Budget will break the federation, says Bilawal

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KARACHI: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in a tweet on Tuesday termed the budget for fiscal year 2016 - 17 as one which would break the federation, and rejected what he termed as a "one unit budget for Punjabistan."

Senior PPP leader Sherry Rehman also rejected the budget and said the budget was "made by PM of Punjab."

The PPP leader added her speech during the budget debate will elaborate more on the subject.

Provincial minister Sharmila Farooqi, defending Bilawal's statement, said the PPP has always stood for the federation and does not differentiate between the provinces.

"We would like an equal share for all provinces, the incumbent government only cares for Punjab," said Farooqi.

Replying to a question, Farooqi said the PPP chairperson's statement will not alienate the party's supporters in Punjab as "we are gaining our position in Punjab."

"Bilawal has done wonders for the PPP in Punjab."

She also questioned why there was no mention of the Rs600bn circular debt in the budget.

The budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on June 3 had an outlay of 43.9 trillion, with opposition parties rejecting the budget.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Friday had opened the budget session in place of the finance minister, and had questioned its legality in the absence of constitutionally mandated National Finance Commission (NFC) which he said was a clear violation of Article 160 of the Constitution.

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