Absence of Key Opposition Members Made Proceedings of Budget a Cake Walk

The passage of budget is proving to be a cake walk for the government as the key members of the opposition remained absent from the session despite their claims of stopping the sail of finance bill from the national assembly.

The Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Shahbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari as well as top brass of major opposition parties remained absent from the benches on Saturday.

The absence of the opposition made approval of 49 demands for grants worth more than Rs 3 trillion an easy task for the treasury benches.

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Owing to the low strength on the opposition benches, some 967 cut motions were rejected through voting.

The voting on demand for grants and cut motions on ministries and divisions are considered a crucial phase of the budget as the opposition gets the opportunity to give a hard time to the government in the voting process.

It’s not necessary that all cut motions by the opposition get approval but it is considered a symbolic victory for them even if they win over government in some of them.

However, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto is currently campaigning in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and there are no clues of the whereabouts of the opposition leader since his budget speech that caused a bedlam in the lower house.

Both leaders had vehemently stated that they would do ‘everything that it takes’ to not let the budget advance from the NA.

However, the empty benches of the opposition depict another story.

On the other hand, the treasury benches were seen fully occupied throughout hours-long budget session.

Last year too, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had also passed such resistance-free budget owing to coronavirus pandemic after mutual understanding with the opposition on cut motions and demands for grants.