ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari today (Friday) claimed that the recently passed federal budget and its related NA session were ‘illegal’, saying that the Budget 2021-22 was a ‘pack of lies’.
Speaking on the National Assembly (NA) floor, the PPP chairman asked if the economy was making progress, then why is there historic poverty and unemployment in the country.
Referring to the chaos in the National Assembly, Bilawal Bhutto claimed that the melee in the house was actually an attempt by treasury members to bar the opposition from “exposing the PTIMF budget”.
“They thought they could present their lie of four percent economic growth as the truth using such antics that opposition would not get a chance to speak and people would not realise that the entire budget is based on lies,” he claimed.
Bilawal further said that the people of Pakistan, who were suffering because of the inflation brought on by PTI government, were well aware that the claim of four percent economic growth was nothing but a lie.
“We introduced the revolutionary Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) but this government, on the other hand, harps on about the Ehsaas programme, when you have no realistion of the people’s predicament,” he added.
Bilawal added that the country had seen unprecedented increase in inflation, poverty and unemployment during the PTI’s rule. He said the PTI had not raised salaries in the last two years even though the entire world was struggling in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The government is so embarrassed of its performance that they removed the actual figures of poverty and unemployment from official papers and the economic survey,” he said, adding, “Treasury members are liars and the budget presented by them is also a lie.”
Referring to the taxes, Bilawal said the government had proposed many indirect taxes in the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, which would further burden the people and add to their suffering.
The PPP chairperson also criticised the treasury members for the ruckus witnessed in the NA during the past few days, accusing them of trying to “assault the leader of the opposition”.
Addressing NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, he said the opposition would not let him forget that he failed to play his role on the day and he would have to pay the “political price” for his inaction. “The world saw how this government defaced this august forum and insulted the people of Pakistan,” he added.
Bilawal said whenever the PPP raised the issue of the 18th Amendment or the National Finance Commission (NFC), it was accused of using the Sindh card. “However, the 18th Amendment not being enforced and the NFC award not being given according to the Constitution would result in the loss of all provinces”, he added.
He also said the government had failed at fulfilling its constitutional duty and promises to the provinces. The PPP chairperson lamented that regions like Ghotki and Sui, where gas was produced, were deprived of their gas share.
