ISLAMABAD:
The leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, has criticized the PML-N led federal government’s economic policies, describing them as a recipe for the complete destruction of the national economy.
In his speech during the National Assembly budget session on Friday, Omar, who belongs to the PTI, labeled the current budget as a document of fake statistics and questioned where the stated GDP figures had come from.
He pointed out that all crop yields have decreased, the agriculture sector is on the decline.
Omar compared the current situation with that of April 2022, when the PTI government was ousted through a vote of no confidence. He stated that unemployment has now reached 22% and 6.2 million educated youth are roaming jobless.
He blamed both “PDM-1 and PDM-2 governments” for crushing the poor by imposing indirect taxes amounting to Rs42,500 billion. ‘
An alliance of opposition parties — the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — came into power after the ouster of the PTI government in April 2022. The present ruling coalition is also sometimes described as a continuation of the first PDM government, which was also led by Shehbaz Sharif.
The opposition leader accused the government of begging for IMF packages and claimed that $48 billion have been sent abroad through foreign agents.
“The budget deficit of Rs6.5 trillion will be financed by loans from commercial banks, which will reduce lending capacity for the public, ultimately turning Pakistan into an economic graveyard,” he added.
He stated that large-scale industries have contracted by 1.5%, whereas during the PTI’s tenure, industries expanded to the point where workers were not even available in Faisalabad, Omar claimed.
The opposition leader alleged that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi holds more power than even the prime minister and the deputy prime minister.
“Naqvi, while serving as the Punjab caretaker chief minister, imported low-quality wheat from Ukraine, while minting Rs450 billion in the bargain. Naqvi carries out the actions, the government bears the blame,” he added.
When some government ministers — Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Attaullah Tarar — laughed at his remarks, Omar said, “This laughter proved that Mohsin Naqvi indeed controls them”.
PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf stated that during the recent Pakistan-India conflict, the Pakistan Army and the nation responded decisively, showing India that the Pakistani nation is not divided but united in defense. He praised the military leadership, including Field Marshal Asim Munir, for their commendable actions.
He remarked that while the opposition criticizes the budget, the government highlights its positive aspects. Every government must present a good budget to win public support, but given the circumstances, difficult decisions had to be made.
“The present government made tough choices and sacrificed political popularity to save the country from bankruptcy,” he added.
Addressing the assembly, PML-N’s Aqeel Malik said that instead of giving constructive proposals on the budget, the opposition only demands the release of arrested individuals.
