KP govt in a fix on presenting budget

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-ledKhyber Pakhtunkhwa government is still confused whether to present the budget for 2018-19 or leave it to the next government.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and PTI Chairman Imran Khan had already announced not to present the budget. They said it was not the domain of the outgoing government to present six budgets in its five-year term. They argued it will be unconstitutional if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s federal government announced the next budget as it would be not its domain.

However, Shaukat Yousafzai, a PTI lawmaker and spokesman for the Chief Minister, told The News that the government had moved a summary to the Governor for convening the assembly session on May 14 and tasked the Speaker Asad Qaiser to hold talks with the opposition about the issue of the budget. He admitted that the PTI government had lost its majority in the assembly after issuing show-cause notices to 20 of its Members Provincial Assembly (MPAs) for allegedly selling votes in the Senate election. “The opposition’s support would be needed for passing the budget. The government will decide about presenting the budget if the opposition agrees to support it,” he added.

On Tuesday the electronic media carried the news that the PTI government had decided to present the budget 2018-19, but Shaukat Yusufzai said it was not yet decided and the matter would be settled after convening the assembly session on May 14 for which summary has been moved.

Interestingly, the PTI’s coalition government with the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) is already passing through crisis because of growing differences between the two parties. Both the parties are issuing statements against each other after having failed to agree on consensus candidates in the Senate polls and by supporting different candidates in the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

Another problem is that JI’s Muzaffar Sayyid is holding the portfolio of finance minister who is supposed to present the budget. It will be difficult for the PTI to present the budget without the help of JI and pass it without the support of the opposition.

The PTI might face severe criticism if it takes another U-turn after the announcement by the party leadership that its government would not be presenting the next budget.