Budget 2015-16: Opposition parties at odds

MQM invites PML-F, PML-Q and PTI to prepare budget proposal.

KARACHI: Before the upcoming budget, differences have emerged on Thursday between opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly, indicating that there is no joint opposition against the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the provincial assembly.

This development came to fore when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the main opposition party, invited the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz  (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to join them in a consultative meeting to make a proposal for the upcoming budget for the year 2015-16.



But PML-F parliamentary leader Nand Kumar refused to attend the meeting held at the Sindh Assembly. "The MQM is [the] B team of the government, which plays the role of a friendly opposition," he told The Express Tribune. "The real opposition is represented by three parties - the PML-F, PML-N and PTI."

The elected representatives of these three parties, will hold a separate meeting on Monday to discuss the budget proposals, said Kumar. He added that not just anyone can play the opposition's role. They must also have the intent to be a true opposition which, unfortunately, the MQM does not have, he added.

PTI MPA Hafeezuddin endorsed  Kumar. "PPP and MQM are making fools of people. They have a common agenda of loot and plunder". He added that the MQM opposition is merely for show.

Haji Shafi Jamote of PML-N was of the view that there seems to be two opposition groups in the provincial assembly.

"Our party and the PML-F have a joint alliance on a number of issues and PTI has also joined us," he said. "We follow the actual opposition agenda rather than getting incentives from the government," Jamote said.

On the other hand, MQM leaders, after having their meeting, said that they are the real opposition with more MPAs in the session.  "Some political parties criticise the MQM because they [the political parties] do not have the capacity to resolve people's issues," said opposition leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan, adding that the MQM had contacted other opposition parties to make a joint budget proposal but they refused.

"If the Sindh government wants to get the budget passed unanimously then it has to take the opposition into confidence," he said, adding that they have also proposed the Sindh government make a law declaring water theft as a non-bailable offense, with strict penalties and punishments.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.