PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and its political committee on Monday decided to pass the annual budget for the next financial year, in a move they claimed, would foil an alleged conspiracy by the federal government to impose financial emergency in the province.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, speaking on the assembly floor, said that only the PTI founding chairman had the authority to decide the fate of the KP government.\“I will not wait for a second if my leader Imran Khan asks me to dissolve the assembly,” Gandapur said.
He had earlier stated that if he was not allowed to meet his incarcerated leader in Adiala Jail, the PTI-led government would proceed to pass the 2025–26 annual budget.
An interesting exchange took place between Leader of the House Ali Amin Gandapur and Opposition Leader Dr Ibadullah, when the chief minister alleged that the federal government was conspiring against the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In response, Dr Ibadullah said that the chief minister was misleading his party workers and leadership with false and baseless claims.
Gandapur said he wanted to meet the PTI chief to discuss the provincial budget in line with his vision, but certain elements had obstructed the meeting in Adiala Jail.
“As a treasury bench, we are constitutionally bound to pass the annual budget. But if our leader instructs us to dissolve the provincial assembly, we will do so without delay,” he added.
Gandapur also accused the ruling political parties at the Centre of being powerless in the face of the establishment.
He claimed the current PTI government had utilized the allocated development funds and completed over 400 development schemes during the outgoing fiscal year.
“We have purchased wheat stock for the entire year, and there is no wheat or flour crisis in the province,” he said, adding that the federal government had not released KP’s due shares under the National Finance Commission Award or net hydel profit.
Opposition Leader Dr Ibadullah Khan accused the treasury benches of planning to wrap up the budget session by Thursday, as the chief minister wanted to pass the budget before his meeting with the party chief in jail.
“You met your leader a day before Eid. Why didn’t you discuss the budget then?” he questioned, accusing PTI leaders and ministers of manipulating their supporters with false narratives.
He also reminded both the chief minister and the speaker of their previous statements, in which they vowed not to pass the annual budget without approval from the PTI founding chairman.
The KP Assembly speaker termed the exchange between the chief minister and the opposition leader as “the beauty of democracy.”
He said the PTI’s political committee and parliamentary party had resolved to pass the annual budget in the public interest. Therefore, he convened the assembly session so that demands for grants and cut motions could be presented as per the agenda.
Later, provincial ministers and advisers to the chief minister presented demands for grants, while opposition members moved their cut motions as part of the budget process.
