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As Energy Minister Hammad Azhar began his address to the National Assembly on Friday in response to the opposition’s harsh criticism of the budget, opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif began to step out of the country. Assembly, urging the minister to challenge him to stay and hear it.
Azhar was speaking after Bilawal gave a scathing speech on the House floor, claiming that the government’s four percent growth figure was a lie and that he had abandoned the common man by causing levels of unprecedented inflation.
If you are not cowards, stay in your place and listen to what I have to say. If you have the strength to hear the truth, then listen to what I have to say, Azhar said, but the PML-N chairman did not react and left the house.
A few minutes later, Bilawal followed suit.
Yesterday, Shehbaz also gave his budget speech, in which he criticized the government for inducing poverty and presenting bogus budgets for the past three years. Shehbaz was finally able to finish his speech yesterday, after four days of chaos in which he was unable to address the lower house as lawmakers from the Treasury and opposition benches came face to face, throwing themselves copies of the budget and profanity.
Azhar began his speech today by striking back at Bilawal, saying those who have never worked a day in their life or taken any responsibility tell us how to run the economy and the country.
He said that the spots left by corruption cannot be erased by speaking in English.
They told us it is a government of puppets. Do they want a government of convicts? Do they want a government in which people are known not by name but by the dirtiest scandals in the history of this country?
He said the PTI came to power after being elected, adding that he had neither threatened nor bribed his entry into government.
Responding to Bilawals’ arguments about inflation and economic growth, Azhar said:
I looked at the data to see why it [Bilawal] was so hurt to talk about 4pc economic growth. It turns out that in their [PPPs] five years of governance, there has not been a single year in which they have achieved 4% growth.
He said Bilawal spoke about BISP, the flagship income support program of the PPP, when the president of that program was recently declared an offender.
Some people only received allowances [from BISP] due to their affiliation with PPP, Azhar said.
The minister said Bilawal had contradicted his own claims. He said poverty and unemployment have increased, but gave no figures. Then he quoted an institution and said that according to them, poverty rates have fallen in three provinces.
“[Bilawal] said the price of gasoline has gone up. In my opinion, such statements are made by those who have accomplished nothing in their life […] Pakistan has the lowest oil prices in the world right now, ”the minister said.
Azhar then turned his attention to Sindh, where the PPP has ruled since 2008.
“Bilawal asked us how we could visit our constituencies. But we are not the ones experiencing an increase in dog bite cases or an HIV / AIDS epidemic,” the minister said, apparently referring to the situation in Larkana. , who is in shock. an HIV epidemic, and from which Bilawal was elected to the NA.
Azhar said some people in the opposition say that despite the corruption, progressive work is also being done. “If corruption had anything to do with development, Sindh would have advanced beyond California.”
If anyone wants to see the destruction that corruption brings, then go and see the state of Sindh, the minister said. “You will see how corrupt rulers ruin people’s lives and futures. Sindh is a living example.”
Recounting his government’s achievements, Azhar said that the first two years of the PTI government have been devoted to stabilizing the economy, while the focus is now on growth. The minister said foreign exchange reserves were at their highest for six years while the current account deficit was in surplus.
He added that the country had also experienced bumper crops of wheat, sugar cane and corn, the direct benefit of which went to farmers.
He concluded by saying that the PTI was laying the groundwork for “Riyasat-i-Madina” under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Bilawal denounces the government’s economic policy
Previously, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari blasted the government for “abandoning” the Pakistani people in “difficult times”, saying the Pakistani government Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) could never realize the situation. difficult of the common man.
Addressing the National Assembly (NA) a day after opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif delivered his budget speech, the PPP leader criticized the government for presenting a budget that was a “package of lies ”.
Referring to the previous days of chaos in the AN, he claimed that the melee in the house was in fact an attempt by members of the Treasury to prevent the opposition “from exposing the budget of the PTIMF”.
“They thought they could present their four percent economic growth lie as the truth by using such antics […] this opposition would not have a chance to speak out and people would not realize that the whole budget is based on lies, “he said.
“But they [the government] must understand that the people do not need the speech of the opposition [for this realisation]. They are already drowning in the tsunami of inflation that the government has caused. ”
Bilawal went on to say that the people, who were suffering from the inflation caused by the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, were well aware that the claim of 4% economic growth was just a lie.
He added that the nation might still have forgiven the government if it had not “abandoned the people so mercilessly in these difficult times.”
Acknowledging that there had also been inflation during the PPP tenure, Bilawal said the difference between the government of the day and the government of the day was that the former did not abandon the people.
“We introduced the revolutionary Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) but this government, on the other hand, talks about the Ehsaas [programme], when you have no idea [of the people’s predicament]. ”
Bilawal argued that the country had experienced an unprecedented rise in inflation, poverty and unemployment during the PTI rule and questioned the authenticity of the government’s claims to economic growth.
Pointing out that the PPP had repeatedly raised wages and increased pensions, he said the PTI had not increased wages in the past two years, even as the whole world struggled with the Covid pandemic. 19 and that every Pakistani faced financial problems. .
“And this year there has been an increase from a meager 10 percent increase [in salaries] when food inflation rose to around 17 percent on average. “
The PPP chairman recalled that the PTI had reached an agreement with the civil servants on increasing their salaries, adding that the insufficient increase in their salaries was an act of deception on the part of the government.
He said the government had proposed many indirect taxes in the budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, which would further burden the people and worsen their suffering.
Bilawal then wondered if the government’s claim that economic growth was true, then why was the country witnessing unprecedented unemployment and poverty.
He once again called the budget a bunch of lies.
He [the budget] is built on a basis of lies.
And the government is so embarrassed about its performance that it has removed the [actual] Poverty and unemployment figures taken from official journals and the economic survey, he said. They [treasury members] are liars and the budget they present is also a lie.
Bilawal said the government had, in fact, given an NRO [amnesty] to the construction and real estate sectors. If this budget offers any relief, it is for the rich.
Melee in the house
The PPP chairman also criticized members of the Treasury for the heckling seen in the NA in recent days, accusing them of trying to assault the opposition leader.
Let’s try to understand what happened. Imran Khan’s feelings were hurt. He was upset. Someone called him a donkey, he claimed, alleging that the prime minister then sent some of his friends to the NA to mistreat the mothers and sisters of opposition members and leaders. .
He added, he [the prime minister] then the same friends assaulted the leader of the opposition with budget books.
Sadly, these are the people who were chosen to lead a nuclear weapon nation, he noted.
Bilawal said the day the heckling was observed was the worst day in Parliament’s history.
Speaking to NA President Asad Qaiser, he said the opposition would not let him forget that he did not play his part that day and that he would have to pay the political price for his inaction.
The world has seen how this government has disfigured this august forum and insulted the Pakistani people, he added. They [the government] were already an embarrassment for us and now they are an embarrassment for those who brought them [to power] as well as.
Injustice to the provinces
These are the people charged with leading the Pakistan federation, treating all federating units fairly and equitably, he continued, adding that they have failed in the task every time.
Bilawal said that whenever the PPP raised the issue of the 18th Amendment or the National Finance Commission (NFC), he was accused of using the Sindh card.
But the 18th Amendment would not be enforced and the NFC award not granted in accordance with the Constitution would result in the loss of all provinces, he said.
He said the government had failed to fulfill its constitutional duty and its promises to the provinces.
The PPP chairman further deplored that regions such as Ghotki and Sui, where gas was produced, had been deprived of their share of gas.
The citizens of Sui and Ghotki must have access to gas before the goods are supplied elsewhere, he said, adding that their deprivation was an injustice.
Bilawal also criticized the government for only allocating 23 billion rupees to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the budget.
What is the fault of Pakthunkwas? he questioned, noting that the province produced 50 percent of the country’s national oil.
Speaking of agriculture, the head of the PPP lamented the allocation of only 12 billion rupees for the sector in the budget.
You [the government] abandoned the farmers the same way you abandoned the rest of the nation, he said, criticizing the government for not giving subsidies to farmers.
And then the government wanted Pakistani farmers to compete with those in India, even when the former did not benefit from the same facilities and subsidies as the latter, he added.
You have not only weighed on your farmer, you have also weighed on your economy.
Bilawal called on the government to review its agricultural policy and make it easier for farmers.
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