‘Economic terrorism against people’: Opposition leader assails budget in National Assembly

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Omar Ayub Thursday assailed the budget presented for fiscal year (FY) 2025 as “economic terrorism” against the people as debate opened on the finance bill.

Debate on the budget formally opened today in the NA after the Eidul Azha holidays with its passage planned for June 24. Ayub opened the debate with vociferous criticism of the budget.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government has set a challenging tax revenue target of 13 trillion rupees ($46.66 billion) for the year starting July 1, a near 40% jump from the current year, in the budget that looked to strengthen the case for a new bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The ambitious revenue targets for the fiscal year through June 2025, presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in parliament on June 12, were in line with analyst expectations. Total spending was 18.87 trillion rupees ($68 billion).

Speaking about the ambitious targets set in the federal budget, Ayub said the investors do not inject their capital in countries where the rule of law is not supreme.

The opposition leader said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had asked the government to negotiate with all stakeholders to evolve consensus over the federal budget.

His speech was muted several times as he lamented the alleged interference of the establishment.

“This budget is the story that began with vote ko izzat do (respect the vote) and ended with boot ko izzat do (respect the boot),” Ayub said while criticising the government.

“The budget is a fraud with the people. This is a highway robbery against the people of Pakistan. This budget in actuality is economic terrorism against the people and the future of the country,” he added.

Ayub alleged that the budget was made with the help of “economic hitmen who want to shake the foundation of this country”.

He further claimed that these same “economic hitmen” were also involved in the PTI’s ouster from power in April 2022.

Ayub said investors would not trust the economy to invest in a country where there was “no rule of law”, adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had clearly instructed the government to talk to other stakeholders.

“The finance minister is a very professional man but his wings were clipped,” Ayub said, alleging that the government was trying to undermine Aurangzeb such as removing him from the chairmanship of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

“Aurangzeb sahib’s heart must have sunk,” he said. “The Ecnec chairmanship was taken away by the prime minister and his wingman […] entered and his name is Senator Ishaq Dar. Family concern, family business, private limited,” Ayub added.

“Aurangzeb is smiling right now but he must be thinking that I will talk to Omar Ayub later because I have said the right things.”

“If you look at the people who Aurangzeb is associated with, if you look at their biography, each one of them is a known gangster,” he said.

The word gangster was expunged by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The opposition leader also questioned whether the members of the PPP owned the budget.

“Would you vote for it with the government or not,” he said, adding that only a few people from the PPP participated in the budget presentation.

“And if they are not with them then the government would be slaughtered. They do not have it in them to run the government,” he said.

“The budget won’t be passed. An illegal, anti-people budget cannot work.”

Ayub added that everyone was saying the budget was “a constrained budget under the long shadow of IMF stipulations,” adding that the government did not put any room to manoeuvre for itself.

“They dug a grave for themselves, laid in it by themselves and are now asking to be saved,” he said, adding that only PTI founder Imran Khan could save the economy.

He said the nation stood behind the former premier and would go through hard times for him, however, the same could not be said for the current government.

The opposition also harshly came down on Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s comments about the government intending to keep Imran in jail for its five-year term till 2029, warning that there would be a “reaction” to the remarks.

He further said that the unemployment and inflation increased substantially and per capita income also declined in the country.

On Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement that he would eliminate corruption from the country, Ayub laughed off his statement, saying: “The pot calling the kettle black.”

He said PM Shehbaz, despite being implicated in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases, pledged to rid the country of corruption.

Ayub said those involved in the "corruption cases cannot eliminate corruption from the country".

"Charity begins at home. Start [accountability] charity from Hudaibiya Paper Mills, London flats and Sugar mills," he said referring to the references filed against the Sharif family in the past.

"This government is of and for the corrupt people. This government is based on corruption," the opposition leader said, reiterating allegations that his party’s mandate was stolen in the February 8 elections.