzad Waseem, said the recommendations proposed in the report adopted by the House sought a mega catastrophe in the name of a mini-budget to be inflicted on the masses. He said that the opposition had completely rejected this alleged controversial bill as anti-people.
He contended that the masses should be at the center of all state endeavors, but these recommendations were intended to exacerbate the masses’ misery following tax increases and subsequent inflation. He lamented that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has requested the government to allow the import of 155 luxury cars out of the $1.6 billion loan from the World Bank, but instead, the board should improve its outdated IT system for tax collection. The opposition leader said there was no other option but to go for general elections across the country, paving the way for a stable government to be formed, which should take measures to face economic challenges. Referring to audio leaks, he blamed the government and alleged it was a campaign against the judiciary. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said the issue of the latest audio leaks had exposed the face of the entire system, and those raising fingers at the judiciary must have some retrospection. He explained how a close ally of the PTI was giving directions on the phone and that he requested a high-level personality for “some favour” and that he wit him.
Speaking in response to the leader of the opposition’s speech in the House, the minister noted that the then-opposition leaders during the PTI regime remained behind bars for years while now desperate management was being made even for interim bails.
Following the announcement of “jail bharo tehreek,” one person had his leg dressed, and seven applications were filed in LHC after one bail was denied. “Jails are only for poor workers and emotional children, but not for me,” he said, referring to PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
He urged the opposition to act with maturity and sit down with the government to jointly work for the country’s well-being and progress, sparing politics for some time.
PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz expressed regret that, rather than focusing on the troubling economic situation, the government was preoccupied with pursuing and imprisoning political opponents. He pushed hard for austerity measures.
Speaking in the House on the supplementary money bill, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Ayesha G.hous Pasha said the government and opposition should work together to create an economic charter and urged the opposition to stop making political points.
The minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would announce major austerity measures in all the government institutions to control the fiscal deficit by minimising government expenditures. She noted that the prime minister had already formed a commission to finalise the austerity measures, and he would himself announce the recommendation finalised by it.
She said all the federal cabinet members belonging to the PML-N had already voluntarily announced not to get their salaries from the national exchequer, and she urged the other side (the opposition) to also show the same gestures. She clarified that the PDM government was acting upon the agreements made by the PTI regime with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only to save the state at the cost of their own (PDM) politics.
Concerning the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, the minister stated that the government had no choice but to make difficult decisions because the country’s economy was on the verge of default; he acknowledged that inflation is high and people are concerned, but the point is that now is the time to make structural adjustments because we will sink further into darkness if we do not.
She stated that the government had decided to increase the allocation for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) by Rs 40 billion to Rs 400 billion to protect the extremely poor segment of society from inflationary shocks.
The minister explained that whether a government goes with the IMF programme or not, it would have to make structural reforms in key areas of the economy, as without them the country’s economy would not stabilise. She also pointed out that the recently increased tariffs in the electricity and gas sectors would not apply to small consumers.
The Senate chairman adjourned the Senate to meet again on Monday morning.
