PPP joins federal budget session after withdrawing boycott decision

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has taken back its decision to boycott the federal budget 2024-25 session in the National Assembly today after being convinced by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held multiple meetings with the PPP’s top leaders to convince them to attend the federal budget session which seemingly remained successful.

In a recent development, two senior PPP leaders Syed Khurshid Shah and Syed Naveed Qamar reached the parliament. Sources said that only Khurshid, Naveed and Aijaz Jakhrani will attend today’s session.

PPP Information Secretary Shazia Marri announced that her party lawmakers will not attend the budget 2024-25 session in the National Assembly as the ruling PML-N did not consult its key ally for budgetary proposals.

Marri confirmed the major decision taken by the Bilawal-led party while talking to Geo News ahead of the federal budget for FY25.

She said that PPP lawmakers will not attend the budget session and urged the ruling Nawaz-led party to fulfil the contents of the agreement made with her party.

Marri complained that her party was not consulted on Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by the PML-N-led federal government.

PPP not consulted on Public Sector Development Programme by the PML-N-led federal government, slams Shazia Marri

She added that the party lawmakers expressed serious reservations about not being included in the budget-related consultations by the federal government.

Sources closer to the PPP told Geo News that the PPP lawmakers recommended not to attend the budget session in a parliamentary party’s session chaired by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — a crucial occasion when the coalition government is going to unveil its direction for bringing the country out of severe financial crisis.

However, the Bilawal-led party has also not fully stepped back from supporting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led administration in the Centre and decided to “provide maximum support to the PML-N to pass the budget and vote in its favour despite all reservations”, the sources added.

It was also learnt that the PPP lawmakers will assist the federal government to pass the budget despite lodging protests and delivering speeches over the weak sections of the federal budget in the Parliament.

The sources said that the PML-N government assured its major ally to make the latter’s recommendations part of the budget.