Opposition accuses CM of not honouring promise to include its proposals in Sindh budget

The opposition legislators in the Sindh Assembly on Friday attempted to heckle Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during his budget speech by resorting to a vocal protest.

The protesting legislators belonged to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). They gathered near the chair of the CM to vocally register their protest in the House.

The opposition lawmakers displayed placards to protest against what they termed a highly dissatisfactory performance of the provincial government in serving the people of Sindh. The JI's sole MPA, Mohammad Farooq, held a placard to denounce what he called the new anti-people budget of the Sindh government.

The opposition lawmakers also tore the copies of the new provincial budget during their agitation in the house. The CM completed his budget speech amid strong protests by the opposition lawmakers.

Later talking to media persons after the budget session, the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Ali Khursheedi, who belongs to the MQM-P, announced that his party rejected the new provincial government budget as it did not include uplift projects earlier proposed by the opposition legislators.

He told media persons that the ruling party of the province had failed to provide any meaningful relief to the people. He alleged that the Sindh CM had not honoured his commitments with the opposition lawmakers regarding incorporation of their proposals during the pre-budget session of the House.

The opposition leader said the new provincial budget had nothing for the development of the urban parts of Sindh. He blamed the Sindh CM for what he called the current ruined state of Sindh.

He said the opposition would not let the provincial government pass the new budget merely on the basis of its sheer majority in the House. The MQM-P had emphatically presented the case for the neglected residents of urban Sindh in the House and the lawmakers of his party would continue to raise these issues during the upcoming general discussion on the new provincial budget, Khursheedi said.