LAHORE: National Assembly opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif has said that passing the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s ‘mini-budget’ in the parliament will be like ‘committing national suicide’.

“A collective strategy will be devised through a consensus by the joint opposition to block and reject this mini-budget, because it jeopardises the economic sovereignty of the country,” PML-N president said in a statement here on Saturday.

He said all efforts would be made to “shake the conscience” of parliamentarians representing the government and its allies to save the country and its people from the “devastating effects” of this mini-budget.

“The incumbent government has become a threat to national security. Trying to fix the crisis-hit economy with a mini-budget will be like treating cancer with aspirin. The government must resign, instead of further destroying the economy with such a disastrous mini-budget prepared by the IMF,” he said.

The opposition leader further said the tsunami of the so-called ‘Tabdeeli’ (change) had swept away the national economy, employment and the happiness in the people’s lives.

“The people have still not been given appropriate relief in petrol prices in accordance with the international price cut, which is unfortunate,” he said and added that the hike in the prices of electricity, gas, petrol, and essential commodities had made life of the people even more miserable.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2021