ISLAMABAD: The government’s key coalition allies criticized its tax-heavy federal budget during a parliamentary session on Friday, urging authorities to adopt “people-friendly” policies as Islamabad’s hopes the document will prove instrumental in securing another International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package.
Pakistan’s parliament kicked off the debate into the federal budget on Thursday, with opposition party Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) labelling the government’s move to present the budget as “economic terrorism” against the people. Islamabad has set an ambitious tax revenue generation target of about Rs13 trillion ($46.55 billion) in the budget, which was presented on June 12 by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
When the budget debate resumed in the National Assembly on Friday, the government’s key coalition allies distanced themselves from the taxes imposed in the finance bill, calling on authorities to levy them on landlords and the affluent class rather than the salaried group.
“If sanity fails to prevail and a public-friendly budget is not prepared, then this traditional budget is going to be the biggest threat to the country’s security,” Dr. Farooq Sattar, a senior lawmaker of the government’s coalition partner, Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan, (MQM-P) said during the parliamentary session.
He said the budget signaled that the status quo continued to wield power in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Shazia Marri confirmed that no breakthrough had been reached in talks held between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and the PPP’s senior leadership on their differences regarding the budget.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari led a high-level delegation of his party to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the government’s senior leadership on Thursday. The two sides attempted to iron out their differences over the federal budget.
The PPP has accused the government of ignoring its recommendations in the budget. While not a member of the federal cabinet, the PPP voted for Sharif in the prime minister’s election and forms the government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province. The PML-N-led government requires the PPP’s votes for the budget to pass.
After the meeting between the two sides ended on Thursday, a handout issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said both sides had agreed to form committees to work out their differences over the budget.
Speaking during the National Assembly session on Friday, Marri pointed out that the government’s ministers had not attended the session.
“Relevant ministers must be present in the house during budget session,” Marri said, adding that her party was reluctant to participate in such sessions till it resolved its differences with the government on the budget.
Another PPP leader Sharmila Faruqi said both parties’ relevant committees would hold meetings to reach a consensus on the budget before voting on the finance bill takes place next week.
“Not much of a breakthrough, subsequent meetings to follow,” Faruqi told Arab News about the meeting between the two sides. “PML-N must honor its commitments to PPP.”
Meanwhile, SIC lawmaker Sajid Khan criticized the government for imposing heavy taxes in the budget on medicines and food items.
“The government should reopen border with Afghanistan from Angoor Ada [town in northwestern Pakistan] to resume trade and business activities,” he recommended.
Khan said the government should review tax measures and allocate a special budget for the development of the erstwhile tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
“The government should allocate the promised 3 percent of the National Finance Award for the development of the tribal regions,” he said.
Pakistani government’s coalition allies distance themselves from ‘tax-heavy’ budget in parliamentary debate
https://arab.news/m5aya
Pakistani government’s coalition allies distance themselves from ‘tax-heavy’ budget in parliamentary debate
- Dr. Farooq Sattar, a lawmaker of government ally MQM-P, demands a more “people-friendly” budget
- PPP lawmakers confirm no breakthrough reached with ruling party PML-N on budget differences
Pakistan vaccinates over 44 million children as nationwide anti-polio drive enters last day
- Pakistan kicked off seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign on Feb. 2 to vaccinate over 45 million children
- Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025, a significant drop from the alarming 74 cases it reported in 2024
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health volunteers have vaccinated over 44.1 million children against poliovirus in six days so far, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Sunday as the nationwide campaign entered its last day.
Pakistan kicked off the seven-day anti-polio campaign on Feb. 2 to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five against poliovirus.
In Punjab, health workers have vaccinated over 22.9 million children, in Sindh 10.4 million, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 7.1 million, in Balochistan 2.324 million, in Islamabad over 455,000, in Gilgit-Baltistan over 261,000 and in Azad Kashmir over 673,000 in the last six days, the NEOC said.
“In six days, vaccination of more than 44.1 million children has been completed across the country,” the NEOC said in a statement.
It said over 400,000 trained polio workers are going door-to-door to administer polio drops to children.
“Open your doors for polio workers and ensure your children receive polio drops,” the NEOC said. “Parents and communities are urged to fully cooperate with polio workers.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries worldwide where polio remains endemic. The NEOC said the anti-polio drive was being conducted simultaneously in both countries.
Last year, Pakistan reported 31 polio cases, a significant drop from the alarming 74 cases reported in the country in 2024. The South Asian nation reported six cases in 2023 and only one in 2021, but saw a sharp resurgence in 2024.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been repeatedly undermined by vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage.
Militant groups have also frequently targeted polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them, often resulting in deadly attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan.
