The PPP has openly expressed its concerns over the lack of consultation by the Punjab government on important issues such as the budget and the recently enacted defamation law.
Although the PPP is not officially part of the coalition government in the province as the Muslim League (N) enjoys a simple majority in Punjab, it has supported the ruling party in the assembly during the legislative process.
Syed Hasan Murtaza, General Secretary of People’s Party Central Punjab, while talking about this on Monday, said that his party did not vote for Muslim League (N) because it should prepare the budget in the kitchen.
Addressing Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif in a press conference, he said that she did not take the People’s Party into confidence while preparing the budget proposals.
He claimed that this would be the first budget in which the government did not take its allies and stakeholders into confidence.
The PPP leader said that no relief plan has been announced for the salaried class and pensioners in the budget yet.
He further said that the People’s Party had high expectations from Chief Minister Maryam that she would take the province forward according to the vision of her father Nawaz Sharif.
However, he lamented that farmers, who are the backbone of the country, are suffering due to the Punjab government’s policies.
The provincial agriculture department could not formulate a comprehensive policy for procurement of wheat before sowing began and this indecision left farmers in despair after hard work and a bumper crop.
Hasan Murtaza asked whether the government would compensate the farmers for the delayed decision not to purchase wheat this season.