LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan believes the US Congress resolution on Pakistan elections is against the facts and based on disinformation.

“The US resolution regarding elections [in Pakistan] is contrary to the facts. It seems that America didn’t have information [on the subject]. Had there been a full scenario before it, the situation would have been different,” he told the media outside the assembly building here on Thursday.

“The resolution talked of suspension of internet and mobile phone services. [The fact of the matter is that] the security institutions had to take measures for maintaining law and order for such a big activity.”

The speaker said that despite allegations of result manipulation only 26 petitions were filed with the election tribunals and had these facts been put to the US House of Representatives, the text of the resolution might have been changed.

“The Americans gave their opinion on whatever was put before them,” he said, adding that certain lobbies work in the US and these were active when Imran Khan was in power.

“On one hand the slogan of ‘Absolutely Not’ was raised, and on the other lobbying work was in full swing to change Americans’ opinion in favour of Khan,” he said

Meanwhile, taking part in the discussion on supplementary budget, Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar alleged that 4,500 PTI activists were imprisoned in a year and such a large number of PML-N activists would not have been imprisoned in the last 40 years.

He also talked about ‘powerless’ ministers and suggested amending the relevant laws to empower them for effectively running their respective department.

Referring to the supplementary budget, Mr Bhachar said spending over and above the approved funds for a scheme is like a sin in a democratic setup and sought a mechanism under which a project should be completed only within the approved budget.

He said the PML-N had long been ruling the province and it must have prescribed some penalty for the bureaucrats spending over and above the budget.

He wondered why a supplementary grant of Rs100 million was demanded for a regular allowance in the excise department.

Treasury MPA Tahira Mushtaq sought a policy to save tourists from overcharging in Murree.

Opposition legislator Ahsan Raza suggested forgiving those accused of May 9, 2023 incidents to take the country forward.

Samiullah Khan, a treasury MPA, criticised the national cricket team and wondered why taxpayers’ money should be spent on the players given their poor performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

He asked why Punjab had to bear expenses amounting to a hefty sum of Rs500m for the security of foreign cricket teams, when the Pakistan Cricket Board was rich enough to bear these expenses.

Opposition’s Junaid Sahi regretted that funds were not allocated for general elections and cricket tournament security in the regular budget though it was in the knowledge of the concerned quarters that these events would take place later in the year.

Shehryar Malik, Amna Sheikh, Mushtaq Ahmed, Qazi Ahmed Saeed and others also took part in the debate on the supplementary budget.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2024