Opp plans strong protest during budget

ISLAMABAD: As the government is all set to present its sixth budget for the next fiscal year in the National Assembly (NA) today (Friday), the opposition has decided to take on the government with challenging its quest of presenting the budget with a protest during the budget session.

The Opposition parties including both major political parties --Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) -- were on same page for pleading the case that outgoing government has no justification for presenting the budget for the whole year and instead of it the incumbent government should present the budget for the four months time for the administrative purpose till the takeover of the next government after the general elections.

It is to be mentioned that the chief ministers of three provinces — Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — had walked out and boycotted from the meeting of the National Economic Council two days back and in the press conference they had challenged the government for presenting the budget for four months for administrative purpose till the next elections.

According to sources, Sindh government had announced to present the provincial budget on May 5 but it is likely that the Sindh government will present the budget for three months.

Opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah had already summoned the parliamentary party of the PPP to formulate the mode of the protest in the budget session and it is expected that he will also consult the other opposition parties for the joint protest. Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto had already stated in a press conference other day that the outgoing government of the PML-N have no right to present the budget for the whole year as it was usurping democratic right of upcoming government after the general elections and also tantamount to pre-poll rigging in the upcoming general elections.

It is expected that Khursheed Shah will hold the meeting with PTI’s Deputy Parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi for devising the joint protest strategy for the budget session as there was a consensus between the PPP and PTI that the incumbent government has no right to present the budget for the whole year.

While on the other hand the PTI Chairman Imran Khan unlikely to attend the budget session of the National Assembly on Friday but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislators will make a strong protest in the budget session, started from today (Friday).

Though both the parties so far have decided to make a loud protest in the National Assembly during the budget session from their party platform yet they had not decided whether they will continue to their parliamentary cooperation for launching the joint protest against the government.

While on the other, the opposition in the Senate has decided to hold joint protest in the Upper House of the Parliament during the budget debate.