Sindh opposition walks out of Assembly, rejects budget as anti-people

KARACHI: Opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly staged a noisy protest and walked out of the House on Wednesday during the provincial budget session, rejecting the new financial plan as anti-people and accusing the government of overlooking urban Sindh.

The disruption began shortly after Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah started delivering his budget speech. After the recitation of the Holy Quran and Fateha, opposition members rose from their seats, chanted slogans and displayed placards carrying anti-government messages, including budget rejected and end state repression. The protest forced the chief minister to pause briefly before opposition lawmakers exited the chamber.

Despite the commotion, Murad Ali Shah resumed his address and completed the budget presentation, while Assembly proceedings continued and were later wrapped up.

Opposition announces continued protests

Speaking at the Assembly media corner after the walkout, Opposition Leader Ali Khursheedi appeared alongside PTI parliamentary leader Shabbir Qureshi and Jamaat-e-Islami parliamentary leader Muhammad Farooq. They said their parties would continue joint protests during the budget debate inside and outside the Assembly.

Khursheedi said the provincial government had tabled what he described as an authoritarian and elite-driven budget without taking the opposition into confidence. He also alleged that urban Sindh had been pushed aside in development planning and said no pre-budget consultation meetings were held in line with parliamentary practice. "We have rejected this budget," he said and warned that protest action would continue.

MQM-P parliamentary leader Iftikhar Alam said the budget reflected what he called an authoritarian mindset. He alleged that education and health sectors in urban Sindh had been neglected and said Karachi had not been given due attention in development allocations, describing the budget as non-people friendly.

Muhammad Farooq of JI said Karachi generates the largest share of national revenue but is still denied its due portion of resources. He termed the provincial financial plan elite-centric and corruption-driven, and said both the provincial and federal governments had failed to address the city’s issues.

PTI’s Shabbir Qureshi called the budget hostile to Karachi and Hyderabad and demanded probes into alleged corruption. He referred to claims made by a provincial minister regarding irregularities in government departments.

The opposition leaders said MQM-P, PTI and JI would maintain coordinated resistance throughout the budget debate, both on the Assembly floor and beyond it.