The Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) rejected the federal budget 2025-26 both inside and outside the National Assembly on Tuesday, qualifying it as a “IMF dictated budget” that lacks public legitimacy and launching a two-pointed attack: an aggressive protest on the floor of the assembly and a pointed press conference shortly after.
The second consecutive budget speech of the Minister of Finance began under fire, and the opposition banks exploded in noise protest from the first moment.
When Finance Minister Muhammad Aurengzeb, began to present the budget, PTI legislators stood up, hit budget books in their desks, blew whistles and maintained posters asking for the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Throughout the presentation, they sang slogans against the government, marking the illegitimate and antipopular budget. Without flinching for the uproar, the Minister of Finance went ahead, while the treasure members put on the headphones to disconnect the noise of the opposition.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who entered the house amid the shock, remained sitting and unwavering, since the legislators of the ruling party formed a protective cord around them to avoid any direct clash with the Protestant members.
The opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, led from the front, establishing the tone for a coordinated protest and ensuring that each PTI legislator played their role.
Allowed standing throughout the session, he repeatedly hit the budget book on his desk and pointed to other members to stay compromised. The legislators started the papers and threw them into the air at intervals.
After the initial outbreak, the opposition members moved in mass towards the area between the speaker’s desk and the seat of the prime minister, continuing his lemas choir without giving up.
The interruption echoed the tense scenes of the budget session last year, when the inaugural discourse of the Minister of Finance faced an equally turbulent reception of the legislators of the Ittehad Council of PTI turned into Sunni.
Then, as now, the protests included strong songs, desktop blows, paper gear and proximity to the seat of the prime minister, which led the treasure members to act as a human shield.
Shortly after the session, the main leaders of PTI, including NA’s opposition leader, Omar Ayub, PTI’s Secretary of Central Information, Sheikh Waqas Akram, the general secretary of PTI Salman Akram Raja and the opposition leader in the Senate Subhibal Faraz, addressed a joint press conference, reiterating his category rejection of the budget.
“This is not a budget of the people; it is an IMF budget designed to serve elite interests,” said the opposition leader.
Ayub questioned the government’s economic statements, particularly the projected growth of GDP of 2.7%, and asked sarcastically: “Who told the donkeys and differentiated between the four legs and two legs?”
He dismissed the budget as separate from reality, pointing out to deepen inequality, inflation and decreased industrial production.
PTI’s Secretary of Information was more scathing, calling the “Economic Horn” budget for people, saying that it was not a budget for the nation, but a public execution plan. He also said that PTI considers that this is a “budget of Leela”; Which implies that the budget is a farce that finally sacrifices common people like goats in Slaughter, while the interests of the elite are protected.
He questioned the logic behind the relief of the tab for the salaried class and warned that development assignments were not realistic and insincere.
The opposition leader in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, added that the government had broken all the previous records of elitist budget.
The opposition leader in the Senate said that budgets for the ruling class have been made for decades, but this year’s budget has broken all the previous elite budget records. Criticizing the government, Faraz said: “When said legislation and the creation of budgets take place in Parliament, it is not only antidemocratic but hostile to the interest of the country.”
Faraz also pointed out that the Afghan currency had appreciated more than the Pakistani rupe, qualifying it as an indicator of government failure. “When a government comes to power through the 47, it lacks the necessary trust for a serious reform,” he said, warning that economic manipulation without legitimacy would not bring progress.
Addressing the media, FARAZ condemned the management of the inflation government and taxes, particularly for salaried persons. He commented that the salaried class was being squeezed relentlessly, stating: “As much blood as it can be extracted from them.”
He questioned how a country could progress while working on what he described as “IMF crutches.”
Faraz also criticized the state’s response to the peaceful demands of government employees, noting that when government workers began to protest their rights, the entire Red area of Islamabad was sealed.
“Those who request their legal rights are treated as if they were doing something wrong,” he said. PTI’s general secretary, Salman Akram Raja, described the document as one that “makes the richest and most poor rich are poorer,” saying that the wage class and poor people were further charged.
All leaders also reiterated their demand for liberation from the founder of PTI Imran Khan and his wife, describing their imprisonment as politically illegal and motivated. They called the illegitimate legislative process and demanded the restoration of the constitutional order, the public mandate and the rule of law.
Previously, the protest in the Assembly followed a detailed strategy discussion at the PTI Parliamentary Party meeting, held hours before the session. The party rejected the 2025-26 budget directly, qualifying it from a continuation of the policies issued by the IMF.
Legislators reiterated their position that the current government did not have the mandate to present the budget, arguing that it was formed through manipulated electoral results and did not reflect the will of the people.
In its official statement, the PTIA Parliamentary Party declared that the government had no legal or moral authority to legislate in the name of the public. “This is an IMF budget, not a popular budget,” the party said, promising to resist approval in each forum, including the National Assembly and the Senate. He condemned the economic difficulties faced by common citizens, stating that although the poor were crushed under inflation, the ruling elite continued their luxurious lifestyles without control.
The party also expressed the strong disapproval of Na’s president’s conduct, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, accusing him of acting as a partisan figure instead of a neutral custodian of the house.
Legislators demanded that the president’s law according to their constitutional role instead of addressing the interests of the parties. It was also decided at the meeting that would move a privileged motion if opposition speeches continued censored in national transmissions.
PTI legislators decided to raise the problem of the blackout of the media on their speeches in the assembly and protest outside if necessary.
