Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has decided to convene a meeting to satisfy the allies on the budget for fiscal year 2024 and other issues.
During the debate on the budget in the National Assembly, the government faced criticism from almost all the coalition parties.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), an ally of the PML-N, indicated at a rally in Swat on Saturday that his party could not vote for the approval of the budget until their reservations regarding the budget were addressed.
Bilawal Bhutto said that the Prime Minister had promised to keep funds for the rehabilitation of flood victims in the budget, but some members of his team were not fulfilling these promises.
In just the last one week, the PML-N has faced criticism from the government benches in the National Assembly. Mohsin Dawar also recently refused to talk about the budget in protest against the arrest and torture of a political worker, while PPP MNA from Sukkur Nauman Islamuddin Sheikh told Finance Minister Ishaq Dar about the economy. He criticized the “failure” to improve, even calling former finance minister Miftah Ismail more suitable for the post of finance minister.
In response to Bilawal Bhutto’s statement, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said that criticizing each other in the political rallies of the coalition parties will create uncertainty, we should refrain from opening a new front against each other.
Ahsan Iqbal said that they should refrain from talking in public meetings and sit inside the cabinet and put the stand so that they do not promote any political uncertainty in the country, as was done by former prime minister Imran Khan.
Not only the coalition parties but some important leaders of the PML-N’s own leadership also seem unhappy with the party, sources say that senior party leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has resigned from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi could not be contacted to confirm the development, but sources said that the former prime minister has resigned from the Economic Coordination Committee because his suggestions on economic matters were not accepted by the government.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb did not confirm any expected meeting of the prime minister with allies this week, but said no such meeting was scheduled for Monday.
Responding to a question about Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s resignation from the Economic Coordination Committee, he said he was unaware of it as Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was out of the country.
