LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party has said it will present `independent proposals’ for the Punjab budget during the session to be convened by the government shortly.

Speaking at a joint press conference here on Wednesday, PPP MPAs Hassan Murtaza, Ali Haider Gilani and Makhdoom Usman Mahmood said their party would present the budget proposals separately from other opposition parties and vowed to raise public issues during the budget session.

They demanded 50 per cent pay raise for the government employees and Rs30,000 minimum monthly salary, besides lowering inflation, cardiac centres at all district headquarters hospitals and introduction of uniform curriculum in schools across the country.

Responding to a query, Mr Gilani and Mr Mahmood regretted that the Janoobi Mahaz could not get a separate South Punjab province even 1,000 days after its inception, while the group that had broken away from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the cause of carving out a new federating unit comprising Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions, had claimed before the 2018 general elections to achieve the objective within 100 days.

Answering a question, Mr Murtaza said the PPP would contest every by-poll in future, unlike in the past when it had been giving way to the PML-N. He added the “policy of compromise” had damaged the party.

He alleged that there was a compromise was underway between the opposition PML-N and ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf since the Senate polls as Nawaz league was avoiding going for a no-confidence move against Buzdar government though a 15-member disgruntled group, other than that of Jahangir Tareen’s, in the PTI was ready to support the move.

The PML-N, he claimed, had responded to the no-confidence move offer, saying the party was not interested in the “small target”.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2021