Opposition parties on Tuesday continued to boycott the National Assembly proceedings on the second consecutive day in a protest against the government for not telecasting their budget speeches live on Pakistan Television (PTV) News. Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah said that all opposition parties will gather outside the Parliament today (Wednesday), adding that "we will discuss all those issues which we are not allowed to raise inside the assembly."
Shah said that Speaker National Assembly has become a hostage to the government which is dangerous for democracy in the country. Chairman Senate has set the right example in this regard. "If opposition's speeches in Senate can be broadcast live then why not in the National Assembly?" he asked.
"The government has made you (the speaker) controversial by forcing you to allow treasury members to open debate on the budget," he said, adding that it is right of the opposition to present its viewpoint live to the nation through the state media. Shah said that he will only deliver speech on budgetary proposals if his speech is telecast live on the state media. He said the Parliament represents the will of the entire nation and nobody has the right to choke the voice of the opposition.
"The government's attitude is not democratic rather it is reflective of a dictatorship in the country," he said, adding that the government has set a new tradition in the Parliament's history by allowing the treasury members to open the budget debate. Speaking on the same issue, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that government members are acting a bit 'foolish' by not giving live coverage to the opposition in the National Assembly. "This is the same opposition leader you (the government) praised in 2014. Why don't you like him now?" he asked.
Preventing the opposition from expressing its viewpoint on budget is indicative of government's unsuccessfulness and helplessness, he said, urging the government to review its stance. "The government's stubborn attitude will nullify importance of the budget and it must review its strategy," he said. Responding to the points of the Opposition Leader, Minister of Defence Production Rana Tanvir said that there is a tradition of broadcasting live budget speech of finance minister but speech of the opposition leader on budgetary proposals has not been telecast live except once that too under special circumstances.
He admitted that the opposition leader has played an important role for strengthening of democratic system over the last four years. The opposition leader should not pursue the course of the party which has no respect for democracy and Parliament, he said, adding that the PPP is a democratic party and it should not stand with the party which does not take the system seriously. He requested the opposition leader to make his speech on the budget.
Later participating in the discussion, PML-N member Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan said leading world financial institutions have appreciated the economic strides made by the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said power outages have significantly been reduced and expressed the confidence that these outages will be fully curbed by the end of next year. Incentives should be given to the farmers in order to bring the barren land under cultivation, he said.
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MNA Ghous Bakhsh Maher said the government should cut the prices of fertiliser in order to provide relief to the farmers. He said agriculture research institutes should be strengthened so that quality seeds could be prepared domestically.
JUI-F member Shahida Akhtar Ali said the government should frame a policy to bring improvement in the lives of the poor people, besides cutting non-development expenditure to curtail the fiscal deficit. PML-N member Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal said that the opposition parties were rejected by the people in 2013 elections and scared of the economic vision and policies of the present government. He said despite the hurdles being created by the opposition, the PML-N government will continue to work for the welfare of the people.
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