Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto has said his party will expose the federal budget for the fiscal year of 2021-22, prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), from Kashmir to Karachi.
According to 24NewsHD TV Channel, the PPP chairperson was talking to the media after the budget sailed through the National Assembly on Tuesday.
"This budget has no legs to stand on. This government has no legs to stand on. They have lost moral authority. From day one, they have no legal standing," Bilawal said, alleging the government committed budget rigging after ballot rigging.
The PPP will let the people of the country know about this 'atrocious' finance bill that will make them jobless and add to their woes, he said stressing that it has nothing to do with the economic betterment of the common persons.
He said they (the opposition lawmakers) were denied their right to debate.
Against all odds, the PPP chairperson added that his party parliamentarians prepared their cut motions and carved out amendments to the federal financial bill but they were not even allowed to read these.
He questioned as to why the government did not let the opposition parties hold debate on budget if the bill was flawless.
He said like other parliamentarian, sharing his point of view in the National Assembly is his right that was denied by the speaker.
If the opposition is not provided with its right to debate in the National Assembly, it will be forced to take extreme steps, he said adding that the government has been doing the acts of stealing lawmaker's mandate.
The PPP chairperson said the world is witnessing that the government got IMF-prepared budget passed forcefully.
He said: "Embassies are in Islamabad. They keep an eye on the situation. They can watch that in Pakistan people are denied their just rights. We fully object to the government's this act. We understand the economic crisis but the government is stick to its guns. It has turned a blind eye to public problems and people's cry is falling on a deaf ear."
As the government has no answers to the opposition questions, it opted for the illegal act, he said and promised that the PPP will not let it go.
In reply to a question, Bilawal said all of his party MNAs were present in the session with their motions and amendments they carved to bring to the budget so that democratic tradition could be upheld.
Had Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif present in the session, the opposition would have been in a better position to act as an effective opposition, he said, adding opposition MNAs' absence left a bad message.
Bilawal has been a critic of this budget since it presentation earlier in the ongoing month. He has timed and again said that this budget has nothing to do with the people's economic betterment.
Also, he wrote a letter to the speaker saying it will be an extreme step if he did not respond. He has timed and again said that this budget has nothing to do with the people's economic betterment, but to no avail.