ISLAMABAD, June 13: The opposition in the National Assembly on Monday questioned increase in the budgetary allocation for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and lashed out at the government over its claim of introducing good governance in the country. Taking part in the debate on the federal budget for 2005-06, opposition members slammed the NAB for targeting only politicians and not taking any action against military personnel and judges.
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in his speech regretted that the government had not announced any step in the budget to improve the judicial system. He alleged that corruption was rampant in lower judiciary and rulers considered themselves above the law.
“What is the use of presenting a good budget if there is no fair system to implement the government’s decisions?” Mr Khan said. He said the Sindh chief minister and several federal ministers had openly claimed that Asif Zardari had been released under a deal. He said the Supreme Court should have issued contempt notices to ministers if Mr Zardari had not been released under any deal. “What respect the judiciary has in the eyes of the people after these statements?” he questioned.
The PTI chief said how could rulers enforce the rule of law in the country when Gen Musharraf himself was ‘the biggest law-breaker’. He said that in an interview to CNN Gen Musharraf had stated that Pakistan had handed over some 700 Al Qaeda activists to the US. He said Gen Musharraf had violated Article 4 of the Constitution according to which no person, even a non-Pakistani, could be extradited without presenting him before the judiciary.
“Gen Musharraf should have been impeached for this violation alone,” he added.
Mr Khan alleged that criminals were being appointed heads of Zakat committees and people were being penalised for their honesty. He said 80 per cent people in Pakistan were getting less than two dollars a month. Pakistan was even behind Nepal and Bangladesh in the human development index, he claimed.
The PTI chief said the gap between the rich and the poor was widening in the country because of the prevailing tax system. On the one hand, the government was giving loans to the people on 18 per cent mark-up under the poverty alleviation programme and on the other hand, those who could pay taxes were being given exemptions.
Mr Khan said the people did not want to pay taxes as they knew that the rulers would use tax money to improve their own standard of living. He said the value of one phase of the Defence Housing Society in Lahore had been estimated at around $15 billion, but the government had not imposed any tax on property.
Taking part in the debate, Khwaja Asif of the PML-N said there was no need to increase budgetary allocation for the NAB as it had done no national duty. He said it started investigations against a former Wapda chairman who was a retired army general when he had already left the country. “Has NAB arrested any (army) general or judge?” he asked. He said about five to six stock brokers had made billions of rupees in a few months through stocks manipulation but NAB did not take any action.
The PML-N leader said there was no need to increase the defence budget either. The army had given nothing for the people and only ruled the country for over 30 years, he added. He feared that the government was about to roll-back the country’s nuclear programme as it had already taken a U-turn on the Kashmir issue.
Referring to the Mukhtaran Mai case, Mr Asif said the accused were roaming freely while the rape victim had been put under detention and on the exit control list. He also condemned the police action against PML-N women and human rights activists in Lahore. “Is this the enlightened moderation that male policemen tear clothes of women on roads?” he said.
Mr Asif said for the grade-1 government employee the annual increment was only Rs10, while for the grade-22 this increment was Rs1,270. “It will take 127 years for the grade-1 employee to reach the level of only an increment of grade-22 employee,” he said.
Treasury MNA Riaz Pirzada called for accountability of police. He stated corruption and terrorism were still prevailing in the country, particularly in southern Punjab.
He regretted that development was taking place only in selected places in Punjab. He, however, termed the budget farmer-friendly and people-friendly. He lauded the government for increasing salaries and pensions of government employees.
Raja Parvaiz Ashraf of the PPP criticized the government for increase in the petroleum prices. According to official statistics, he said, the price of per litre petrol came to Rs33.27 but its market price was Rs45.53.
The PPP member said $3 billion were being spent on the purchase of F-16 planes which could be used for construction of over 200,000 kilometres of roads in the country.
