Opposition leader says provincial government has failed to provide tangible relief despite spending ‘billions of rupees’
Punjab Assembly (PA) Opposition Leader Muhammad Moeen ud Din Riaz Qureshi addresses the floor of the house. Photo: screenshot
Punjab Assembly (AP) Opposition Leader Muhammad Moeen ud Din Riaz Qureshi on Friday criticized the Rs 5.9 trillion provincial budget, accusing the government of prioritizing political branding over public welfare.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader regretted that the government had allocated huge funds for new schemes and left previous projects incomplete.
He said authorities had failed to provide tangible relief despite spending “billions of rupees” on development.
On the first day of the general budget debate in the Palestinian Authority, the opposition leader questioned the government’s development priorities, claiming that public money was being spent on advertising instead of solving basic problems facing citizens.
“There is no public welfare project visible in the budget. It only reflects the promotion of a political family,” Qureshi said, adding that despite huge allocations, people were still struggling with inflation, unemployment, poor education, deteriorating healthcare and law and order.
“Incomplete development projects have become a burden on the public.”
Referring to budgetary allocations, he demanded to know why funds had been allocated to new schemes when the previous schemes for which funds were allocated in fiscal year 2025-26 remained unfinished.
The opposition leader alleged that several mega projects received allocations last year but witnessed little or no utilization of the funds.
Qureshi claimed that Rs 300 billion had been allocated for mega rural development projects, but “not a single rupee had been spent”.
Questioning the expenditure on the Data Darbar development project, he said only a fraction of the allocated funds was utilized and raised similar concerns over expenditure on Nawaz Sharif Medical District, Nawaz Sharif Cancer Institute, Maryam Nawaz Sports Complex and Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics.
Finally, the PTI categorically rejected the Punjab budget presented by the provincial government as a blatant “Sharif-branded Budget”, a document prepared not for the welfare of the people but for the glorification of a family. The party highlighted the flagrant violation of the budget…
– PTI (@PTIofficial) June 19, 2026
The PTI leader also criticized the naming of public projects after political figures, saying state-funded schemes should not be used to create political brands.
He urged the government to depoliticize development projects and focus on completing ongoing plans before launching new ones.
Speaking in the House, Qureshi proposed setting up an online parliamentary budget tracking system to enable lawmakers to track allocations, expenditure and implementation status of development projects “in real time”.
The opposition leader also stressed that inflation had made life unbearable and that people were finding it difficult to afford two meals a day. He claimed that industries were closing and workers were losing jobs.
The PTI-backed politician blamed the government’s economic policies for worsening conditions and alleged widespread corruption and mismanagement.
Addressing members of the provincial assembly, Qureshi criticized the outsourcing of public schools, maintaining that it had harmed the education sector. He demanded the reason behind allowing expensive education department offices while outsourcing schools.
Furthermore, he accused the government of neglecting agriculture.
“Wheat was imported despite the availability of domestic stocks, which harmed the interests of farmers,” he lamented.
He also stated that cotton regions were becoming “sugar mill zones.”
Outlining other governance issues, the opposition leader said flood management remained inadequate, sanitation infrastructure had worsened and rural development projects had not materialized despite large allocations.
On politics, Qureshi reiterated the PTI’s stance on the February 8 general elections, alleging that the public mandate had been manipulated.
“PTI-backed candidates won despite contesting without the party’s electoral symbol,” he said, accusing the government of politically victimizing PTI leaders.
He defended jailed PTI founder Imran Khan as well as other party members including Dr Yasmin Rashid, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, claiming that the cases against them were “politically motivated”.
Qureshi threatened that PTI legislators would resign from the assemblies if anything untoward happened to party founder Imran. During the speech, the PTI legislators also chanted slogans in support of the PTI founder.
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Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman objected to the opposition leader’s speech.
“You have not talked about the budget. We are not here to listen to these political speeches,” said the minister before announcing a government boycott of the session.
The opposition leader responded by claiming that the government had run away due to criticism.
“They lack patience to listen to the opposition.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Malik Zaheer Iqbal Channar spoke out against the boycott, calling it “incompatible with democratic traditions.”
He sent Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) parliamentary leader Ali Haider Gilani and other lawmakers to persuade Treasury members to return to the chamber.
After the negotiations, Treasury legislators rejoined the assembly and the budget debate resumed.
