Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Wednesday his party would raise reservations expressed by the PML-N over the contentious Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi alongside PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal, who led his party’s delegation that met the MQM leadership earlier in the day, Siddiqui said they had discussions on multiple issues, including the two bills.
“We are together in parliament and we have agreements and disagreements on various issues,” he said, adding that as far as the “mini-budget” was concerned, the MQM had detailed talks with the PML-N on it.
He said the MQM — which is a crucial ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the Centre — planned to discuss with the government such clauses in the bill that it believed would directly affect and burden people, and after talks with the PML-N delegation, they were likely to add some more points to this agenda.
“We have listened to them [the PML-N] in detail and reconsidered certain aspects. And we might have to add one to two more points [to the agenda],” Siddiqui said,
“We have recognised some new aspects after talks with them [the PML-N delegation,” he added.
Earlier in the press conference, Iqbal criticised the government over the “mini-budget”, which he said would “burden people with additional taxes of Rs350bn”.
In this regard, he said, the opposition had decided to communicate to treasury members in the National Assembly (NA), including those from the PTI’s allies, that the NA was a sovereign House.
“And the approval of the IMF package by holding the National Assembly assembly at gunpoint will be a resounding blow to the House’s sovereignty,” he added.
Iqbal said the NA or parliament was not bound by any of the IMF’s conditions and it was the lawmakers’ responsibility to give due consideration to Pakistan’s economy, citizens’ benefits and future.
The PML-N leader pointed out that some recommendations in the finance supplementary bill, such as taxes on medicines, would be “very damaging” for the country and its people.
He added that before tabling the finance supplementary bill and the SBP bill, the government should have worked towards developing a national consensus on these matters, consulted the opposition and taken its allies into confidence.
“And we would not have let them include clauses in the [finance supplementary] bill that will have a direct negative impact on the country’s economy and people,” he said.
Hence, he continued, “one of our requests to the MQM leadership is … to work together to get those clauses removed from the mini-budget that we believe will negatively affect the common man.”
