Focus on taming inflation, PPP advices govt

Demands all provinces should receive fair uplift share

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has urged the federal government to put reducing inflation at the top of its priority list, asserting that immediate relief should be given to the beleaguered middle class, who are feeling the pinch more than ever.

In a press conference held in Islamabad, PPP Central Information Secretary Shazia Atta Marri, flanked by party leaders Hussain Tariq Shah and Abrar Shah, underscored the necessity for balanced development across the country, stressing that all four provinces should receive their fair share of progress.

"The government must announce a new National Finance Commission (NFC) Award formula," she demanded.

Welcoming the formation of the National Economic Council (NEC), Marri pressed the government to swiftly convene a council meeting to draft a comprehensive economic plan that promotes balanced development nationwide.

The PPP spokesperson also recalled the landmark 18th Amendment, which under President Asif Zardari’s tenure, handed autonomy to the provinces, devolving significant powers in public services. She suggested that the government should take a leaf out of Zardari’s book and leverage his political acumen.

Marri went on to blast the government for the relentless power blackouts plaguing Sindh. "There is load shedding in Sindh for 20 hours," she lamented, brushing aside Power Minister Awais Leghari’s claim of 10-hour outages as baseless.

She invited the minister concerned to visit Sindh and see the situation himself.

The PPP leader further quipped that the minister’s words won’t light up homes in Sindh, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take notice of the issue and address the electricity crisis. "Without action, Eid will be a trying time for everyone," she warned, describing the power cuts as a torment that’s turning everyday life into an uphill battle.

'PPP not joining govt after budget’

Moreover, Marri clarified that the PPP was not becoming a part of the federal government after the budget, saying there was no truth in reports that the party was joining the federal cabinet. 

Instead, the PPP spokesperson said that the PPP was more interested in making the standing committees of the National Assembly functional, saying the party wanted to raise all the issues of public importance in the committees concerned.

The formation of the standing committees has been pending for months now and the issue was recently raised in the National Assembly as well. PPP lawmaker Khursheed Shah had reminded the speaker that the committees hadn’t been constituted yet and the house was still incomplete.

NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s comments had revealed that the issue was pending because the PML-N hasn’t yet finalized the lists of the members of the committees. He had then directed the PML-N chief whip Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to submit the party’s final list of committees by Friday.

As per the rules, PPP’s Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani had apprised the speaker that the committees should have been constituted within 30 days after the members had taken oath but it has yet to happen, saying PPP had finalized and submitted the names of its members for all 41 committees a month ago but they haven’t been constituted yet.

Jajhrani had said that the deadline for giving names has lapsed thrice. To this, the speaker said on Thursday that he would notify as many names as have already been submitted for the committees but that too has yet to happen.

During the press conference, Shazia Marri emphasised that decent relief should be provided to the people in the budget and the salaries of the daily-wage earners should be increased in proportion to the inflation.

In response to a question about whether PPP was joining the federal cabinet after the budget, Marri responded by saying that “PPP will not be a part of the government and there is no truth in such reports. She reiterated that it only wanted standing committees to become functional soon.

The question about the PPP’s inclusion in the government or federal cabinet has surfaced time and again as it was the PPP which supported the PML-N to form the government in the Centre following a split mandate in the February 8 general elections. The PPP sits on the treasury benches but it isn’t yet a part of the federal government or cabinet.

The support hadn’t come for free as both parties had decided to split key constitutional offices among them as per the post-election understanding. They both had agreed that the office of PM, speaker National Assembly and deputy chairman Senate would go to PML-N while PPP would keep the office of President, Senate chairman and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

In addition, both the parties had split the governorship of two provinces each, with PPP keeping Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while PML-N was given Sindh and Balochistan. PML-N kept the Balochistan governor’s post but handed over the Sindh governorship to its ally, MQM-P.

In addition, the PPP leader said that the government should provide relief to the farmers and ensure the purchase of wheat, saying the Kissan card has been announced in Sindh. She demanded from the government that the upcoming budget should be a farmer-friendly budget. On PIA, she said, instead of privatising PIA, it should be run by a private partnership.

Lashing out at PTI, Marri said that PTI founding chairman Imran Khan still wants to come to power with the help of the establishment as he along with his party has repeatedly said that it wishes to only talk to the powerful stakeholders.

In past, she lamented, PTI has become habitual of coming to power with the help of powerful stakeholders and, perhaps, it hasn’t been trained to talk to political forces of the country.

During the press conference, Marri demanded that the federal government should allocate more funds for universities. She said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will chair an important meeting of the party before the budget where the country's political situation as well as budget, inflation, and public issues will be discussed.

She said that the PPP is concerned about the defamation bill, passed by the Punjab government, saying it stands with journalists.

On the wheat scandal, the PPP said that it is the job of the government to give relief to the people and not just form a committee to probe issues.