–Premier’s special assistant offers Opp to suggest amendments in federal budget
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Wednesday rejects reports that Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued explicit instructions for parliamentary proceedings to be disrupted by responding to the opposition in kind.
Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, the special assistant said that the premier believes in the supremacy of the institutions and wants to empower them.
She rejected the “baseless, fabricated, and negative propaganda being circulated by the media which suggests that the premier has instructed party members to not let the parliament function”.
Referring to the opposition, she said that if the parliament does not rid itself of the group that wants to take the House hostage then it would not be able to empower itself and guarantee the protection of fundamental rights of the people.
Without naming anyone, she lashed out at the “opposition members who are no longer in power”. “All those individuals who with a lot of grief in their heart take part in the All Parties Conference (APC), who have remained outside of the corridors of power and who enter the parliament through the backdoor, will not be able to derail PM Imran from his mission,” she said.
In a veiled reference to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, she said that “those with their rolled up sleeves” who said that they would not let the budget pass should know the premier had also said that the budget is the custodian of the people’s rights and the guardian of the nation’s safety.
“Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), through this budget are beneficiaries of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award so you will all see — the entire nation and the media — that these people who are out to bully us, will not be able to hurt the passing of the budget and it will be passed by the representatives of the government,” she said.
On June 11, after the federal budget for the next fiscal year was presented by the government
In the past few days, ruckus became a norm in the House whenever a session was called to discuss the budget. Outside of the parliament, the opposition gained pace and joined hands to devise a strategy to oppose the budget.
She invited the opposition parties to offer any constructive criticism to the budget for the benefit of the country. “The opposition is invited to present amendments for the benefit of the people and we will get them passed,” she concluded.