Govt shook foundation of country by denying units’ funds: Asad

Joint presser of CMs, FMs expression of non-functionality of current system: Fawad

Non-provision of funds cause resentment among provinces: Farrukh

DNA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came down hard on the imported government for depriving federating units of their rightful share by withholding funds under a nefarious designs to create financial crisis for the respective PTI-led governments.

PTI leadership, in a joint statement issued from PTI Central Media Department on Monday, stated that the joint press conference by the Chief Ministers and finance ministers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) against non-provision of their due financial share was a testimony and clear reflection of non-functionality of the current political system.

Reacting to the development, PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar said that it was ever first time in the history of the country that four units were protesting against the federation seeking their rightful share.

He said that the KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab and Azad Kashmir were all protesting against the denial of their rights. Asad stated that the imported government has shaken the very foundation of the country.

PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhary, in his reaction, said that the joint press conference of the chief ministers and finance ministers of all the provincial units was an expression of the non-functionality of the current setup.

He said that under the constitution, the federation was bound to transfer the funds collected from taxes to the provinces and units, but the funds were not being transferred to the provinces, causing an alarming escalation in the crisis in the respective governments.

PTI Central Secretary Information Farrukh Habib said that Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, GB and AJK were on the same page demanding their due rights from the federation.

He said that the inept and incompetent Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif denied Rs. 176 billion share of Punjab and Rs. 120 billion of KP, adding that the GB and AJK were also not being given their grants.

Farrukh Habib alarmed that there was great anger among the provinces which were deprived of their constitutional shares because they were facing great difficulties in running their affairs.