PPP Rejects ‘Elite-Centric’ Budget, Announces Nationwide Protest Campaign

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has formally rejected the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025–26, terming it “elite-centric” and a betrayal of the working class. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad, In-charge of the PPP’s People’s Labour Bureau, accused the government of favouring the elite at the expense of the poor.

“The rich have made a budget for the rich. There is nothing in it for the common man,” said Manzoor. “Every segment of the elite has received financial relief, while the burden continues to fall on labourers and the poor.”

The PPP has initiated contact with trade unions across Pakistan and announced plans for nationwide protests to be held in all provinces before the federal budget is passed in the National Assembly.

The party criticized the increase in salaries of top government officials, calling it a “financial obscenity,” and strongly opposed the reported proposal to end pensions after 10 years of retirement, labeling it “inhuman.”

“The World Bank is warning about rising poverty. Our farmers are in distress. And yet, this government continues to serve only the elite,” Manzoor added.

PPP warned that political instability caused by this economic policy would be the responsibility of the government.