'I Was Advised Not To Give Subsidy On Flour For Legal Repercussions But I Did': Hamza Shehbaz

Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has said that he decided to give subsidy on flour to provide relief to the people of Punjab against advise of friends who said not to do so

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jun, 2022 ) :Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has said that he decided to give subsidy on flour to provide relief to the people of Punjab against advise of friends who said not to do so.

Speaking at the floor of the House during the budget session at Aiwan e Iqbal here on Friday, he said he was told the decision could lead to legal repercussions if the subsidy on flour was given without approval of the provincial cabinet and the provincial cabinet was not sworn in yet.

'I thought should I worry about about the cases to be instituted against me or the poor people who needs my support', he said, adding that he left matters to Allah and gave subsidy to the people.

The chief minister said the opposition and the chair made a mockery of the law and constitution during the election of the Leader of the House in Punjab assembly, adding that the Speaker's unconstitutional acts have created unprecedented constitutional crisis in the province.

He said the so-called custodian of the house violated sanctity of the house, adding that he was not pleased to hold the assembly session at Aiwan e Iqbal, adding "I forgo all my ego in the larger interest of the 120 million people of the province." He said the treasury faced the unconstitutional acts of the Speaker with dignity for three months. He said the Finance Minister, administration, allies and the masses waited for the budget to be presented for 48 hours, adding that, the Speaker neither cared for the masses not the constitution while one-hour assembly session costs in million to the exchequer.

"I went to the house but but the Speaker repeated mantra of calling Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chief Secretary Punjab to the house and never allowed the budget to be presented before the house", the Chief Minister said, adding that he wanted the people to know why the government was holding the budget session out of the assembly chambers.

The Leader of the House Hamza Shehbaz congratulated treasury benches and his ally parties in the house PPP, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Aleem Khan and Jugnu Mohsin on the passage of the budget 2022-23. He also hailed Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari for showing resilience for the sake of people.

The house passed extraordinary legislation and adopted four bills including a bill to curtail privileges of a former Chief Minister. The House also set aside the Punjab Assembly Privileges Bill 2022. Under the law, the provincial legislature was empowered to impose penalties up to six months in prison and fines against civil servants.

The House also adopted the ordinance to put Punjab Assembly under the control of Law department. This ordinance has endorsed the legal status of the session at the Aiwan e Iqbal. The House also adopted Punjab Local Government Bill 2022 and Provincial assembly of the Punjab Secretariat Services Bill 2022.

The House also restored the Chief Minister and Minister's perks to 2019 through Punjab Minister's Amendment Bill 2022 while this amendment has nullified the additional perks given to the ministers during the rule of former chief minister Usman Buzdar.

The Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) government had approved two elite force vehicles and appointment of five officers above 17 grade for the former chief ministers.

The chair, later, adjourned the session till June 27 (Monday) at 2 p.m. at the Aiwan e Iqbal.