ISLAMABAD, June 22: The National Assembly on Thursday validated more than Rs217 billion of federal overspending in the outgoing financial year that the opposition called government extravagance at the end of a 21-day budget session.
The house approved Rs202.848 billion by voice vote in 127 supplementary demands for grants for the spending made in excess of the original budget for 2005-06 ending on June 30 while more than Rs14.213bn were shown as the same year’s additional charged expenditure, which is immune from parliamentary vote.
Separate voting on each of the 127 demands for grants other than the charged expenditure came after several hours’ debate in which opposition members accused the government of lacking financial discipline and squandering state funds.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ended the day’s proceedings with a brief speech defending the government’s performance, which he said had set the country on the path of progress before Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain read out a presidential order proroguing the house.
“We are moving forward towards our goal, we will make the country greater step by step and reach our goal step by step,” the prime minister said.
He said the situation was serious when President Pervez Musharraf took power in 1999 and added: “A lot more has to be done to take the country forward.”
He regretted a severe criticism of the army for its role in politics during the debate on the budget and said: “The armed forces are our national asset.”
He said: “Let us resolve together that a mouth-breaking reply would be given to anyone casting an evil eye on Pakistan.”
Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan devoted his speech to wind up the debate more to attack the opposition rather than explain the supplementary grants, provoking protests and was greeted with shouts of “no, no” when he defended the role of armed forces but was repeatedly cheered by desk-thumping by the ruling coalition members.
Liaqat Baloch of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal opened the opposition attack against the supplementary demands, which he called a mini-budget reflecting the government’s failure to control expenses and called for a permanent end to military’s interference to correct the situation.
Aitzaz Ahsan of the People’s Party Parliamentarians called the new demands “a budget of extravagance” and a charge- sheet against the government.
PPP’s Sherry Rehman encountered a verbal clash with Sheikh Waqas Akram of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League after she questioned the level of “extravagance and overspending, including Rs18 billion on defence, at a time when she said poverty and homelessness were becoming widespread.
Her party colleague Naheed Khan attacked the additional grant for the National Accountability Bureau that she accused of political victimisation as well as the import of luxury cars and said the government had broken financial discipline in the same way as the army had broken its military discipline by seizing power.
Saad Rafique of the PML-N also accused the government of lavish spending and criticised military operations in Balochistan and the tribal area.
Earlier, the opposition staged a token walkout to protest against the suspension of four PPP members of the Sindh assembly by the house speaker.
