ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar moved on Wednesday a copy of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023 in the upper house of the parliament that was handed an outright rejection by the opposition senators who termed the document an “IMF mini-budget.”
“IMF mini-budget unacceptable — IMF mini-budget rejected,” were some of the slogans, the charged opposition senators, mainly from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), chanted on the maiden day of 325th Senate session.
To the surprise of many, the Senate session was summoned unceremoniously, without prior intimation, only a day after the 324th session was prorogued on Tuesday, mainly to take up the money bill that was moved in the National Assembly on Wednesday, shortly before its copy was laid in the Senate the same day.
In the brief house sitting, the finance minister moved a motion under the relevant rule of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012 to skip the question hour in house’s Wednesday sitting.
To be presented in parliament today: Cabinet approves Finance Supplementary Bill
Thereafter, as Dar laid a copy of the money bill, he met with strong reaction from the opposition benches that tore apart the copies of the house agenda in protest to what they described was the mini budget brought on the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Presiding over the sitting, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani directed the house members to submit their recommendations, if any, on the bill, by Thursday (Feb 16) morning, which, he said, would be reviewed by the Senate’s finance panel on Friday. The house was then adjourned till Friday.
The upper house of the parliament can hold extensive debate on the finance bill and devise recommendations accordingly but it has no significant role in budgetary legislation since it is completely up to NA to either completely or partially accept those recommendations or reject them—partially or completely.
Article 73 of the constitution, which deals with parliamentary business with respect to money bills, reads, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 70, a money bill shall originate in the National Assembly: Provided that simultaneously when a money bill, including the finance bill containing the annual budget statement, is presented in the National Assembly, a copy thereof shall be transmitted to the Senate which may, within 14 days, make recommendations thereon to the National Assembly.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023