Punjab budget: Govt, opposition head towards deadlock over 'conditions'

LAHORE: The government and opposition headed towards a deadlock over ‘conditions’ prior to the unveiling of the Punjab budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, ARY News reported on Monday.

The unveiling of the Punjab budget 2022-23 has been delayed due to a lack of agreement between the government and the opposition. Prior to the Punjab budget session, a meeting of the business advisory committee was held in the Punjab Assembly.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded the government withdraw cases against its leaders and activists, whereas, the Inspector General (IG) Punjab police should tender an apology before the advisory committee. The opposition party also demanded the withdrawal of cases against the Punjab Assembly staffers.

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The Chief Minister’s Office has rejected the conditions tabled by the opposition, sources told ARY News. They added that the government team put new conditions after holding conditions with the Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz.

The Punjab government adopted a stance that a thorough investigation will be held on cases against the provincial lawmakers to ascertain the facts about the scuffle in the Punjab Assembly during the election of the chief minister. The government team said that no agreement will be signed without the probe against the lawmakers.

Sources said that there is a deadlock between the government and the opposition after the rejection of the conditions from both sides which led to a delay in the provincial budget. The budget would not be presented in the Punjab Assembly till an agreement between the government and opposition.

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On the other hand, PA Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the opposition leader Sibtain Khan chaired the parliamentary party session in which Pervaiz Elahi said that they apprised the government of their demands and that the IG Punjab will have to tender an apology, otherwise, the assembly’s proceedings will not be continued.

Sibtain Khan said that they will not let the assembly’s proceedings continue until the acceptance of their demands.