Government fails to pass Finance Bill due to lack of quorum

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government on Thursday failed to pass the Finance Bill 2018 due to lack of quorum despite its best efforts to keep maximum number of its legislators in the House. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presented the finance bill in the House and the process for its approval was underway when Pakistan Peoples Party''s member Shagufta Jumani pointed out the quorum.
Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi suspended the proceedings for some time, but later announced that the House was not in order and adjourned it till Friday morning. Earlier, members of the opposition parties including PPP, MQM-P and Jamaat-e-Islami presented their amendments to be incorporated in the finance bill, but only one of them moved by PPP member Syed Naveed Qamar was approved.
The amendment which the government approved says that members of the Parliament would be getting air tickets for "any Pakistani airline," previously they were entitled for air tickets of only Pakistan International Airlines. Ex-members of the Parliament would also be entitled for medical facilities and blue passports along with their spouses, says the amendment.
The opposition parties also pressed the government by presenting amendments to decrease petroleum levy and criticized the government for tax amnesty scheme. Speaking on the floor of the House, Naveed Qamar strongly opposed the amnesty scheme as it is only for the rich while tax burden has already been increased on the common man. He also said that it is morally incorrect for the government to present the sixth budget when it has only a few days left in the office, adding the government has increased the petroleum levy up to 30 percent in the budget.
Leader of Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah said that ten to twelve hours load-shedding is being observed in the industry while Pakistan International Airlines incurred a loss of Rs 194 billion in five years. PTI member Dr Shireen Mazari said her party rejects the budget, adding that Pakistan could be included in blacklist of Financial Action Task Force for giving amnesty scheme to those who laundered money.
She said the government has taken no measures to resolve issues pertaining to agriculture and water. MQM-P member SA Iqbal Qadri also urged the government to abolish the petroleum levy to provide relief to common man. He also pointed out contradictions in the budget, saying that a tax non-filer can buy property up to Rs5 million but not a car.
Jamaat-e-Islami member Sahibzada Tariqullah said the government has violated the Debt Limitation Act and measures should be taken to reduce volume of the loans. Responding to all these points, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the budget deficit will remain 4.9 percent during the next fiscal year. He said that steps have also been taken to reduce the trade deficit.
He said that exports and remittances are witnessing an upsurge while the export package has also contributed to increasing the country''s exports, clarifying that no increase has been made in the rate of petroleum development levy.
The finance minister said that the government has substantially reduced the income tax. He said that the tax payers in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and the provinces will also be brought in active tax payer''s list. He said that sales tax on all the fertilizers has been reduced to two percent from seventeen percent.
Meanwhile, opposition leader presented three performance reports of Public Accounts Committee in the House and claimed that Rs 318 billion were retrieved. The House also passed 23 demands for grants of various ministries and divisions including Human Rights Division, Industries and Production, Department of Investment Promotion and Supplies, Inter Provincial Coordination, Kashmir Affairs, Law and Justice Division, Narcotics Control, Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Postal Services Division, Pakistan Post Office, Privatization Division, Pakistan Railways, FATA, Statistics Division and Water Resources Division.
No cut motion was moved by the opposition parties on these demands for grants.
Shortly after the House began, the PTI leader Shireen Mazari pointed out quorum and on counting the house was not found in order. No member of the government was present in the House as all of them were reportedly attending a parliamentary party meeting presided over by Shahbaz Sharif. The House remained suspended for around three hours.