Govt claims majority to pass budget in NA

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak claimed on Tuesday the PTI-led coalition government has the required majority to pass the Finance Bill 2019-20 in the National Assembly.

He said in a statement that there are no differences with the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), a coalition partner of the government at the centre, over the budget.

“The BNP-M was our coalition partner and is still with the government,” he said, adding that the government has a simple majority to pass the budget in the lower house of Parliament.

No matter how much hue and cry the opposition raise, the budget will sail through the National Assembly, he said.

He said opposition leaders’ all parties conference, which is scheduled to be held on June 26 (tomorrow), will fail.

In the 342-strong National Assembly, the PTI-led ruling coalition’s numerical strength stands at 180 which is 8 seats more than the required simple majority of 172 in the lower house.

The PTI has 156 seats, MQM-P 6, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) 5, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) 5, BNP-Mengal 4, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) 3 seats and Awami Muslim League (AML) has one seat.