Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz stated on Friday that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) administration never abused its authority against the opposition or attempted to restrict facilities for its [jailed] political enemies.
CM Maryam was addressing the Punjab Assembly’s (PA) session on Budget FY25, which was chaired by Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan.
The opposition parliamentarians raised a disturbance during her speech, chanting anti-PML-N chants, but she continued to speak despite the noise.
However, the daughter of the PML-N supremo slammed the former provincial government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), stating, “They were busy setting new records of incompetence and removing air conditioners from other people [when they were in prison cells].”
According to CM Maryam, the governing PML-N President Nawaz Sharif directed the authorities to install two air conditioners in the prison cell of PTI founder Imran Khan, the former prime minister, who is being imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
She claimed that PTI trolls used to mock her for her public-spirited actions. “They take checking the price of roti at a tandoor as an insult and used to mock me.”
“Punjab is the only province to have cut the price of roti. Instead of yelling slogans, they [PTI lawmakers] could lower the price of roti in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” she stated.
The Chief Minister stated that a tax-free budget was presented in Punjab for the first time, which should have pleased the opposition as well. She noted that Punjab residents have exhaled in relief after years.
The chief minister recounted how her government restored fundamental services to the masses, which had been discontinued by the previous administration, including the supply of free medicines at government hospitals. Furthermore, inflation was reduced down to its lowest level in years, she said.
Due to the opposition’s loud protests, the provincial parliament failed to pass the additional budget and delayed the session till Saturday at 2pm.
Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan stated that he attempted to run the house more effectively and would now use his “constitutional powers” to keep order.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari told journalists after the budget session that they used to sit on the opposition benches but did not misbehave like the opposition today.
 administration never abused its authority against the opposition or attempted to restrict facilities for its [jailed] political enemies.){kind=link}