After expanding crucial support for the federal budget, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is expected to formally join the federal government in July, with the distribution of ministries that are likely to be completed next month, sources of Express News say.
The move comes after weeks with excitement between PPP and the ruling Paksitan Muslim League (PML-N) over budget distributions and controversial tax measures, which had led to strong criticism from PPP. The party had accused the government of sidelining Sindh and threatened to withhold support for the budget unless its claims were dealt with.
However, the stalemate relieved when the government accepted a number of key drops, including a 20% increase in Benazir Income Support Program (Bisp) Budget and Rollback of the proposed powers for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to arrest taxpayers without Warrants.
Read more: Bilawal explains why PPP supports federal budget
On Thursday, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who spoke to the National Assembly, said his party would support the federal budget after the government accepted its demands to raise the BISP allocation to RS716 billion, exempt income tax for payroll persons earning up to RS100,000 and reducing the sale tax on solo tax.
Sources who are familiar with the negotiations say that PPP’s budget support has paved the way for a wider power sharing scheme with PML-N, which is partially broken by the establishment. They added that the company had assured the PPP leadership that there would be no change in government and that political continuity was important for national stability.
“The message was clear: The system has to continue – and so will,” a source said close to the negotiations.
There is also an effort to bring other political forces on board as part of a major consensus building initiative.
In the next phase, PPP is expected to become part of the Punjab government, the sources say. Backchannel conversations between the two parties are already underway, although a final agreement has not yet been reached.
