THE government might ultimately succeed in getting the budgetary proposals for the year 2024-25 passed by the National Assembly but it seems to be in a tight corner due to criticism of the new budget both by allies as well as representatives of different sectors of the economy. General public, which is to bear the brunt of the taxation proposals, is unable to put across its viewpoint effectively as it is not organized like many other pressure groups and regrettably their representatives in Parliament are not as vocal to air their grievances as they should be. However, the budget is in sharp focus due to the stand taken by some political parties and reservations being expressed by affected sectors.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, reportedly conveyed the party’s position on different budget-related issues and got an assurance for their amicable resolution. The PPP is a party with strong and effective presence in all parts of the country, therefore, it ought to represent the sentiments and aspirations of the people but media reports suggest the party, instead of agitating issues that concern masses, is keen to use pressure tactics to get more political concessions from the PML(N)-led Federal Government both at the Centre and in Punjab. It seems to be avoiding responsibility and ownership for tough decisions by resisting offers to become part of the Federal Cabinet but wants to get lion’s share of the development spending from the Centre and a greater say in Punjab where it has no worthwhile presence in the provincial assembly – over and above the constitutional offices it has already squeezed from the other side as part of the power-sharing deal. The attitude that one of the major coalition partners adopted during the budget speech of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and vis-à-vis the process for debate and passage of the budgetary proposals is indicative of the greater vulnerability of the Coalition Government. It also shows the two major parties failed to ensure clarity of the power-sharing arrangements and the ambiguity is now being misused mildly rocking the boat of the coalition. Parties are not playing their role effectively as representatives of the people but credit goes to the individual Senators who are highlighting some of the issues that have become a matter of concern for the general public. During debate on the budgetary proposals, members belonging to both the treasury and the opposition benches urged the government to revise the proposed taxes on salaried class, medicines, cement industry and real estate. Some of them warned that economic growth would suffer due to increased taxes aimed at achieving the revenue target of Rs3.8 trillion.
Their views are worthwhile but it is also a fact that the Senate can only make recommendations and it is for the government or the National Assembly to entertain them during adoption of the budget as the upper house has no role in the passage of the finance bill. Similarly, it is not sure that the views expressed by individual Senators would become the official position of their parties while voting for or against the budget in the lower house. There is, however, a definite need to review some of the budgetary proposals as these can retard growth of different sectors and put an unbearable burden on the common man. The government needs to give serious consideration to the criticism of the budget by various sectors as highlighted by the campaign being launched by Pakistan Dairy Association, APTMA, cellular companies, builders and contractors and real estate representatives. Similarly, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, while opening general debate on the budget, termed it as ‘economic terrorism’ claiming that investors would not trust the government in making investment in a country where there was no rule of law. However, the rule of law cannot be ensured without active cooperation of parliament and representatives of the people, whose views must find a place while formulating policies and deciding important issues. Criticism of some of the budgetary proposals is justified and hopefully the government would review these proposals to make them acceptable.
