Karachi: The Sindh Assembly in Pakistan passed the provincial budget in record time - a few minutes - as the Opposition lawmakers forgot to formally oppose the budgetary proposals for the upcoming financial year 2021-22.
Earlier, Opposition lawmakers didn’t submit any “cut motion” that is the proper parliamentary instrument used by the Opposition to oppose the passing of the budget.
This is the first time in over two decades that no Opposition legislator in the Sindh Assembly submitted the cut motion to properly oppose the government’s budget.
Passing of the budget is, otherwise, a tedious and hours-long process if the Opposition submits cut motions to follow the parliamentary norm to properly oppose the budget.
In the absence of the cut motions, Opposition legislators had no option but to merely protest and resort to sloganeering in the house against the provincial budget but it didn’t stop the treasury benches from passing the budget in a few minutes.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the additional portfolio of the provincial Finance Minister, presented the budgetary proposals in the house for approval.
Owing to vocal protest in the house by the Opposition legislators, the treasury lawmakers belonging to ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party encircled the Sindh CM in the house, during the passage of the budget, for his physical protection so that no Opposition legislator got the chance to come near to him to interrupt proceedings of the budget session of the house.
The total volume of the Sindh government’s budget for upcoming financial year is Rs 1,477.904 billion as it contained no new tax.
'Thankful to Opposition'
Later, Sindh Information Minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, greeted the people of Sindh that the provincial assembly had passed a tax-free budget for the province.
He said the Opposition’s failure to submit any cut motion proved its incompetence as it had least interest in the budget session of the assembly except for protesting in the house to interrupt proceedings of the provincial legislature.
He expressed gratitude to the Opposition that it hadn’t filed any cut motion enabling the treasury benches to pass the new provincial budget with ease.
