Opposition in both houses of the parliament Wednesday staged a protest, strongly condemning the government’s plan to adopt a mini-budget.
A day earlier, the federal cabinet had deferred approval of the supplementary finance bill (mini-budget) which was scheduled to be tabled in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Speaking on a point of order, PPP MNA Raja Pervez Ashraf said everyone in the House as well as people from different walks of life were concerned over reports that the government was planning to introduce a mini-budget. “Inflation, unemployment and shortage of gas and other commodities have already wreaked havoc on the people. Now, if a mini-budget or money bill is in the offing, which would increase their difficulties, then everyone sitting in the House should resist the move,” he said.
PML-N’s Khawaja Asif said the country saw a “territorial surrender” on December 16, 1971 which it eventually recovered from. “The country has come out of that disaster. But now we are going to surrender our economic sovereignty through the finance bill and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021 which is much worse than what happened in 1971,” he regretted.
He claimed that the State Bank had become a “local branch” of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that the SBP governor was disguised as a “viceroy”.
He said Pakistan had become a “financial colony” of international institutions and vowed to oppose the SBP bill and the mini-budget. He said there was a need to forge a national consensus on both the issues. “Create national consensus on how we can get out of these issues. Things can’t go on like this.”
He said this was the fourth day that the government was unable to complete a quorum and claimed that it would again obtain votes through facilitators. He called on lawmakers to not surrender the country’s economic sovereignty. Qasim Khan Suri, who chaired the session, informed the lawmakers that so far, no such bill had been presented in the House. “You can debate on the bill when it is presented,” he requested. When the deputy speaker gave the floor to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the opposition members pointed out quorum and staged a walkout. Suri then ordered a head count and declared that the quorum was complete. He gave the floor to the foreign minister for a second time, while members of the opposition returned to the House to participate in the proceedings. Qureshi assured the lawmakers that the government would protect the country’s economic sovereignty. He said protecting the country’s economic independence was the joint responsibility of the government and the parliament. However, the country’s macro-economic indicators did not become alarming during the last three years, he said. Talking about quorum, he accepted that it was the government’s responsibility to fulfill it.
Earlier, the opposition members in the Senate also staged a protest during the session. The opposition leaders surrounded the dais of Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and chanted slogans against the government. The Senate chairman directed the opposition members to go back to their seats and peacefully record their protest. Addressing the House, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the incumbent government had not sent national money to Panama or Swiss Banks. Imran Khan neither commits corruption nor allows anyone else, he added.
