NA Rejects Motion for Rs21b Supplementary Grant for ECP's Punjab Polls

Islamabad: The National Assembly on Monday rejected a motion for a supplementary grant of Rs21 billion for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections in Punjab.

The Law Minister, Azam Nazir Tarar proposed the motion arguing that to strengthen democracy, elections should be held simultaneously across the country.

He also noted that the release of funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund requires the approval of the National Assembly.

During the session, the Annual Report of the State Bank on the State of Pakistan's Economy for 2021-22, the Mid-year Budget Review Report for 2022-23, and the annual report of the National Accountability Bureau for 2022 were also presented.

The House paid tribute to Mufti Abdul Shakoor, who recently passed away, for his contributions to restoring peace in the erstwhile tribal areas and for his outstanding arrangements for Hajj. The House adopted a resolution commending his efforts to reduce Hajj expenditures for Pakistani pilgrims and demanded that he be conferred a national award.

The Prime Minister acknowledged Mufti Abdul Shakoor's contribution to the economy and announced that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have deposited a total of $3 billion to increase Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif demanded a probe into the alleged plunder of $3 billion by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government. Asif claimed that the previous government disbursed the soft loan during the pandemic to their cronies, and the matter was referred to the finance committee of the National Assembly for investigation.