ISLAMABAD: As Parliament continued to debate the federal budget for the next fiscal year, opposition legislators Friday demanded greater relief for the common man.
| This being Pakistan, there's no thought for the common woman. |
They dubbed the budget speech of the state minister as an election campaign speech and sought immediate announcement of a long-overdue National Finance Commission (NFC) award. But government members in both Houses of Parliament, who hailed the budget as balanced and people-friendly, ruled out any decrease in the defence spending.
| "Hindoos to the right of us, Persians to the left of us, 'Merkins all 'round! We need to buy more guns 'n' ammo!" |
MMA's central leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who advocated for eradicating his poverty and improving his living conditions of the poor, stressed just distribution of wealth in line with Islamic principles. He sought an upward revision of worker's minimum wage, which has been raised to Rs4000 in the budget, proposing imposition of 'gain tax' to end socio-economic disparity.
| Qazi enjoys playing to the rubes. The rest of the article discusses the various con games the pols want to play with the Pak budget. It's like listening to a bunch of Doinks. |
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