Firdous congratulates ruling coalition on budget passage

Asks opposition not to attack federation by trying to de-seat Senate chairman

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the PM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said the members of coalition parties have succeeded in their quest to have the budget approved after a constant struggle.

“Those who opposed the budget have failed. If all parliamentarians and financial institutions had not fulfilled their responsibilities then the budget would not have been approved. The opposition tried its level best but the team of Prime Minister Imran Khan turned the tables,” she said.

Rs7.022tr budget for FY2019-20 sails through NA

Firdous, who was addressing media outside the Parliament House after approval of the budget, said the motions presented by the opposition were rejected and despite recounting again and again the government gained a lead by 20, 25 votes. “Despite claims of the opposition, it faced a defeat.”

She said now the opposition will think 10 times before introducing a motion against the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani as the majority of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members demonstrated confidence in the leadership of Sanjrani.

She accused the opposition of trying to weaken the federation, adding that this will not only be an attack on the Senate chairman but an attack on the federation which the government will never permit.

“If the opposition does not refrain from presenting a motion then it will face another defeat.” She called on opposition to find a common solution to the economic issues of the country, saying the opposition must not engage in politics on the issues of inflation

The special assistant said the government team is working hard to make declaration of assets easier. “June 30 is the last date and it will not be extended any further.”

She congratulated the government, financial institutions and all departments associated with it as well as media over approval of the budget after the longest budget session of the parliament’s history.

“Members of the National Assembly have endorsed the vision of the prime minister as the government has proved its majority.”  Dr Firdous said Sanjrani is the voice uniting a smaller province with the federation and the opposition must not attack him.

Opposition slams ‘manipulated’ passage of budget

“The issues faced currently by the government are caused by the opposition. However, I invite the opposition to chalk out a joint strategy to address the issues.

“The opposition must not waste time and play a role for the betterment of the nation. If the opposition assists the government then the economic situation will further stabilise,” she said.