• PPP’s Rana Mahmoodul Hassan calls for creation of Seraikistan during budget debate in upper house • Senator Abro claims IPPs behind reversal of solar policy

ISLAMABAD: As senators from the treasury and opposition benches traded charges during the budget debate in the Senate on Wednesday, PPP Senator Rana Mahmoodul Hassan demanded a separate South Punjab province.

“Seven million children are born in Pakistan annually, more than in all of Europe. What are we doing for their employment?” he asked while taking part in the budget discussion in the House.

He said that when a province grew too large, bifurcation became necessary.

“We will not stay with ‘Takht-i-Lahore’. We want our province. We want to be separated from Punjab,” he added.

He said Multan had been the capital in the past and that Bahawalpur supported Pakist­­an at time of its creation by paying salaries.

He demanded an industrial zone, a high court and a separate National Finance Com­mission (NFC) share for South Punjab, in addition to agricultural and information technology universities.

“[PPP Chairman] Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told us to fight for our province. Why isn’t our province, Seraikistan, being created?” he asked.

IPPs

Abdul Qadir, an independent senator from Balochistan, claimed that independent power producers (IPPs) were behind the reversal of the government’s solar policy.

He added that the government had to pay Rs1.80 trillion in capacity charges. He called IPPs a “mafia that bulldozes every government”. Mr Qadir challenged the government to conduct a forensic audit of IPP agreements.

PML-N Senator Abid Sher Ali said Prime Minister Sheh­b­­az Sharif took charge when Pakistan faced the risk of being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list and “becoming like Sri Lanka”.

He criticised the PTI’s economic team, saying it changed four finance ministers in 2.5 years and appointed Nadeem Babar, “who himself was an IPP owner”, as energy adviser.

Mr Ali accused the PTI of making a “deal on Kashmir”, saying that Khyber Paktun­khwa had become a “haven for terrorism” under its rule.

He also raised questions about Aleema Khan’s assets and the PTI’s decision to appoint Usman Buzdar as Punjab chief minister.

On energy, he said cross-subsidies should end and the burden of electricity theft in provinces should not be shifted onto productive electricity distribution companies (Discos) or the Faisalabad industry.

Another PML-N senator, Agha Shahzeb Durrani, alleged that the PTI had started work on Pakistan’s denuclearisation.

He said the PTI had posted “corrupt Federal Board of Revenue officers” to key positions and that the current government had removed them.

He added that the PML-N government had managed the petrol crisis well and had started work on doubling the Karachi-Quetta highway.

Senator Saifullah Abro said that during former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, the dollar remained at Rs59, but under the PTI’s “Naya Pakistan”, his area’s hospital could not obtain Rs1 billion worth of MRI and CT scan machines despite having “revolutionary ministers” such as Asad Umar and Dr Sania Nishtar. He alleged that in Sindh, 22 people from a single household were receiving Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments. “In Sindh, BISP money is for the government,” he claimed.

He also questioned the petroleum minister’s inability to explain a Rs55 hike in petrol prices and criticised “corruption” in the National Highway Authority (NHA).

He said a contractor had been booked during former communications minister, PTI leader Murad Saeed’s tenure on the committee’s orders. He also accused Federal Commu­nications Minister Aleem Khan of “destroying the NHA”.

PTI Senator Fozia Arshad said the budget would keep the country “on the brink of dest­ruction” until it moved away from the interest-based system.

She also demanded the release of PTI founder Imran Khan from jail. “Only Imran Khan can pull the country out of crisis,” she added.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2026