Islamabad. April 26 (APP): Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that it is a constitutional requirement to hold federal and provincial elections simultaneously. The country cannot afford these spectacles. The country is currently coming out of economic crisis, let us work. The National Assembly has rejected the demand for release of money by rejecting the resolution and supplementary grant. We cannot give this money, let this House guide us. Speaking in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that in the budget 2022-23, funds of only 5 billion rupees were allocated for the election. 47.4 billion rupees are required for the election in the financial year 2023-24.
He said that if 63-A was not rewritten, this situation would not have come up and the elections of national and provincial assemblies would have been held simultaneously. He said that the world is surprised by the new interpretation of 63-A. He said that the election commission asked the finance ministry for funds for the election. On our inquiry, the Election Commission said that 14.4 billion rupees will be spent. If the elections are held simultaneously, the total expenditure will be 47.4 billion rupees. He said that in this way these expenses become 61.8 billion rupees. The Ministry of Finance can provide the allocated amount in the budget but there are also supplementary grants outside the budget.
The Ministry of Finance always tries to discourage side grants to maintain financial discipline. We always follow the constitution and law for disbursement of funds. We have also seen this demand for money in the context of mandatory spending. We have also seen this under Article 81E of the Constitution. He said that he is talking about how the money bill of the government can be rejected. If the State Bank does not have the authority to issue the money, the Ministry of Finance has the constitutional and legal authority to issue this directive. The Standing Committee on Finance of the National Assembly gave a clear direction to the Ministry of Finance that the matter should be placed before the National Assembly through the Federal Cabinet for the release of the amount. Keeping this in view, we moved the motion 64-A for supplementary grant of Rs.21 billion in this House which was rejected by this House.
He said that it was said that the Federal Government has lost the confidence of the Assembly, to which the Attorney General said that the House had and still has full confidence in the Federal Government. He said that this House has given its decision clearly three times. A mistake is corrected where a mistake is made once. He said that Pakistan is spending 35 billion rupees on census and household census. He said that it is a constitutional requirement to conduct simultaneous elections in the federation and provinces. The country cannot afford these spectacles. The country is currently coming out of the worst economic crisis, this economic crisis was given by the previous government.
He said that our stock exchange was worth 126 billion which was destroyed due to the dramas of the previous government. We had started economic improvement, but a sudden disaster came in the form of a flood from Allah Almighty. If my words were accepted five years ago, then the country's foreign exchange reserves would have been 24 billion dollars. The people who brought the country to this state should be brought forward. We were ranked 24th in terms of economy and are now ranked 47th. India's number has come down from 5 to 4.
He said that the world is surprised why Pakistan has not gone bankrupt. Ever since Shahbaz Sharif assumed power, not a single payment has been delayed. He said that we did not ask for money from anyone during our time, this work was started by the former government. He said that Pakistan has the ability to stand with the international community with honor and dignity, more than half of our time is spent in these negotiations. Let us work to get the country out of trouble. He said that this House rejected the resolution and motion for supplementary grant and prohibited the government from giving the money. We cannot give this money, let this House guide us.
The news is published by EMEA Tribune & Associated Press of Pakistan
