ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a major ally of the ruling coalition, on Thursday announced a countrywide protest against the 2025-26 federal budget, terming it “oppressive and cruel”.

People’s Labour Bureau Pakistan head Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed made the announcement during a post-budget press conference at the PPP’s Central Secretariat.

The party will collaborate with trade unions for the protest, though a date has not been set.

“This is a budget by the rich, for the rich,” Mr Ahmed said. “The government has increased the budget for each of its institutions manifold but claims to have no money for poor labourers, industrial workers, farmers, elderly pensioners, and salaried employees.”

Mr Ahmed said that ministers’ salaries were increased by over 200 per cent and the Prime Minister’s Office budget rose by over Rs124 million. He added that the Supreme Court’s budget was increased by over Rs2 billion and the National Assembly’s by Rs3.5bn.

Mr Ahmed criticised a new rule limiting family pensions to 10 years after a pensioner’s death. “Should the widow of the deceased pensioner beg for alms to survive after ten years?” he questioned.

He said the government did not consult the PPP during the budget’s preparation, and proposals from the People’s Labour Bureau were not included.

During the conference, Mr Ahmed outlined several demands that were subsequently included in the People’s Labour Bureau’s 11-point ‘charter of demands’ for the federal and provincial budgets.

The demands include a 50pc increase in salaries and pensions, merger of all ad hoc allowances into the basic salary; 100pc increase in EOBI pension and provision of medical treatment facilities to retired employees; increasing of house rent and conveyance allowances according to market rates; increasing of death grant from Rs800,000 to Rs1m and marriage grant from Rs400,000 to Rs500,000 as done by the PPP government during its tenure; immediately halting of all privatisation, outsourcing, and the process of closing down important national institutions like Utility Stores, PASC, NFC, Pak PWD; immediate reinstatement of all terminated employees, including the 5,000 employees of Utility Stores; regularisation of all contract and daily wage employees; providing industrial workers and labourers with flats on an ownership basis for housing; and registration of all types of workers and peasants with EOBI and Workers Welfare Fund.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2025