ISLAMABAD:
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Syed Khursheed
Shah, on the government’s one-year performance, said on Friday that the
government had taken up even a bigger begging bowl.
While kickstarting a debate on the budget in the lower house on Friday, he termed the one-year performance of the Nawaz Sharif-led government “poor” and gave it zero marks. The opposition leader described the budget documents as a jugglery of words and statistics.
He was more critical of the government for obtaining foreign loans at high interest, saying, rather than breaking the begging bowl, the government had raised the size of the begging bowl. “What the PPP government did not obtain in its five-year rule, the PML-N government obtained it in the form of foreign loans in their first year,” he said.
He said the finance minister had delivered a lengthy budget speech that made not only the parliamentarians worried but the media also who were guessing what was in the budget.He said every child was born in the country with a debt of Rs84,000 in comparison to Rs74,000 during the PPP’s tenure.He said the dictatorship and martial laws played havoc with the country as the people were still facing the outcome of the policies of dictators.
“One-man rule and dictatorships proved more destructive for the country. It is the beauty of parliament that we are sitting, making criticism that is being tolerated in the House,” he said while opening the budget debate in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif kept the parliamentary tradition alive while sitting there during the speech of the opposition leader.The soft-spoken Khursheed Shah, in his speech that remained incomplete due to the Friday prayer and would now be completed on Monday evening, was more critical of the government in his usual soft tone rather than following the past practice of an aggressive tone of the previous opposition leaders.
The opposition leader said during its five-year tenure, the PPP-government was facing terrorism in Swat and faced unprecedented floods in 2010 but kept the prices of flour and sugar in control.
Criticising the economic policies of Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in a soft tone, the opposition leader said Dar might have many arguments to reject the opposition’s point of view on the budget. He said that Dar could prove them wrong with arguments but if he would be asked to make a speech against the bill from his seat, Ishaq Dar would find out 1,000 faults in the budget. “I want to be his student as he could turn dirt into gold with his arguments,” he said in a lighter tone.
He taunted those who claimed to make a new Pakistan saying that some parties raised such slogans but they should know that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had given us already the gift of Pakistan and those claimed to make a new Pakistan should know it was already a reality.
The Leader of the Opposition, Syed Khursheed Shah, said that the budget should be in accordance with aspirations of the people. He suggested that inputs from the opposition should have been taken in preparation of the budget.
He pointed out that the government had fixed Rs2,475 billion as revenue collection target in the outgoing fiscal year but reduced it twice on the insistence of the IMF to Rs2,275 billion.He said the government had collected Rs1,950 billion till 30th May, 2014 and still needed Rs325 billion to achieve this target.
Shah stressed that the budget should focus on the deprived areas and improve the backward provinces to meet the requirements of the new concept of Federation after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
The leader of the opposition advocated for proper shares for the provinces. He appreciated the unprecedented legislation carried out in the House on Friday and criticised the government for poor performance on legislation in the first year. However, he hoped that performance of the government in this regard would be better next year.
He expressed serious reservations over the government’s issuance of the Euro Bond at a higher interest at 8 percent, saying, on the one hand, the government was claiming that the economy of the country was stabilising and, on the other hand, it was issuing the Euro Bonds with such a high interest that created confusion about the government’s policy. “The government claims to break the begging bowl but it has pushed the country into a stronger debt trap,” he observed.
While kickstarting a debate on the budget in the lower house on Friday, he termed the one-year performance of the Nawaz Sharif-led government “poor” and gave it zero marks. The opposition leader described the budget documents as a jugglery of words and statistics.
He was more critical of the government for obtaining foreign loans at high interest, saying, rather than breaking the begging bowl, the government had raised the size of the begging bowl. “What the PPP government did not obtain in its five-year rule, the PML-N government obtained it in the form of foreign loans in their first year,” he said.
He said the finance minister had delivered a lengthy budget speech that made not only the parliamentarians worried but the media also who were guessing what was in the budget.He said every child was born in the country with a debt of Rs84,000 in comparison to Rs74,000 during the PPP’s tenure.He said the dictatorship and martial laws played havoc with the country as the people were still facing the outcome of the policies of dictators.
“One-man rule and dictatorships proved more destructive for the country. It is the beauty of parliament that we are sitting, making criticism that is being tolerated in the House,” he said while opening the budget debate in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif kept the parliamentary tradition alive while sitting there during the speech of the opposition leader.The soft-spoken Khursheed Shah, in his speech that remained incomplete due to the Friday prayer and would now be completed on Monday evening, was more critical of the government in his usual soft tone rather than following the past practice of an aggressive tone of the previous opposition leaders.
The opposition leader said during its five-year tenure, the PPP-government was facing terrorism in Swat and faced unprecedented floods in 2010 but kept the prices of flour and sugar in control.
Criticising the economic policies of Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in a soft tone, the opposition leader said Dar might have many arguments to reject the opposition’s point of view on the budget. He said that Dar could prove them wrong with arguments but if he would be asked to make a speech against the bill from his seat, Ishaq Dar would find out 1,000 faults in the budget. “I want to be his student as he could turn dirt into gold with his arguments,” he said in a lighter tone.
He taunted those who claimed to make a new Pakistan saying that some parties raised such slogans but they should know that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had given us already the gift of Pakistan and those claimed to make a new Pakistan should know it was already a reality.
The Leader of the Opposition, Syed Khursheed Shah, said that the budget should be in accordance with aspirations of the people. He suggested that inputs from the opposition should have been taken in preparation of the budget.
He pointed out that the government had fixed Rs2,475 billion as revenue collection target in the outgoing fiscal year but reduced it twice on the insistence of the IMF to Rs2,275 billion.He said the government had collected Rs1,950 billion till 30th May, 2014 and still needed Rs325 billion to achieve this target.
Shah stressed that the budget should focus on the deprived areas and improve the backward provinces to meet the requirements of the new concept of Federation after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
The leader of the opposition advocated for proper shares for the provinces. He appreciated the unprecedented legislation carried out in the House on Friday and criticised the government for poor performance on legislation in the first year. However, he hoped that performance of the government in this regard would be better next year.
He expressed serious reservations over the government’s issuance of the Euro Bond at a higher interest at 8 percent, saying, on the one hand, the government was claiming that the economy of the country was stabilising and, on the other hand, it was issuing the Euro Bonds with such a high interest that created confusion about the government’s policy. “The government claims to break the begging bowl but it has pushed the country into a stronger debt trap,” he observed.
