The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has issued a stark warning to the central government, threatening to withdraw from the coalition if their budget proposals are not considered. With the annual budget set to be presented in Parliament on Wednesday (today), tensions are high.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Tuesday, PPP leader Shazia Marri expressed the party’s growing frustration: “We have been cooperative so far, but if the government continues to disregard our concerns, we may have to rethink our support.”
This statement followed a meeting of PPP parliamentary leaders in Islamabad, where they voiced their discontent over being sidelined in the budget discussions. The PPP’s budget committee is supposed to reach out to the government by Wednesday, while the party’s parliamentary committee is scheduled to reconvene at 2:30 pm tomorrow.
Party leaders emphasized their commitment to supporting the government for the sake of democracy but stressed that they would not compromise on issues affecting the public.
They criticized the PML-N for not honoring its commitments and voiced longstanding objections to the government’s privatization plans, advocating instead for a public-private partnership approach to preserve state ownership of key institutions.
Marri highlighted that the PPP has not been consulted about the budget and insisted that the government should have kept them informed about its details.
Marri further added, “We are in the dark about the government’s plans. We have no information aside from the discussions in the National Economic Council meeting,” during a separate interview with a private channel.
Echoing his sentiments, PPP leader Khursheed Shah stated that the party has yet to see the budget and criticized the government for not briefing them on the proposals.
