National Assembly budget debate continues: Generals, judges and MPs should pay due taxes: PML-N

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Saturday said it should be made mandatory for generals, parliamentarians and judges to pay due taxes to pull the country out of economic crises. PML-N senior Leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said this during Budget debate in the lower house of the parliament, adding that they have no other option but to pay taxes.
"Patriotism did not come with statements but the ruling elite would have to prove it practically, he said, adding that generals, judges, parliamentarians, speaker of the National Assembly and Chairman Senate are using expensive vehicles by borrowing millions of rupees. If they did not pay taxes the country would not be in position to make both ends meet," he said.
Khaqan Abbasi said parliamentarians should begin work for tax collection from their homes. He said two thirds of the parliamentarians of this House are not paying due taxes. "If the leaders did not pay taxes there will be no moral justification to ask people to pay taxes. Only Rs 10 million taxes are being collected from parliamentarians," he said.
The PML-N leader said, "members of this parliament used vehicles valuing more than Rs 3 billion but they did not pay tax. He said Rs 500 billion are being spent on the army. The PML-N leader also sought reply as to what the government got in financial support from the international community for war on terror. We hear presidency announcing that Pakistan has faced loss of $60 billion in war on terror, he said, "Did the government ever tried to accrue financial support in this regard?"
"The government should tell us about the exact amount it got in financial support through Kerry Lugar package and Friends of Democratic Pakistan." "Corp Commanders Conference observed that $13 billion were committed by the US but the government accrued $8.6 billion of which Rs 1.4 billion were given to the Army and Rs 6 billion utilised for budgetary support," He said.
"Nobody is ready to accept the responsibility of the Kharotabad, Abbottabad incidents and attack on Navel Air Base in Karachi and killing of young boy by Rangers also in Karachi." About load shedding, he said it was not a big issue to be resolved. It is only due to mismanagement, he said. The PML-N leader said the debt of Pakistan has crossed Rs 10 trillion and next year it would reach Rs 11 trillion and additional interest on it would be around Rs 100 billion.
He said the Federal Board of Revenue has collected around Rs 2 trillion. "If the FBR brings over 20 million rich people in the tax net, it would yield Rs 3 trillion next year. He said tax evasion is over 50 percent as compared to its collection. "It is needed to address these issues on an urgent basis. There is need to prepare best mechanism to collect taxes. The government should use the FBR to collect due taxes for resolving economic issues," he said. Taking part in the debate, Pakistan Muslim League member from Balochistan, Abdul Qadir Baloch asked the Parliament to solve the problems of his province before prevailing restlessness in the province turns into a calamity.
He said "if the parliament did not try to solve the issue of Balochistan, the outcome will be very horrible because there is atmosphere of restlessness and rebellion in the restive province. Pervez Musharraf had launched operation on August 26, 2006, which resulted in assassination of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.
He said PML-N demands constitution of a commission to probe into Bugti killing and determine whether there was a need for military operation at that time or not which killed Nawab Akbar Bugti and turned the youth of the province against the country. Baloch said no one had the courage before 2006 to talk about independence. Baloch deplored that the government has not fulfilled promises made in Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package and even the funds are not being released for regular development schemes. The budget for the next fiscal year would burden common man because the government has not made any effort to shift towards direct taxes and once again relied on indirect taxes. Baloch said that withdrawal of subsides on essential commodities would directly affect the poor and the things might have been different if it was prepared after taking input from the parliament.
Sardar Talib Hussain Nakai of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) said economic situation of the country is evident from all the macroeconomic indicators with investment at its lowest ebb during the recent years and maximum growth around 2.5 percent. The prevailing energy crisis has impeded growth in the industrial sector and calls for measures to minimise the problems, if not immediately possible to get rid of them. Iqbal Muhammad Ali of Muttahida Qaumi Movement also referred to grave economic situation in the country and underlined the need for taking politically difficult decision by making every sector pay taxes. The House was adjourned to meet again on Monday to resume d Budget debate. Tasneem Qureshi, PML-N MNA Chaudhry Naseer Bhutta and others also took part in the debate.