In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari that the government would take steps to address the key ally's reservations on multiple issues by forming a committee after they grew. tensions between the partners of the ruling coalition over the budget.
A PPP delegation led by Bilawal met Prime Minister Sharif on Thursday to resolve differences over the budget that was tabled in Parliament last week.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the federal budget on June 12, but the PPP, the government's main ally, was not happy because it was not consulted during the preparation of the budget.
With the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government lacking a majority, there is genuine concern that the government will not be able to get the budget passed in Parliament without the support of the PPP.
Geo News reported that Sharif assured Bilawal Bhutto that he would take steps to address the key concerns.
Dawn newspaper, citing sources, said differences have been resolved and both sides agreed to support each other and cooperate on issues of mutual interest.
According to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the PPP had expressed some “minor” reservations, which the government would resolve through talks.
He said the government also formed a committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to take up the issue with the PPP and would push for dialogue in light of the meeting between Sharif and Bilawal.
On the other hand, PPP sources said that the prime minister agreed with the party president on most issues as the latter expressed his annoyance with him for overlooking his party on budgetary issues.
Bhutto complained that the PPP had joined the government under an agreement that the PML-N did not honor. The Prime Minister has also formed a committee to resolve the disagreement.
Officials said the PPP delegation also included Senate President Yusuf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and senior leaders Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman.
The discussion focused on “domestic political issues” and it was agreed that further consultations would be held with the PPP on the 2024-2025 budget, the sources said.
It was also decided that budget consultations would continue through party committees.
Bilawal complained about alleged neglect of some projects in his home province of Sindh and that his party was not included in the Public Sector Development Programme.
The Prime Minister, for his part, stated that with regard to the economy there is positive news, since the historic boom in the stock market is a support for the budget. He urged all political parties to work together for national development, sources said.
Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister Dar, Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister of Information Ataullah Tarar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik and former minister Khawaja Saad Rafique was also present at the meeting.
The government must approve the budget by June 30, when the current fiscal year would end, giving way to the new fiscal year 2024-25.
Although the PPP has not become part of the federal cabinet, the party supported the PML-N in forming the government after the February 8 elections.
Earlier, the PPP had criticized the PML-N government at the Center for taking a "solo flight" and not trusting it over the budget.
The Bilawal-led party had even announced to boycott the budget session last week, a decision it retracted after Deputy Prime Minister Senator Dar held multiple meetings with senior PPP leaders to convince them otherwise last week. last, June 12.
A PPP delegation led by Bilawal met Prime Minister Sharif on Thursday to resolve differences over the budget that was tabled in Parliament last week.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the federal budget on June 12, but the PPP, the government's main ally, was not happy because it was not consulted during the preparation of the budget.
With the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government lacking a majority, there is genuine concern that the government will not be able to get the budget passed in Parliament without the support of the PPP.
Geo News reported that Sharif assured Bilawal Bhutto that he would take steps to address the key concerns.
Dawn newspaper, citing sources, said differences have been resolved and both sides agreed to support each other and cooperate on issues of mutual interest.
According to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the PPP had expressed some “minor” reservations, which the government would resolve through talks.
He said the government also formed a committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to take up the issue with the PPP and would push for dialogue in light of the meeting between Sharif and Bilawal.
On the other hand, PPP sources said that the prime minister agreed with the party president on most issues as the latter expressed his annoyance with him for overlooking his party on budgetary issues.
Bhutto complained that the PPP had joined the government under an agreement that the PML-N did not honor. The Prime Minister has also formed a committee to resolve the disagreement.
Officials said the PPP delegation also included Senate President Yusuf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and senior leaders Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman.
The discussion focused on “domestic political issues” and it was agreed that further consultations would be held with the PPP on the 2024-2025 budget, the sources said.
It was also decided that budget consultations would continue through party committees.
Bilawal complained about alleged neglect of some projects in his home province of Sindh and that his party was not included in the Public Sector Development Programme.
The Prime Minister, for his part, stated that with regard to the economy there is positive news, since the historic boom in the stock market is a support for the budget. He urged all political parties to work together for national development, sources said.
Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister Dar, Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister of Information Ataullah Tarar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik and former minister Khawaja Saad Rafique was also present at the meeting.
The government must approve the budget by June 30, when the current fiscal year would end, giving way to the new fiscal year 2024-25.
Although the PPP has not become part of the federal cabinet, the party supported the PML-N in forming the government after the February 8 elections.
Earlier, the PPP had criticized the PML-N government at the Center for taking a "solo flight" and not trusting it over the budget.
The Bilawal-led party had even announced to boycott the budget session last week, a decision it retracted after Deputy Prime Minister Senator Dar held multiple meetings with senior PPP leaders to convince them otherwise last week. last, June 12.
