ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) will vote against the Reformed General Sales Tax (GST) bill in the National Assembly, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference, Shujaat said, “As it is a money bill, any parliamentarian from our party to vote against party policy will be disqualified.” He said his party was misled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as it backed out at the last minute and did not join the PML-Q for a joint walkout.
The PML-Q president said the “real face of all political parties will come to light in the National Assembly which is a competent House to pass the money bill”. “The Senate had no power to pass the bill and it just passed recommendations on the reformed GST bill,” he said, dispelling the impression that the PML-Q had helped the PPP get the bill passed through the Senate by staging a walkout.
Shujaat said the PML-Q would fiercely oppose the bill in the National Assembly and would vote against the proposed legislation. He said all those parties which took part in the voting on the bill in the Senate gave legitimacy to the anti-poor legislation.
“The MQM ditched us as its leaders had promised the PML-Q that the MQM would stage a walkout from the House over the voting on the recommendation in exchange of the PML-Q’s support for the agriculture tax,” he said.
Criticising the PML-N, Shujaat said the PML-N’s senators had endorsed the bill in the committee while the party opposed the recommendations in the House.
