In retaliation to the humiliation caused to Federal Finance Minister Senator Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh during the budget session during which bangles and rotis (bread) were thrown at him by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members of the National Assembly (MNA), the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led opposition in the Punjab Assembly (PA) has decided to bring models of mechanical tandoors and live chicks during the upcoming provincial budget session, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The PPP will finalise its strategy after a meeting of its parliamentary party at the PA cafeteria on Monday at 12pm. According to sources, the PPP wants to give a strong reply to the PML-N which tried its level best to sabotage the federal budget session. Some PPP members of the provincial assembly (MPA) wanted to present models of tandoors in the session, as the Punjab government wasted Rs 40 billion on the Sasti Roti Scheme, which was scrapped afterwards.
On the other hand, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif’s son MNA Hamza Shahbaz is engaged in the poultry business and involved in corrupt practices by increasing chicken prices due to which the opposition wants to throw chicks at the treasury benches.
Some PPP MPAs also want to present a white paper on the Punjab government’s ‘flop’ Food Stamp Programme.
PPP Punjab Deputy Parliamentary Leader Zulfiqar Gondal said that the party will respect democratic and parliamentary norms and if it felt the need to protest, it will do it but in a civilised way.
He said that the party did not want to show that democracy was weak in Pakistan. Gondal said that whenever the opposition felt that it needed to protest against the malpractices and wrong policies of the Punjab government, it would protest with full strength. The PPP leader said that protesting against wrong policies was the democratic right of the opposition under the constitution and law.
He said that the PPP wanted to save the democratic system but the PML-N wanted to derail it. Gondal said that the party would continue to follow President Asif Ali Zardari’s reconciliation policy and foil all unconstitutional tactics of the PML-N.
