Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz General Secretary Ahsan Iqbal has said that it is the job of the opposition to point out the shortcomings of the budget for fiscal year 2022, adding that the opposition forced the government to take back taxes of Rs350 billion.
Talking to the media outside the Parliament House on Wednesday, he maintained that it is the job of the opposition to point out shortfalls in the budget and predicted that prices of petroleum products, gas, and electricity will go up after budget.
The PML-N leader further said that government did not present the actual budget as the real budget are the terms decided with International Monetary Fund. The government has destroyed perfectly functioning institutions including Higher Education Commission, he added.
Talking about the government’s accountability drive, Ahsan Iqbal said that today he is appearing before the court to attend a hearing of another false case. The government is using accountability to cover up its political revenge, he added.
Moreover, the PML-N leader termed the statement of Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari about the absence of opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif from the National Assembly “childish”.
A day earlier, Bilawal, in response to a question on the NA opposition leader’s absence, 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.
Iqbal said Bilawal’s statement was appropriate for his age, but not appropriate for a party leader.
