ISLAMABAD: The members of opposition protested during Federal Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar’s budget speech in the National Assembly and chanted slogans against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government throughout the duration of the session.
The lawmakers displayed placards in the House, chanted slogans and thumped desks to register their protest against the ‘anti-people’ budget. The placards were inscribed with slogans including ‘Where are the 10 million jobs and 5 million houses?’ and ‘why agriculture and farmers are in a poor condition’.
One placard read ‘Aata Chor, Cheeni Chor [flour and sugar thieves]’ while another was inscribed with the slogan ‘Corona is not an ordinary flu’, reminding the premier about the severity of the disease as opposed to his earlier speeches where in which he had downplayed its threat.
The speaker repeatedly urged members to refrain from disrupting the proceedings of the session, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. They later staged a walkout.
Senator Sherry Rehman said the MNAs protested because they weren’t provided with a copy of the budget in a floppy disk as promised by the government. She said that this was a good initiative but the files were provided to the MNAs during the session, which prompted them to hoot and protest.
Terming budget 2020-21 “non-transparent”, she said that the opposition’s input should have been sought on the document. “I am sure they will take out a rolling budget in the next three months.”
National Assembly Opposition Leader and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N Senior Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and General Secretary Ahsan Iqbal did not attend the session after they contracted Covid-19.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was also absent.
Only 86 members (one-fourth of the total 342-member house), 46 from the treasury and 40 from the opposition, were allowed to participate in the session, leaving the spacious hall of the lower house of parliament with lots of empty seats.
With continuous noise during Azhar’s speech, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had to intervene several times. On one occasion, he specifically asked the opposition benches to maintain decorum and “do not shout inappropriate slogans”.
He closely monitored the opposition members’ movement and restricted them from coming towards the treasury benches.
Extraordinary precautionary steps were taken because of the coronavirus pandemic and the doors of parliament were closed for all unrelated people.
PM Imran came to the House after a long time but unlike previous occasions when the treasury members would come up to him and whisper into his ear, it did not happen this time. In fact, there was no such interaction during the session. The premier silently left the premises when Azhar ended his budget speech.
