Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif took to Twitter to lash out at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said, “The ongoing session of the Assembly, which has been called to pass the catastrophic budget and the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) slavery bill, is currently suspended due to lack of quorum.”
“Neither the government has its members beside it nor its allies,” tweeted Asif, adding, “How will both, the budget and the SBP’s bill will get passed.”
“No minister is present in the front row,” said Asif.
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during his speech in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday lamented how the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has imposed taxes on the people of Pakistan. He further said that PTI was bringing a “tsunami of taxes” through the mini-budget.
He also criticised the government over the SBP Amendment Bill 2021, which was approved by a National Assembly panel on Monday, saying that the IMF had demanded the central bank’s autonomy during the eras of PPP and PML-N as well but neither party had agreed.
He said Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had talked about a national dialogue on the country’s economy but the government refused because of its “stubbornness”.
PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah pointed out the lack of quorum as the opposition walked out in protest over the absence of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. The session was subsequently suspended for a short while.
When the opposition returned, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar defended the government’s economic performance and blamed its predecessors for the country’s financial problems.
