ISLAMABAD: Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) demonstrated a symbolic walkout as Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistic and Privatisation Senator Ishaq Dar laid out the federal budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 on Friday.
Leader of the Opposition in NA Khurshid Shah criticised the government for resorting to the use of force against protesting farmers, terming dictators and the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) no different.
Members of the opposition tore copies of the federal budget and chanted ‘Liar! Liar!’, as Dar claimed in his speech that power outages would end in 2018.
Opposition members, wearing black armbands, encircled NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s dais to protest against the federal government. The opposition walked out of the assembly for a brief period and then returned to their benches.
The opposition leader asked the NA speaker to allow him to address the participants before Dar laid out the details of the budget. However, Ayaz Sadiq refused.
Dar informed the NA speaker that he had discussed the issue with the prime minister beforehand and members of the ruling party did not have an objection to Shah addressing the participants first. Khurshid Shah was then allowed to speak for a brief period, during which he criticised the government’s alleged unjust rule.
