- KP has ‘in principle’ no problem in releasing funds: Aurangzeb.
- KP approves three months budget paper: Salman Akram Raja.
- Raja says the constitution allows presentation of such a budget.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that only Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could decide on PTI’s demand to allow a meeting with jailed party founder Imran Khan before contributing funds to the federal government.
Talking further Pakinomist news program ‘Capital Talk’, the finance minister said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had no “principle” against cutting development expenditure to release funds for the Centre.
Recalling a “very good meeting” with KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Finance Minister Muzammil Aslam, the Finance Minister said that all provinces, including KP, have supported the Center significantly throughout the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
“As you know, the IMF program is not only the federal government’s program this time. Only the prime minister can decide on this demand,” he added.
The Finance Minister’s remarks come just hours after PTI General Secretary Advocate Salman Akram Raja said the KP government would approve a three-month budget paper only if a meeting with the party’s founder does not take place by June 30.
Addressing the media at Adiala Road, Raja said the final budget would not be presented until consultation with the former prime minister took place.
Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 following convictions he and his PTI say are politically motivated.
Since his ouster in 2022 in a vote of no confidence, he has faced several cases, including over state gifts and an illegal marriage. Some sentences have been suspended or overturned pending appeals. He pleads not guilty.
Meanwhile, the PTI General Secretary said he had spoken to CM Afridi on the matter, adding that Article 125 of the Constitution allows presentation of a budget for a three-month period.
“For now, this is what will happen and a three-month budget paper will be approved,” he said.
