Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said that the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 had been passed “illegally” and it had “no legal standing”.
He said this while addressing a press conference in Islamabad after the lower house of parliament passed the Finance Bill 2021-22 with a majority amid opposition parties’ protest, reported The Express Tribune.
Bilawal said National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had usurped the rights of the lawmakers by not holding recounting of the voice vote.
“I strongly condemn this act of speaker and if he [Qaiser] does not rectify his mistake then this budget would be considered illegal,” he added.
He also vowed to challenge the budget at all available fora.
The PPP chairman said the government had passed the budget on the demands of the International Monetary Fund and did not allow the opposition lawmakers to present cut motions and raise their objections.
Responding to a question regarding the absence of Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal said he was only answerable for his party’s MNAs.
However, he added that the absence of PML-N president was not a “good precedent” and added that all PPP lawmakers including the party’s co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari attended the session.
PPP leader and daughter of former president Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto said in a tweet that his father attended the court hearing and NA session “despite underlining health conditions”. However, she added that only 14 out of 84 PML-N members came to oppose the “PTI-IMF budget”.
“My father went to court this morning despite underlining health conditions and risk of exposure still went to National Assembly – so did 54 out of 56 #PPP members (missing two had Covid). We remain in #Pakistan. 14 out of 84 members from #PMLN came to oppose #PTIMF budget,” she wrote on her official handle.
Meanwhile, responding to criticism over Shahbaz’s absence from today’s session, PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal said that it was because his cousin had passed away, reported Geo News.
Iqbal said that the “vast majority” of PML-N members were in attendance.
He said that six members of the PTI were not in attendance, noting that 172 had come.
Iqbal also said that the opposition effectively highlighted the budget’s shortcomings.
“This was the first budget in Pakistan’s history in which the government was forced to take a U-turn,” he remarked. It appears to be a reference to the Finance Bill initially proposing a Re1 tax on each call if the duration exceeds three minutes, Rs5 tax for per GB usage of internet and 10 paisas on each SMS.
Now, speaking over a mobile phone for more than five minutes will be taxed at 75 paisas, but there will be no tax on an SMS and mobile internet.
