PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Sunday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership was blaming previous governments and coronavirus pandemic to hide its failure to pull the country out of the economic crisis.
In a statement, he said that earlier the PTI leaders blamed previous government for the debt burden of the country and after the coronavirus outbreak they hold the pandemic responsible for the increasing debt. Declaring the budget as jugglery of words, he said his party rejected it as it did not provide any relief to the poor segments of the society. The PTI government presented a glaring example of failures, he maintained.
The ANP general secretary said that the government could not absolve itself of the blame by pointing fingers at the previous governments. Every segment of the society was unhappy with the budget that had been dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he claimed. Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that health and education had been completely ignored in the budget. “During the pandemic a huge amount should have been allocated for the health sectors,” he said, adding, it showed the government’s apathy towards the well-being of the citizens.
He lamented the provincial government’s failure to demand the province's right from the federal government. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would not get its share in the National Finance Commission award and net hydel profit, he argued. He criticised the federal government for not allocating the pledged amount for the newly merged districts. He said that at the time of merger promises had been made with the people of Fata but they were ignored in the budget.
He asked how the provinces would present balanced budgets when they were not receiving money from the central government. The government should not hide behind the coronavirus excuse, adding, it was its responsibility to have stopped the spread of pandemic. He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been deprived of its rights due to the flawed policies of the PTI government. The ANP leader said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be given its rights to help the province present a reasonable budget. QWP leader terms budget anti-people
Bureau report
PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Sunday criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for presenting an anti-people budget for the financial year 2020-21.
In a statement, he said the federal budget did not have any relief for the people. He dismissed the impression that the budget was tax-free, adding that it was prepared on the diktats of the International Monetary Fund.
Sikandar Sherpao flayed the government for ignoring the salaried-class and the pensioners, adding that the financial problems of the people had multiplied due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the government did not give any incentives to the industrialists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who have suffered huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown. The QWP leader said the government would present mini-budget and seek loans from the banks to bridge the budget deficit.
He added the government should have reduced its expenditure. He said the government did not pass on the benefit of the decrease in the prices of the petroleum products to the people and stead increased the petroleum levy by 73 percent.
Sikandar Sherpao said the country’s foreign debt burden had increased manifold in the PTI government. He said the economy was on the verge of collapse due to the flawed policies of the rulers.
