Govt has no right to present year-long budget: Khursheed Shah

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Friday said that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) government has not right to present the year-long budget for the financial year 2018-19 at a time when its tenure is ending on May 31.

Speaking on the floor of the assembly, Shah said: “The incumbent government’s tenure is going to end on Mary 31 and there are no two opinions in this regard. The government should have presented a budget for one quarter for the interim period until the next government comes into power after the general elections.”

“The government has no right to present year-long budget on moral grounds,” he said, adding the PML-N is usurping the right of the next government.

Slamming the appointment of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Miftah Ismail as finance minister, he said a person who is not member of the assembly has been appointed as minister in violation of the constitution.

Shah said former premier Nawaz Sharif’s narrative is to respect vote, but  by appointing Miftah as minister, the sanctity of the vote has been damaged.

He said Rana Afzal, a member of the house, should have been given a chance to present the budget, but the government appointed a person without people’s mandate through the wrong interpretation of the constitution.